Is corn ALWAYS a bad feed choice?

martha sc
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Is corn ALWAYS a bad feed choice?

Postby martha sc » Mon Aug 01, 2016 12:17 pm

Is feeding corn rich feeds always a bad idea, no matter what the horse or condition?
Most feed companies make several varieties of sweet feed with corn and molasses ,along with their low starch offerings, who are these feeds aimed at ?
For the hard keeper, what are nutrient dense feeds that don't have corn for calories?

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Chisamba
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Re: Is corn ALWAYS a bad feed choice?

Postby Chisamba » Mon Aug 01, 2016 12:31 pm

Only in America, lol.

Corn is the feed of choice in Africa. It is a droughtier continent than america, so roughage can be poor and minimal and domestic stock get to eat the most viable crop.

We fed our horses mostly maize ( corn) for over two decades. Either ground, or crushed. If we could only get whole corn we soaked it for improved digestion. We always added bran for roughage

Understand that these were working horses with desperate caloric needs. Good hay was non existant, and scrubby grazing insufficient. We also fed stale bread.

So while circumstances and availability of alternatives might make it a less popular choice in the usa, it's a non heating high oil high caloric feed.

Canyon
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Re: Is corn ALWAYS a bad feed choice?

Postby Canyon » Mon Aug 01, 2016 3:57 pm

This article from The Horse has some info on feeding corn to horses. Corn is high in starches, low in fiber, with a digestible energy value more than twice that of oats. It molds easily, especially after cracking the kernels. The article explains in more detail.

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Re: Is corn ALWAYS a bad feed choice?

Postby LeoApp » Fri Aug 05, 2016 5:46 pm

A friend who works with farmers in KY and is a PhD in some agricultural field (don't remember what exactly) told me that corn is no longer a good choice for horses since it has been genetically modified.

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Re: Is corn ALWAYS a bad feed choice?

Postby texsuze » Sun Aug 07, 2016 4:15 pm

When considering non-structural carbs, and their implications in conditions such as laminitis, etc., there are other feed ingredients that have a lower NSC value than corn. Corn reads at approx. 75.3% NSC, oats at about 54.1%, whereas alfalfa pellets are 9.5% and soybean hulls (not meal) are 6.3%. From what I've read in the past, keeping the NSC at <12% is the goal to shoot for. But, being horses, there are so many other factors to think about when making feeding choices ;)

ADM produces a line of horse feeds (I know, Big Ag and all...) and, for example, their PrimeGlo feed provides about 1600 calories/lb. according to a feed tech I spoke with. It might be worth checking with the tech support folks with different feed companies to see if they can give data/numbers that you would find helpful for making some feed decisions for your horse.

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StraightForward
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Re: Is corn ALWAYS a bad feed choice?

Postby StraightForward » Mon Aug 15, 2016 3:40 am

martha sc wrote:Is feeding corn rich feeds always a bad idea, no matter what the horse or condition?
Most feed companies make several varieties of sweet feed with corn and molasses ,along with their low starch offerings, who are these feeds aimed at ?
For the hard keeper, what are nutrient dense feeds that don't have corn for calories?


I won't weigh in on corn, but are you feeding anything fat-based, such as rice bran or Renew Gold? Straight-up fat can be a good way to add calories. My gelding got 4-8 oz of canola oil on his hay every day for several years (recently switched to Renew Gold to simplify my life) and though he's not a hard keeper, I could fine-tune his weight by increasing or decreasing the oil by about 2 oz per day.
Keep calm and canter on.

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Chisamba
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Re: Is corn ALWAYS a bad feed choice?

Postby Chisamba » Mon Aug 15, 2016 4:16 am

non structural carbohydrates is just a complicated way of saying sugar and starch. For example, beet pulp, used to put weight on older horses and thin horses, is full of an oligosaccharide, ( a form of sugar, or NSC)

horses that are sensitive to polysaccharides, ( ie PSSM) need to avoid as much as possible all forms of NSCs. skinny horses that are hard to put weight on, you give them NFCs because they need more easily digestible bio available energy.

Corn is second to oats in bioavailable energy because of digestibility. Yet people have no problem feeding oats and criticize corn.

as for GMOs if you have a problem with them, then most american corn is genetically modified. i would estimate 100 percent of food we eat, or feed our animals is genetically modified, if not through a lab, through selective breeding and hybridization.

even so called heritage seeds have been hybridized or selectively produced. ie, genetically modified through controlled cross pollination, etc.

some people draw the line between hybridization in a lab, and hybridization using cross pollination, or grafting. anyway, i do not think you can find in existence, a feed or hay that is not changed by human intervention

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Re: Is corn ALWAYS a bad feed choice?

Postby Koolkat » Tue Aug 16, 2016 4:16 pm

An excellent article on carbohydrates and equine digestion by one of the country's leading equine nutritionists. Even when the carbohydrate chemistry gets a little dense, hang in there, he will give you a summary sentence(s) about the relevance to your horse's digestive tract.

https://ker.com/wp-content/uploads/2015 ... ON-103.pdf

martha sc
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Re: Is corn ALWAYS a bad feed choice?

Postby martha sc » Tue Aug 30, 2016 3:19 pm

Thanks, VERY good read. I love this board.

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Re: Is corn ALWAYS a bad feed choice?

Postby Tarlo Farm » Tue Nov 08, 2016 4:39 pm

I've owned horses more than 50 years now and have always added a bit of cracked or rolled corn to their winter grain for more heat energy. Mixed it in with their regular feed so they probably get about a cups worth a day.


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