Are extruded feeds easier for a horse to digest?

If you have ever fed a commercial dog food product, you know what an extruded feed looks like. Extrusion is simply the process of pushing a mix of heated feed ingredients through small holes under high pressure. You don’t see many extruded horse feeds these days, but there are some out there (two extruded Purina products are WellSolve W/C and Amplify). One of the biggest claims by manufacturers of extruded horse feed is that it is easier for horses to digest, therefore making it better for horses recovering from colic surgery. This is not exactly the case, and there's more to the story:

Purina Amplify, an extruded high-fat nugget

It is true that extrusion does increase digestibility of starch and protein as compared to certain un-processed ingredients. However, there is no strong science to back the notion than extrusion is better than other processing methods (such as pelleting) to increase digestibility. The 2007 NRC does make mention that “feeding a complete feed containing extruded ingredients was more effective at maintaining the body weight of old horses with low body condition when compared to a more traditional ration”. This statement refers to Dr. Les Bruer’s published research on Purina Equine Senior (back then, it contained Athlete, the extruded fat nugget utilized before Amplify). This is the only place in the NRC that extrusion is mentioned specific to a horse feed. The only other place it comes up is in a general discussion of the process and also in some studies looking at how different processing methods (including extrusion) affect digestibility of whole grains. The general conclusion of those studies was that the mechanical and heat treatment of certain feed ingredients (i.e. corn) through pelleting, extrusion, micronizing, or popping can increase the starch and protein digestibility as compared to un-processed ingredients. But there is no consistent evidence to show that one processing method utilizing heat is superior to any other. During the pelleting process, “raw” feed ingredients are subjected to both high temperature and moisture, a process which enhances digestibility of certain feed components. During extrusion, the final step after heat and moisture treatment is when the pellet expands as steam is released very rapidly due to a sudden drop in pressure. This creates the “puffed” physical appearance of an extruded feed. So in general terms, the primary difference between extrusion and pelleting is the final step of the process. Both processes improve the overall digestibility of raw feed ingredients as compared to whole grains, and there currently is no published evidence that one processing method is better than the other. So the decision as to whether a pelleted or extruded feed is more digestible should be made based on the formula and nutritional content of the feed itself (and the research behind that feed) and not solely on the processing method alone.

Bottom line: Processed feeds can be easier to digest than unprocessed feeds, especially for horses with poor teeth or that have gastrointestinal health issues, but there are no proven advantages of one specific processing method over another.

More research feed going out the door...

Last week, Kent Lanter and I traveled to our horse feed plant in Guilderland, NY. We were there to make a test run of a new feed formulation we are doing research on. This is a different feed than the one we made at Mulberry in April- we have lots of irons in the fire!

As usual, the plant did a great job prepping for our test and having everything on hand we needed. Its always great to work in the plants and get to be involved in the manufacturing process from set up to sewing up the bags! Special thanks to Jim Hopkins, Gary Slater and the rest of the GNY team.

After our successful manufacturing test, the feed was shipped out to 9 different farms across the country to be fed to over 100 horses. Feed is also being shipped to our research farm at Longview where it will continue in trials with our own horses.

And for those of you that know Kent Lanter (aka MacGyver), I was especially lucky to have him in my neck of the woods last week. During his visit, he helped me to feed my horses, do barn chores and fix a window in my sunroom that had been broken for quite some time. Hand him a screwdriver and that man goes to work!

Have a great day! Mary Beth

Manufacturing research feeds

I had a fun and productive day yesterday with Kent Lanter and Steve Furst at our Mulberry horse feed mill in central Florida. Kent and I traveled there to oversee the manufacturing of a new feed that is being shipped out for a large research project. Kent is our "mad scientist" so to speak that helps us on the process research side and to figure out how all the different ingredients us nutritionists want to put in a feed will actually end up as something a horse will eat! Steve is the plant manager with a huge amount of experience and always runs a great mill with a crew that is willing to work with us on new feeds and designs.

I always like spending time in our mills and it makes me proud to see how things are running smoothly- from ingredient testing, to mixing, pelleting, blending, packing, etc. Its nice to work with all our dedicated employees that are ensuring the feed is made correctly and with our high quality standards.

We made three different rations yesterday, 30 tons of feed in all that is now enroute to its research location. I wish I could tell you what it was, but of course, that is top secret while we are in the development phase. I can tell you this- if this product performs as expected, it won't hit the market until 2012 at the earliest! It takes time to do good research and develop new and innovative products that are good for the horse. A lot of formulating, testing, retesting, field trials and more.

So enjoy the pics of our Mulberry mill at sunrise and all the feed ready to load on the trucks! That's all you're getting for now....

And I have to give a shout out to Dr. Kelly Vineyard. This is actually a research project that she has been working on- and she was not able to make it to the mill because she is officially on maternity leave! Baby Owen Robert Vineyard was born last Tuesday, April 5th and the whole family is doing very well.

Have a great day!