Dietary experience modifies horses' feeding behavior and selection patterns of three macronutrient rich diets1

Redgate, S. E.; Cooper, John R.; Hall, Simon R.; Eady, Paul E.; Harris, Patricia A.

doi:10.2527/jas.2012-5579

Cited by 28 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…This difference was less evident when a sweetener was added to the diet, an observation supported by the mean intake measures showing a ranking based on protein content but there were no significant differences in intake for the LP+ and HP diets. A similar ranking was also recorded in the multiple-choice test and these findings are in accord with other studies that have reported that preferences and intake are linked to macronutrient content (Laut et al, 1985;Cairns et al, 2002;Goodwin et al, 2005a;Redgate et al, 2014;van den Berg et al, 2016b). Such studies demonstrate that horses can discriminate between diets based on both energy and CP content, even if foods are novel and regardless of flavour (odour) preferences.…”

Section: The Influence Of Nutrients On Diet Selectionsupporting

confidence: 80%

“…It has been established that horses can develop conditioned food aversions (Houpt et al, 1990) and preferences (Goodwin et al, 2005a; and also make associations based on the nutritional content of foods (Laut et al, 1985;Cairns et al, 2002;Redgate et al, 2014), but other studies have reported that diet selection and intake are largely influenced by the organoleptic qualities of foods such as odour, taste, ease of prehension and texture and that nutrient content appeared to be a weak indicator (Dulphy et al, 1997;Cuddeford, 2005). These equivocal results may be associated with long gut transit time, which may results in different gut-brain feedback mechanisms and/or secondary plant compound detoxification compared to ruminants, but no studies have been done to evaluate this.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The influence of odour, taste and nutrients on feeding behaviour and food preferences in horses

Berg

Giagos

et al. 2016

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

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Highlights (for review):-The effect of odour, taste and nutrients on diet intake by horses was examined.-Two-choice and multiple-choice tests were used to evaluate feeding behaviour.-Nutrient content appeared to be the main driver for diet choices.-Taste appeared secondary to nutrients in determining the diet selected.-The multiple-choice test was able to more clearly differentiate in diet ranking. AbstractWhile it has been established that nutrients and flavours (odour, taste) play an important role in diet selection by horses, previous studies have not always clarified what type of flavouring (e.g. non-nutritive or nutritive) was used. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the influence of distinct food characteristics (odour, taste, nutrients) on the preference of horses using different preference testing protocols. This experiment consisted of three phases; adaptation (P1), two-choice testing (P2) and multiple-choice testing using a chequerboard design (P3). Four pelleted diets equal in digestible energy, but contrasted in crude protein (LP; 14% and HP; 27%) and added non-caloric (natural) sweetener (i.e. LP, LP+, HP, HP+) were consecutively fed to each of sixteen adult horses. The diets were paired with four non-nutritive odours (coconut, banana, cinnamon, spearmint), with a unique odour and diet combination allocated to each group of four horses. In P1, each diet was presented solely for five days to facilitate pre-and post-ingestive associations; in P2 a two-choice test was conducted with four diet combinations (contrasts) over three days; and in P3 the four diets were presented simultaneously in a checkerboard fashion over a 5-day period. Feed intake, bucket/zone visits and time spent foraging or moving were recorded. The key findings of this study were: (1) In P1 an initially large variation in intake was recorded with only some horses showing a neophobic response to a new odour/food, but variation declined within 2 days with the majority of the horses consuming over 90% of the diets. (2) Nutrient (HP) content appeared to be the main driver for diet intake in P2 (P<0.05) and P3 (P<0.001). (3)

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Section: The Influence Of Nutrients On Diet Selectionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of odour, taste and nutrients on feeding behaviour and food preferences in horses

Berg

Giagos

et al. 2016

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

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“…Investigations of the ability of horses to differentiate foods based on the orosensory characteristics and nutrient content are limited. There is some evidence that horses are able to detect macronutrients in foods and can adapt to deficiencies by increasing intake or by changing food choices (Laut et al, 1985;Cairns et al, 2002;Redgate et al, 2014). For example, Cairns et al (2002) showed that horses selected a higher energy concentrate over a lower energy one, regardless of the preferred flavour (mint or garlic).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, it has been suggested that horses, due to hindgut fermentation, may experience difficulties in associating the chosen food with its post-ingestive consequences, particularly when several foods are presented simultaneously. Therefore, a more recent study compared the effect of exposure to a single forage that was rich in either protein, lipids or hydrolysable carbohydrates on the selection of three forages in a simultaneous choice session (Redgate et al, 2014). The horses showed a greater preference for the forages that were rich in protein or hydrolysable carbohydrates, which suggests that horses responded to the macronutrients in the diets and that the dietary experience (single presentation) facilitated feedback mechanisms, and hence affected dietary preferences.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acceptance of novel food by horses: The influence of food cues and nutrient composition

