How to read a feed label?

Sooner or later for all horse owners comes that time when you need to decide with what feed to feed your horse. The market offers an infinite number of options, in front of which one often feels confused and disoriented: flaked, extruded, pelletized, low starch and sugar, high protein, low glycaemic impact, high energy, high digestibility, maintenance, race… and we could go on!

Each feed, for legal provisions that all producers must comply with, must be provided with a tag that shows the specific characteristics of the product. Only upon careful reading and understanding of the label will allow you to evaluate the feed in question and understand if it is a good product or not and if it is suitable for our horses.

Let’s start to study the elements that are present in all feed labels and understand how to interpret them correctly:

PRODUCT DEFINITION

Product definition means a term which normally follows the trade name of the feed. There are two possible definitions:

• Complete feed for horses: in this case it is a proper feed, that is a feed that due to its composition is able to fully meet the daily nutritional needs of the horse.
• Complementary feed for horses: in this case it is a supplement or a nucleus that is not complete from the nutritional point of view, but is added to the feed to provide specific nutrients in the diet; an example is represented by the protein nuclei, that are added to the feed to increase the total protein intake within the daily food ration; the complementary feed by its nature arises as an integration of the horse’s diet and this is the main element that distinguishes it from a complete feed

COMPOSITION

The composition is nothing more than the list of raw materials contained in the feed. These must be expressed in descending order: This means that the first ingredient in the component list will be present within the formulation in higher quantity than the second and the second in higher quantity than the third and so on.

ADDITIVES

As the term suggests, additives are elements that are added to the feed in addition to raw materials. This category includes: vitamins, amino acids, trace elements, natural products such as plants or phytotherapeutic extracts, preservatives. These elements are expressed in mg per kg of product or, in particular for some vitamins such as A, D3 and E, in U.I. (International units) per kg of product.

ANALYTICAL COMPONENTS

Analytical components are values obtained from laboratory analysis and describing the chemical composition of the product. These values are expressed in % and are:

• Crude protein: expresses the total amount of proteins contained in the feed; it is measured using two analytical techniques that are the “Kjeldahl” and the “Dumas” method

• Crude ash: they express the amount of inorganic mineral material present in the feed, that is the proportion that is totally devoid of energy; this value expresses the presence of important elements including electrolytes (sodium, chlorine, potassium, magnesium), calcium and phosphorus

• Crude fibre: expresses the total quantity of fibres contained in the feed, the main components of which are cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, which have a different degree of digestibility; fibres are fundamental substances that contribute to the intestinal transit and survival of microorganisms that make up the intestinal bacterial flora; in general their caloric intake is very low and it is therefore important to take into account that the higher the fibre content, the less calorific the feed will be; this parameter in the laboratory is measured using the “Weende” method

• Crude fats: express the total amount of fats contained in the feed, provided by the raw materials and any added oils (soybean, sunflower, corn oil…); in the laboratory this is measured by performing an extraction with “Soxhlet”

• Calcium and phosphorus: express the amount of these two minerals, essential for many biological functions including the construction of the skeleton; these values are useful for evaluating the ratio of calcium to phosphorus, which should be about 2:1

• Sodium: expresses the amount of sodium in the feed, mainly from sodium chloride, or salt

To these values can be added others at the discretion of the manufacturer such as the expression of magnesium, potassium, starch and sugars.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE

These are an indication of the amount of feed to be given. However, it is important to point out that the amount of feed to be given depends on the quality and quantity of fodder consumed by the horse, the type of training and physical activity it carries out, as well as on a number of specific characteristics of the animal (race, age, physical condition, health status). This means that every diet should be fine-tuned with an experienced nutritionist, that together with the help of the owner will make a careful history of the horse and based on the values present in the feed label will formulate a specific diet for the needs and requirements of the animal.

The feed is indispensable in the diet of many horses as they are able to support them in their daily activities, both competitive and not. The choice of feed is therefore a crucial point that requires essential basic knowledge. Today we studied the structure of the labels and the information we can draw from reading them. In the next article we will deepen the section in regards to the composition and additives.