By: Matthew M. Brendal
Determining the amount of protein intake is easy using several simple mathematic steps. You can easily determine the protein of bagged feed by reading the ingredients content label that is required to be indicated by law. The determining of hay or grass is a little more difficult. You may be able to some times purchase hay that has been analyzed and you are given a content break down. It is rare though, usually we just buy hay locally with little idea what the protein content is. There are websites that can give you a rough idea of the nutritional content based on the type of hay you purchase. Also the same applies to grass in your pasture. You can’t determine exactly what your horse is eating in pasture most of the time. Here is a typical example of how to determine possible protein intake by your horse.
8.0% protein grass forage (75% total intake)
+ 14.0% protein concentrate feed (25% total intake)
9.5%
Step 1
15
5
Step 2
grass/hay (base number) 120
+ concentrate (base number) 70
total base number 190
Step 3
grass/hay 15 lbs
+ concentrate 5 lbs
total feed 20 lbstotal base number ¸20 ¸ 100 (or move decimal 2 places left for math prep) = 0.095 lbs total feed = 9.5% total protein
Step 4
190
Weight of Feed and Percentage of Protein - Converted to Grams
Step 1
20
Step 2
9.5
Step 3
9,072
Grams of Protein Required Using a Horse’s Weight Percentage
The total protein intake using the example would be acceptable for a 1000 lbs horse requiring 9.5% protein intake.
Step 1
1000
Step 2
20
Step 3
9
Step 4
0.855
Step 5
Total grams of protein intake..................861.8 g
Total grams required for 1000 lbs horse........855.0 g
kg X 0.095 (9.5% protein daily intake) = 0.855 kg kg X 1000 (convert kilograms to grams) = 855 g lbs X 0.02 (2% body weight daily intake) = 20 lbs lbs X 0.45 (convert to kilograms) = 9 kg grams X 0.095 = 861.8 grams of total protein% lbs X 453.6 g (number of grams to pounds) 9,072 grams lbs of concentrate X 14% protein = 70 (base number) lbs of grass/hay X 8% protein = 120 (base number) protein total intake
