Friday, May 31, 2019

Advantages Of Using Slow Feeders For Horses

By Walter Murphy


When it comes to feeding your horses with food, you are required to know the right supplies to give them. Their consumption should be small amounts of fodder over a long time. This is because these animals have complex digestive systems that require them to feed continually. No matter the type of feed you give your equines, you need to do it appropriately. An excellent option to take is utilizing the use of slow feeders for horses to enjoy the advantages highlighted in this article.

The occurrence of stress that is associated with their feeding is common with these animals. As such, equines that go through this stress produce hormones called cortisol. When the hormone is produced in large amounts, it results in increased levels of insulin, making their bodies to store excess fat. This, in turn, leads to obesity. Utilizing this program for feeding is an appropriate way of avoiding your horse becoming obese.

Slow feeding helps in preventing ulcers. The constant intake of food causes the stomach to produce acid round-the-clock. This is because saliva production is activated from chewing, which, in turn, buffers the gastric acid produced. Hence, if food is always present in the stomach, it prevents splashing of the acids on the inside, reducing chances of ulcers.

For food to be adequately digested, enough time is required. Through this program, this factor is highly appreciated and put into consideration. With proper digestion, cases like constipation will not occur, and the general health of the horse will improve. Continuous feeding is a suitable way of making sure that there is a balance between the harmful and beneficial bacteria inside the stomach of the animal.

With equines, food is always their primary focus. This means that, if they do not have enough food throughout, they can get involved in unpleasant behavior like cribbing or stall kicking. A horse sleeps not longer than fifteen to twenty minutes and can only sleep for up to four hours in a day. Therefore, the best trick of keeping them occupied and eliminate boredom is by developing a slow system of feeding them.

The feeders prevent trampling of hay by equines or blowing by the wind. If hay is spread all over the field, the animals may trample on it and might not eat afterward. In other cases, the hay forage gets blown away by the wind. In such a situation, the program is ideal since the food is contained. This helps in low or no wastage.

Since these creatures are animals of prey, they highly depend on their seeing and sound senses to detect their predators. Locking them up for long may, in turn, make them feel unsafe, causing a negative effect on their feeding behavior. Since the feeder is usually placed in open places, these animals feel safe while they are eating. It will also ensure your animals are feeding appropriately, improving their health.

Horses are violent when eating. You may realize that the less dominant equines are avoiding feeding from the same place with the dominant ones. In such a case, putting food in one source is not a good ideal. With slow feeders, you can allocate the hay in different places so that all the animals can eat peacefully. Additionally, you may separate the equines that require special diets and allow feed with the others later.




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