Horse & Calf Food

Horse and calf food are referred to as "feed" in animal industries. Content requirements for these two types of feed are not the same because the cow's and horse's digestive systems work differently. How and when calves and horses are fed is as important as feed content. For the animals' welfare, the two should be managed differently.

  1. Digestive Systems

    • Horses require higher quality hay than cows.

      A cow or calf is a ruminant, which means it has a four-compartment stomach. Each compartment participates in a different stage of digestion, enabling cattle to utilize roughage and other feeds high in cellulose. The horse is a one-stomached animal and cannot digest as much fiber as a cow. A horse does not break down more than about 30 percent of the cellulose in feed whereas a cow breaks down 60 to 70 percent, according to Dr. Clint Depew at the Louisiana State University Ag Center. High-quality forages with low cellulose content should be fed to horses.

    Stomach Sizes

    • Cows and calves normally eat twice a day.

      Depew states that a horse's stomach is much smaller than a cow's. The horse's stomach holds less than 5 gallons of material compared to the 66-gallon capacity of the cow's stomach. Feeding a horse too much roughage may cause compaction. A horse's stomach completely empties in 24 hours while it takes about 72 hours for a cow's stomach to empty. Because of this, a horse needs to eat small quantities of feed almost constantly whereas a cow can consume large amounts within a short period twice a day.

    Vitamin and Protein Synthesis

    • Horses need to be fed proteins and vitamins.

      A calf synthesizes large quantities of proteins, B vitamins and vitamin K from forages. A horse synthesizes limited amounts of these substances; so manufactured horse feed normally contains more protein, B vitamins and vitamin K than calf feed.

    Starch and Sugar

    • Horses need high-quality easily digestible low-starch fiber.

      Starch and sugar have numerous adverse effects on horses, but calves can tolerate high-starch diets. Feeding high-starch diets to horses can cause acidosas, colic, founder, ulcers and orthopedic diseases. Sugar from oats and molasses causes hyperactivity in horses after meals. Horses should be given feed containing high-quality easily digestible low-starch fiber such as soybean hulls, beet pulp and dehydrated alfalfa. Corn and barley, principle ingredients in calf feed, are not easily digested by horses.