Fecal Egg Counting

Fecal Egg Counting is becoming more predominate everyday with wormers not having their true effect anymore on all types of livestock, including horses. Specialist and Extension agents all over the United States are seeing more of an increase in resistance wormers and are pushing for horse owners to use a Fecal Egg Counting Test. Due to the way horses eat on pastures by them eating everything in sight and eating till the pasture is very close to the ground they are very susceptiable to worms. Most of the worms that infect our horses and livestock live at the ground to two inches up. Horse owners need to keep this in mind when looking at the best management practices for their horses.
Fecal Egg Counting is a guide to help producers evaluate their worming protocols. With a fecal sample from a producers horse one can identify before and after worming an animal to see if the wormer was needed and to see if it successfully did its job. This is a great tool for any producer to use to help with worming issues and one that is a simple process to complete. For help with any questions relating to Fecal Egg Counting please contact your local Extension Agent and we will be glad to assist you in anyway we can. For more information go to:
http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/publication/AG_Equine_2009-01pr.pdf

Equine Coggins, Vaccination, & Teeth Floating Clinic

A great event is coming up in Lenoir County at the Lenoir County Livestock Arena on Saturday November 5th. Livestock Veterinary Services is partnering with our local REINS (Regional Equine Information Network System) volunteers to provide a working clinic for horse owners. See the brochure for information on registration and costs. Contact Dr. Justin Martin at 252-933-1483 or 252-527-4960 for more information.

Hay Quality: Tools for Visual Appraisal

Most folks think that they know "horse hay" when they see it. Taking forage samples and getting nutrient analysis testing through NCDA&CS is the best way to get complete analysis and know for sure but visual appraisal of hay is important as well. There are key factors to look for when visually analyzing hay, including stage of maturity, leafiness, color, smell, and presence of foreign material. Using these tools can give you a guideline for inspecting hay.

Stage of maturity refers to the forage plant's stage of growth. Generally speaking the earlier growth stages will be higher in nutritive value than later harvested crops. Alfalfa hays should be harvested in the bud stage and can be identified by small buds at the tips of the stems but no purple flowers visible yet. The leaves will be very soft and the stems reasonably fine and pliable. As alfalfa becomes more mature the purple flowers will become more evident and stems much more coarse and almost woody. Grass hay maturity can be easily evaluated by examining for the presence and maturity of seed heads. Early harvested grass hays will have a minimal amount of seed heads and those present will be in early development and soft or easily crushed by the fingertips. Very mature grass hays will have numerous seed heads and often have a yellowish to brown color that comes from the maturation of the stems.

Leafiness is an excellent indicator of hay quality and therefore feed value as a high percentage of digestible nutrients are found in the leaves. This is somewhat related to stage of maturity as the younger the plants are at harvest the higher percentage of leaf-to-stem that the hay will be. A high percentage of leaves is also an indicator of good harvest and handling practices, especially in alfalfa type hays where improper handling can cause drastic leaf reduction. In general, hay with high leaf content has a higher percentage of nutrients and greater energy value than hay with fewer leaves.

Color is another important factor and should be the color of the immature crop in the field before it is cut. This desirable bright green coloration usually indicates that the hay was rapidly and properly cured in the field with little delays or weather damage. Sun-bleached hay is a light yellow color and can be evaluted by looking at the inside of the bales to determine if this damage was done before or after baling. If done after then the inside of the bale will be the bright green color and could have been bales stored near opening of the barn where direct sunlight was allowed to hit the stored bales. If the inside of the bales are light yellow then the hay probably stayed in the field too long and sun bleached thoroughly diminishing the overall value of the hay. Rain or moisture damaged hay will have a coloration that is more dark brown or even black in drastic situations. Brown hay can also indicate mold growth which can occur from the hay not being sufficient cured before it was baled. Moldy hays should be avoided at all costs. This brings us to our next hay characteristic of smell or odor. Hay should smell like the newly mown field free of musty, moldy, dusty, or just plain off-odored smells.

Inspection for foreign materials is another tool when visually evaluating hay. Obviously the presence of road-side trash, leaves, limbs, and sticks can downgrade hay quality but the precense of weeds can be the most common foreign material found in hay. Broad leaf weeds such as horse nettle, dogfennel, or pigweeds can be hiding in those bales so careful examination could be vital as there presence may cause the refusal to eat. Furthermore weed seeds can also pass undigested in manure and cause weed infestations in pastures or wherever the manure is dispersed.

In summary, whether you are buying or selling, producing or feeding, hay quality should be a major consideration. These tools for visual appraisal are important indicators of hay quality but there is no substitute for physically taking samples for routine nutrient analysis.

Does Bermuda Hay Cause Colic?

Does Bermudagrass Hay Cause Colic?

Randy Wood, Scotland County Cooperative Extension

(with excerpts from Dr. Bob Mowrey, NCSU Animal Science)

This is one of the long debated topics among horse owners and equine veterinarians in the Southeast for the last several years. The problem is that after years of debate, as well as a few research trials that have attempted to answer this question, we still do not have a definitive answer to this age-old question. Despite not having a clear-cut answer, we do know a few things about Bermuda hay and impaction colics.

· The type of colic associated with bermudagrass is an ileocecal colic, which is difficult to treat but fortunately not very commonly seen (as far as colics go).

· Water intake (or more specifically lack thereof) is directly related to this type of colic. So for horses that have restricted access to water, or are slow to drink due to weather conditions, this compounds the chance of colic greatly.

· Bermudagrass hay, no matter how high the quality, is not as easily digestible as Timothy or above average Alfalfa.

