Stall Freshener:    One half inch of in a 14+40 size is laid down in the stall after cleaning. It is then reapplied each time the stall is cleaned or at regular intervals on top of the manure. The benefits are:

•  Adsorbs moisture and creates a drier environment that reduces hoof problems and flies.

•  Adsorbs and holds ammonium, the main source of odor.

• The and manure make an excellent soil amendment.

 Horses are fed from ½ to 2% of 14+40 size in mash feeds, or -100 mesh in pelletized rations. The benefits are:

• Increased rate of gain.

• Lowers the conversion ratio. Less feed per pound of gain.

• Improved nutrient digestion.

• Reduced Scours.

• Reduces cribbing (chewing on wood).

• Improves bone growth.

•  Improves color of coat.

INTRODUCTION

The effect of natural zeolites in the feeding of domestic animals is of particular importance for their diet.  The purpose of the present paper is to study the influence of additions of natural zeolites to the diet on the growth of young horses during the autumn and winter periods.

EXPERIMENTAL

The first experiment was preformed with Yakutian (Sakha) horses at an age of 1.5 years. A group consisting of 30 horses was divided into 2 subgroups according to weight, sex and age. At the beginning of the experiment the weight of a horse in the control group (no.1) was about 244 kg. The duration of the experiment was 45 days and the diet consisted of 10 kg of hay and 5 kg of oats. A natural zeolite (clinoptilolite) was added to the food of group 2. The second experiment was performed with horses at an age of 11 months which were combined in two groups with 6 horses in each kept in different enclosures. The basic diet consisted of 5 kg of hay and 2 kg of oats. The foals in the experimental group received 70 g of zeolite per head daily within the basic diet. On the 30^th day of the experiment 3 foals from each group were taken to control the digestion. The control methodology was the usual one for big domestic animals. The duration of the registration period was 6 days.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

At the end of the first experiment the foals from group 2 (experimental) weighted 5 kg more than the foals in group 1 (control). The daily increase was 200 g (15% more than in the control group). The actual consumption calculated by the expenditures of fodder units per kg of increase was 6.3 fodder units in the control group and 5.5 fodder units in group 2, hence it follow that to enjoy a 1 kg weight increase the animals spent 12.7% less nutrient energy. Large differences in the contents of common protein and its fractions in the blood serum of the horses in each group were not registered. Differences in the urea and residual nitrogen contents were not registered either.

These results show that the addition of a zeolite does not cause any special changes in protein exchange (table 1). From Table 1 it is seen that the contents of sugars in the blood of the experimental horses are by 45% higher which is evidence that the rate of metabolism in the organism is higher.

Table 1. Contents of sugars and nitrogen-containing compounds in the blood serum of the horses.

Table 2. Forage examples identical to the consumed ones and digestion coefficients.

Table 2 shows that the addition of 70 g of a zeolite to the diet of young horses considerable improves the nutrients’ digestion. In the experimental group the amount of the exchange energy in the consumed food calculated by a regression equation was equal to 59.9 MJ showing a 4.1 MJ increase (6.8%).

CONCLUSION

The results from the performed experiment confirm our supposition about the possibility of a direct influence of zeolite additions to fodder on the exchange processes in the organisms of Sakha horses.