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Equine feeding side preference – incidence and age effect

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 February 2018

S H Bottom ,
H Owen ,
R E Lawson ,
P A Harris  and
S Hall
S H Bottom
Affiliation:
School of Land–based Studies, The Nottingham Trent University, Brackenhurst Nottingham Road, Southwell, Nottinghamshire NG25 0QF, UK, Email: sarah.bottom@ntu.ac.uk
H Owen
Affiliation:
School of Land–based Studies, The Nottingham Trent University, Brackenhurst Nottingham Road, Southwell, Nottinghamshire NG25 0QF, UK, Email: sarah.bottom@ntu.ac.uk
R E Lawson
Affiliation:
School of Land–based Studies, The Nottingham Trent University, Brackenhurst Nottingham Road, Southwell, Nottinghamshire NG25 0QF, UK, Email: sarah.bottom@ntu.ac.uk
P A Harris
Affiliation:
Equine Studies Group, WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition , Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire LE14 4RT, UK
S Hall
Affiliation:
Equine Studies Group, WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition , Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire LE14 4RT, UK
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Extract

Two choice preference testing is used in animals to determine food preference or taste response (Nicol, 1997). This relies upon selection from a theoretical mean of 0.5, if no preference is shown. The aims of this study were two fold: to measure the incidence of side preference in the horse when given the choice of two identical feeds; and to assess the influence of age on side preference.

18 TB x horses were used in this study. Six horses were allocated to each of the age groups; young (2-4 years), middle (8-14 years) and old (over 16 years). All horses were housed in stables of identical design. 1.5kg DM of basal feed was offered in two containers, positioned left and right, for a ten–minute period over nine days. All spillages were collected and recorded. Intake was calculated as the (amount of feed offered – amount of feed remaining – 0.5x the Spillage).

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Posters
Information
BSAP Occasional Publication , Volume 32: Emerging Equine Science , 2004 , pp. 223 - 225
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Production 2004

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References

Nicol, C.J., (1997). Environmental choice of farm animals. Animal Choices 20: 35–43.Google Scholar