To determine the effects of feeding frequency on nutrient digestibility and blood metabolites in horse, 16 Turkmen horses were used with weight of 430 ± 46 kg and age of 7 ± 1.8 years. Four feeding frequencies with 2 (M2), 4 (M4), 6 (M6), and 8 (M8) meals per day were used for a period of 28 days. The ratio of hay to concentrate was 70:30 in the experimental diet. Acid insoluble ash was used as internal marker to determine digestibility. On the 27th day of experiment, the blood was collected on 13 time points throughout the day. The results of this experiment showed that feed intake was not affected by feeding frequency (P> .05). The highest amount of nutrient digestibility was observed in the M8 treatment compared to other treatments, and digestibility of nutrients was increased with increasing feeding frequency from M2 to M8. Also, serum cholesterol concentration was not influenced by the increasing feeding frequency (P= .451). But, diurnal mean concentration of blood metabolites including total protein concentration (P= .030), glucose (P= .014), triglyceride (P= .003), and low-density lipoprotein (P= .006) was statistically increased in treatment of 2 meals per day. In conclusion according to the results of present study, increasing the feeding frequency improved nutrient digestibility and blood metabolites in the treatment M8. However, associated with digestion coefficients and serum metabolites, there were no statistically difference between treatment M4 and M6.
Keywords: Blood metabolites; Digestibility; Feeding frequency; Horse.
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