· Horses that are suddenly switched to a mature Bermuda hay from green forage or a timothy-type hay are much more prone to colic-type problems than ones that are gradually introduced.

· There are some horses in the world that are just going to be prone to this type of colic. If so, Bermuda hay is not the best choice.

One of the biggest factors that are associated with Bermuda colic is the level of maturity of the grass when harvested. While other factors such as the presence of mold and weeds will affect the quality of hay, the maturity level tends to be the major deciding factor with associated colics. The more mature a bermudagrass plant is, the lower the digestibility the resulting hay will have. To try to put a value on this, you will need a full analysis of the hay in question. The ADF value (acid detergent fiber) measures the digestibility of the hay. Hays with values at or below 35% are considered very digestible, while hays with ADF values above 35% are going to be less digestible, and thus more prone to cause problems.

So what does this mean to the average horse owner who is feeding Bermuda hay? In a nutshell, if your horse(s) have been on Bermuda hay for more than a few weeks and has never experienced any type of impaction colic, you should be able to say that your horse can handle Bermuda hay barring an unforeseen issue. On the other hand, if you have a horse that has had some colic problems in the past, and is not a big water drinker you probably would do well to keep a close watch on them and pay attention to your hay quality. Below is a guideline for things to watch for;

· Make sure the hay you are buying is relatively “young” hay, or is “horse” quality. A hay analysis can help you determine this (measuring the ADF values mentioned above), but so can an experienced eye when the time comes to purchase your hay for the winter.

· Use common sense and proper management when introducing a newly purchased or boarded horse onto Bermuda hay. Don’t allow horses to gorge themselves on Bermuda hay the first few times they are fed it. Keep a close eye on them for the first several days to make sure they are not having problems digesting the hay.

· Make sure they are getting proper water intake.

· Finally, if you know a particular horse in your barn is prone to colic, feeding that one particular horse a timothy or alfalfa hay mixture may be cheaper in the long run than a vet bill.

So while no clear answers are to be had for the question of does Bermuda hay cause colics, it is clear than some horse will be easier to manage on Bermuda than others.

Equine Pregnancy: the Last Trimester

Mike Yoder, NCSU Extension Horse Specialist

Late Fall into early winter is usually a quiet time for the broodmare. Most mares are entering the last trimester of their pregnancy, a time when many changes occur. Through the fall and into the early winter there are two primary concerns for the broodmare manager, nutrition and disease prevention. Maintaining the mare in good body condition and preparing her to ward off any diseases that may interfere with the pregnancy.

Nutrition

At no point during the last trimester of pregnancy should a mare be losing weight. Mares that lose weight are said to be in a negative plane of nutrition and have been shown to lose pregnancies at a higher rate than mares that are maintaining or gaining weight (positive plane of nutrition). While we do not want mares to be obese, a little extra body condition serves two purposes: first, when the mare foals and begins to nurse the foal, her energy demands increase as much as 50 percent. Increasing her feed intake quickly to meet this sudden requirement for energy, may make the mare susceptible to colic or founder. However, a mare that is slightly fat at foaling has stored energy to draw upon for 7 to 10 days while you are gradually increasing her feed intake to meet energy demands.

The second benefit of having mares on a positive plane of nutrition at foaling is the ease with which they rebreed. Mares on a positive plane of nutrition rebreed sooner than mares who are on a negative plane of nutrition and are more likely to maintain the pregnancy. The point to be remembered is that mares should be gaining or maintaining weight at foaling and then energy should be increased to maintain at least a moderate body condition until the foal is weaned. Quality forage, regardless of the kind, should be the basis of your nutrition program with grain and mineral supplements used only as needed to balance nutrients and maintain body condition.

Vaccinations

Rhinopneumonitis, EHV-1, is a virus that may cause a mare to lose her pregnancy, or in some cases, perinatal foal mortality. EHV-1 is a herpesvirus acquired by inhalation. It is generally recommended that mares should be vaccinated against Rhinopneumonitis using a killed vaccine. The following table provides information on the most common EHV-1 vaccines.

Name	Pneumabort-K	Prestige II	Prodigy	Rhinomune
Type	Killed	Killed	Killed	Attenuated live
When to Give	5, 7, 9 months of gestation		5, 7, 9 months of gestation	After 2nd month Then every 3 months.
Notes	Vaccinate pregnant and non-pregnant mares at same time.	EHV-1, EHV-4, and influenza subtypes A1 and A2.	Effective against virus-associated abortion.	No adverse reactions have been reported in pregnant mares vaccinated with this product.

Herpes virus vaccines usually do not provide long term protection, thus most are given every 2 to 3 months. Of the vaccines listed above, Pneumabort-K is listed as effective against an EHV-1 outbreak, but there is some controversy over whether or not any of the vaccines are effective for use after the disease is established in a herd. To minimize the chance of EHV-1 infection, resident mares should not be exposed to outside mares. Stress may also make mares more susceptible to the virus, so maintaining a stress free routine for the mare is beneficial.

Mares should also be vaccinated, using killed or inactivated vaccine, for Influenza, Tetanus, and Encephalomyelitis. Boosters for each of these should be given to pregnant mares 30 – 45 days prior to foaling to enhance passive immunity in the foal. Always discuss your vaccination program with your veterinarian and heed their advice concerning modifications to these recommendations.

Maintaining your mare’s immunity and a desirable body condition through the last trimester of pregnancy will help position your mare to produce a healthy foal and rebreed in a timely manner. Be sure to observe your mare at least twice daily to quickly identify any nutrition or health issues that may impact your mare and/or the foal she is carrying.