Horses are what we call monogastric (single stomach) hindgut fermenters and their digestive tract has been designed for eating high fibre forages over long periods of the day. However, horses don’t have the necessary enzymes to digest fibre by themselves and this is where the trillions...
Are You Losing Stock To Pregnancy Toxaemia? Pregnancy toxaemia is a metabolic disorder in ruminants that is a result of a high carbohydrate or energy demand by the foetus exceeding what the mother can supply from her diet during the last trimester of pregnancy. The condition...
Imagine the devastation if you were to head out to the paddock one morning to check on your stock only to discover that you have lost over half of your herd over night! This horrible scenario can unfortunately be quite common in situations where stock...
Receiving a balanced diet is critical for all animals (including humans) in order to achieve optimum health, fertility, production and being able to perform to the very best of their genetic material. A balanced diet means that all requirements are being met and are in...
When you consider the value of your land, the crop or forage that you might be planting, you really can’t afford NOT to do a soil test. A soil test is such a powerful tool as it takes the guesswork out of what we are trying...
Isolated rain has fallen and the widespread drought means there is a potential high demand on oats and other winter grazing cereals to fill the current feed gap. Those with irrigation have commenced planting as ground temperatures become more favourable. Anything we do for the next...
In ruminant animals a considerable amount of degradation and synthesis of protein occurs in the rumen and the material that becomes available for digestion can differ considerably from what was originally present in the food. Consequently, different approaches for evaluating protein sources are necessary for...
Horses are inquisitive creatures and their natural flight response often leads them to being accident prone. Anyone who owns horses understands the anxiety and helplessness we feel when something goes wrong with our beloved companions. When it comes to equine emergencies, having a clear plan...
How To Remineralise Your Garden Over thousands of years, essential minerals have been continually taken out of the soil by plants, often to the point of exhaustion. Many Australian farmers understand the problems associated with declining soil fertility, as they are having to use increasing amounts...
Riding Tips and Hints with Brett Cantle There are many elements and parts of a good technique. Everything that you read in the following posts is what I have learnt from others, and works for me. If you have another way of going about it that...
As we bring our horses in to prepare them for the upcoming year of competing, no matter what your chosen discipline is there are a few important things that you can do to help reduce your horse’s risk of developing gastric ulcers. Equine gastric ulcer syndrome...
Living with droughts has more often than not become a way of life for Australian graziers and the cost of feeding livestock for extended periods of time pays a heavy toll. If you have the capability and facilities, early weaning can be a very strategic...