Berg

Giagos

et al. 2016

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

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Compared to ruminants little is known about how horses modulate food intake and learn about flavour-to-post-ingestive consequences. While it has been suggested that due to hindgut fermentation horse's foraging preferences may be largely influenced by sensory input (e.g. volatiles), it has been established that horses are able to differentiate and select familiar foods (e.g. concentrates and hay) based on nutritional content. Yet it remains unclear how this translates to the acceptance of nutritious novel foods (NF). Therefore, the influence of food cues and nutrient composition on NF acceptance were examined in two experiments using 11 adult mares. In experiment 1, we investigated the influence of a familiar odour (FO) on the acceptance of a nutritious NF and in experiment 2, we determined if horses have the ability to select nutritious NF based on the nutritional content, regardless of sensory preferences. In experiment 1 horses received identical NF in a two-choice test with one of the choices being masked with a FO over a 9-day period. In experiment 2 horses were offered a high or low protein option of an otherwise identical NF in a two-choice test in which the NFs were paired with two unfamiliar flavours (odours). The two-choice test lasted for 14 days and the flavour-protein pairing was switched after 7 days. NF intakes were recorded over a 10 min test period on each test day and analysed using Bayesian hierarchical models. The results of experiment 1 indicate that a FO had a strong positive influence on the NF intake for the first 5 days (90-100% of total consumption and strong evidence for nonzero temporal effects (Bayes factor B 12 =110)). This was followed by a more even distribution of intake for the remaining period. In experiment 2 horses had a greater intake of high protein NF regardless of the flavour on days 4, 6 and 7 (80-87% of total consumption) and this continued after the switch over (Day 9 to 14; 57-81% of total consumption). However, 4 out of 11 horses showed neophobia throughout the testing period, which could have been associated with the novel odours as horses scanned the buckets with little to no sampling. The results suggest that pre-ingestive cues (e.g. smell, taste) of foods play an important role in diet selection and that a FO can increase the acceptance of NF. This new knowledge could be applied by the horse industry to encourage the consumption of new food or forages by horses.

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“…It is widely accepted that muscle development consists of both hyperplasia and hypertrophy. Feeding behavior (Vestergaard et al 2000;Redgate et al 2014), exercise intensity (Bond et al 2004) and activity patterns (Reimers et al 2014) may influence the regulation of muscle development or meat quality.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationships among muscle fiber type composition, fiber diameter and MRF gene expression in different skeletal muscles of naturally grazing Wuzhumuqin sheep during postnatal development

Siqin

Nishiumi

Yamada

et al. 2017

Animal Science Journal

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The aim of this study was to determine the relationships among muscle fiber‐type composition, fiber diameter, and myogenic regulatory factor (MRF) gene expression in different skeletal muscles during development in naturally grazing Wuzhumuqin sheep. Three major muscles (i.e. the Longissimus dorsi (LD), Biceps femoris (BF) and Triceps brachii (TB)) were obtained from 20 Wuzhumuqin sheep and 20 castrated rams at each of the following ages: 1, 3, 6, 9, 12 and 18 months. Muscle fiber‐type composition and fiber diameter were measured using histochemistry and morphological analysis, and MRF gene expression levels were determined using real‐time PCR. In the LD muscle, changes in the proportion of each of different types of fiber (I, IIA and IIB) were relatively small. In the BF muscle, a higher proportion of type I and a 6.19‐fold lower proportion of type IIA fibers were observed (P < 0.05). In addition, the compositions of type I and IIA fibers continuously changed in the TB muscle (P < 0.05). Moreover, muscle diameter gradually increased throughout development (P < 0.05). Almost no significant difference was found in MRF gene expression patterns, which appeared to be relatively stable. These results suggest that changes in fiber‐type composition and increases in fiber size may be mutually interacting processes during muscle development.

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Dietary experience modifies horses' feeding behavior and selection patterns of three macronutrient rich diets1

Cited by 28 publications

References 28 publications

The influence of odour, taste and nutrients on feeding behaviour and food preferences in horses

The influence of odour, taste and nutrients on feeding behaviour and food preferences in horses

Acceptance of novel food by horses: The influence of food cues and nutrient composition

Relationships among muscle fiber type composition, fiber diameter and MRF gene expression in different skeletal muscles of naturally grazing Wuzhumuqin sheep during postnatal development

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