The Importance of Weighing Horse Feed

The grain, hay, and other feed a horse consumes provide important nutrients used for exercise, pregnancy, lactation, breeding, and day-to-day metabolic functions. However, the amount of feed provided is a key part of properly managing horses’ nutritional needs to ensure they are receiving the current amount of nutrients. Knowing the weight of hay and grain being provided per day is essential to maintain horse health.

Why Weigh?

Forage is an important component of the equine diet. Horses should ideally receive at least ~2% of their body weight in forage per day to maintain gastrointestinal health. For example, a 1,000-pound horse should eat at least 10-20 pounds of forage per day. Horses can get their forage from a variety of sources, including pasture and hay.

When feeding small square bales of hay, it is important to realize that the weight of each flake can vary greatly depending on how compact the bales were made by the baler. For example, one cutting of hay (batch A) may have flakes that are around 5 pounds, while another cutting of hay (batch B) may have flakes that are around 7 pounds. If a horse is receiving 5 flakes per day, this means they are eating about 25 pounds of hay per day if eating from batch A and about 35 pounds of hay per day if eating from batch B. This would be a 10-pound difference per day!

Furthermore, each flake within one bale of hay can vary, no matter the compactness of the bale (Figure 1). This can lead to an even larger difference in the horse's diet from day to day. Weighing the amount of hay given to horses is key to ensuring that they are receiving the proper amount of forage per day.

Grain or concentrate may need to be added to a horse's diet to provide more energy or nutrients. For example, if a horse is being heavily exercised, a grain may need to be provided to ensure they are receiving the necessary nutrients and energy that may not be found in the horse’s forage.

When feeding a concentrate, giving the proper amount to a horse is important. Feed tags will typically say how many pounds of feed the horse will need for their bodyweight and life stage or work level. In some cases, the feed bag will specify how many pounds of a particular feed are in one quart. However, the most common practice in many equine stables to measure out grain is using scoops. Oftentimes, the "scoop" is an old coffee can or other similar device. There are some scoops available for purchase that have quarts or pounds marked on the side, but these scoops still do not indicate the weight of the feed as accurately as if one were to weigh the feed on a scale. Different types of feed can have the same volume measure but different weight measures (Figure 2).  If the feed is not weighed out, and a scoop is used, the correct amount of feed may not be given to your horse.

As an example, imagine you have two different types of feed in your feed room, which we will call "Grain 1" and "Grain 2." Grain 1 may be denser than grain 2, meaning that for the same volume measured, grain 1 will weigh more than grain 2. So if you use a scoop and fill it to the 1-quart line of Grain 1 and then Grain 2, Grain 1 may weigh one pound while Grain 2 may weigh three pounds (Figure 3). For example, extruded feed is generally lighter than sweet feed. While this might not seem like a big deal, if you are not feeding the correct amount of feed by weight to your horse, your horse might not get the correct amount of nutrients (such as vitamins and minerals) that they need in their diet.

Using other objects around the barn to measure out grain may make the feeding practice even more inaccurate. For example, similar to using scoops or quarts, saying a horse receives one coffee can of grain does not indicate how much grain by weight your horse is receiving. Using a coffee can to measure feed may also mean something different from person to person. Is the coffee can leveled at the top? Or is it a heaping coffee can of grain? What size is the coffee can? Using these various forms of measure can potentially lead to feeding a horse too much or too little grain, impacting body condition and increasing the risk of health issues developing.

Health Implications of Imprecise Feeding

Equine obesity and metabolic issues are prevalent across the horse population and can be a result of overfeeding. Horses who have metabolic issues such as Equine Metabolic Syndrome or Cushing's Disease (also known as Pituitary Pars Intermedia Dysfunction, or PPID) or horses who are over-conditioned/obese usually need to have calories in their diet limited in order to improve their health. To lose weight, it is recommended that these horses are limited to 1% of their bodyweight in hay and fed a ration balancer supplement rather than grain. In these instances, weighing out the horse's feed becomes even more important and essential to avoid overfeeding. Horses with gastric ulcers also need to have the amount of sugar and starch limited in their diet. It is recommended these horses should consume no more than 450 grams of sugar and starch per meal and no more than 900 grams/day (for a roughly 1,000-pound horse). These ration calculations can only be done if the weight of the feed is known.

Even if a horse does not have a medical condition in which special dietary needs should be addressed, the life stage and activity level of the horse do require a certain amount of nutrients. For example, horses that are in heavy work have higher protein requirements than horses that are in no work (called "maintenance"). If the feed is not being weighed out, then the protein levels may fall short and could potentially affect the performance and muscling of the horse. Young horses that are growing, mares that are nursing a foal, or stallions that are breeding are all examples of horses with specific nutrient requirements that will differ from a horse at maintenance.

How to Weigh Out Your Hay and Grain

Weighing feed is not complicated, and caretakers don't need to spend a lot of money on a high-end scale for measurements. For example, a human food scale commonly found in stores can be used to weigh grain. You could weigh your horse’s meals every day, but there is an easier way to do it so you don’t need to break out the scale daily. If you know how much your scoop holds (in pounds), then it is easy to calculate how many scoops are required to reach your target amount of feed. Just remember that each concentrate will have a different weight in the scoop, so you will need to calculate the number of scoops separately for each feed. Scoops, quarts, and coffee cans can still be used as a way to divide feed up for feeding time each day, as long as the weight of the feed has been measured ahead of time. Be sure to re-measure how many pounds are in a scoop, quart, coffee can, etc., every time a new concentrate is fed.

To weigh hay, caretakers can use a trash can and a bathroom scale. Just make sure to account for the weight of the container used to hold the feed by taring the scale once the can is on the scale or subtracting the weight of the trash can from the final weight once the hay has been placed within it. Another common practice is to way hay nets filled with hay using a luggage scale.

Conclusions

With these small changes in feeding practices, caretakers can know exactly how much feed they are providing to their horses. This makes calculations of a horse's daily ration and nutrient intake much easier. Weighing out horses' hay and grain to ensure they are receiving the correct nutrients needed helps to ensure that horse health is maintained and that growth and performance needs are met.