Rate of Passage of Various Feedstuffs through the Digestive tract of Horses

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Abstract
Three pairs of light horses were used to determine the rate of passage of alfalfa alone, and alfalfa or timothy hay each supplemented with either oats, barley, or corn. Chromic oxide was used as the indicator. Each ration was fed to a pair of horses for a total of 20 days, the last 6 days of which were designated as the collection period. Although the rate of evacuation of the indicator established at 12-hr, intervals varied among individual horses, an effect from ration differences could not be determined due to the limited number of animals employed. Recovery of the chromic oxide ingested required 96 hr. (4 days), regardless of the ration fed. Although 4 days appear to be adequate for the total collection period for a digestion trial with horses, it is suggested that 5 days be considered to reduce the influence of individual animal differences.