brookcove
Posted : 8/31/2006 9:13:16 PM
I think missed something re: post counter?
Also, the grains are in different form for each animal.
Horses, cows, and sheep (and goats and rabbits and alpacas and ducks and just about any other critter you can name!) all have "kibbles" - processed and extruded pellets similiar to dog feed. "Sweet feed" also includes whole or cracked grains. Cattle and sheep in lots are fed a ground feed which is mostly corn, as are pigs, which I didn't touch on because I've never studied porcine digestion.
All groups
can eat whole grain - I know people whose livestock guardian dogs eat nothing but sheep feed [:-] (they look like heck and have serious breeding problems and live to be about half the age of mine, duh). Results are similiar for [link
http://www.sheep101.info/201/feedstuffs.html]whole grain versus processed concentrates[/link], [link
http://www.sheep101.info/201/feedstuffs.html]except ruminants don't do as well on concentrates though this is the form preferred for feedlots.
Horses allowed to browse in a natural way on grass (kept on pasture rather than "turned out" after fasting, for instance), will almost never overeat and get everything they need from grass[/link]. Their dentition is not as efficient at chopping off grass as the ruminants and they prefer to eat higher, more mature (but not too mature), and less carb-rich forage. In other words, their internal system is built to keep up with a less efficient intake system.
The natural method of a ruminant of grazing is to feed quickly and intensely and move on, avoiding predatory notice thorugh quick movement. Equines are better able to defend their young and don't move as quickly. They browse more leisurely.
The common thread in my examples was that none of the groups of animals I described is
ideally set up to get the bulk of their nutrition from grain (with the possible exception of humans/primates). They are
different, yet
share that characteristic.
I apologize in advance if I lose the thread at this point. I'll be offline all weekend - my husband had surgery today (he's sleepng it off now, lol) and I'm his slave until Sunday. [sm=biggrin.gif]