The Vintage™ Advantage
by Dr. Ron Rompala
The Vintage™ line of horse feeds are second to none. The extruded nuggets separate these products from others. In review, extrusion involves the cooking of grain under pressure with steam and subsequently forcing it out of small holes. The result is a nugget that is puffy, coarse and without fines. Extrusion gelatinizes or fractures the starch molecules in grain. It is easier for the digestive enzymes of the gut to breakdown starch and absorb the end products. Consequently, less starch from extruded feeds will reach the micro flora in the lower gut than starch from typical coarse texture or pelleted feeds.
The advantages of extruded feeds are as follows:
- Improved Digestibility. More starch is digested in the small intestine that improves feed utilization.
- Slower Feed Consumption. Many animal owners wrongly equate the quality of feed to the rate of consumption. Rapid feed consumption can lead to colic and other digestive disorders. The dry coarse nugget forces horses to eat slower.
- Reduced Risks of Digestive Disorders. Slower eating rates and more starch digested in the small intestine reduce the chance of colic, ulcers and laminitis due to feed.
- Dust-Free. The extrusion process yields few fines which in turn does not aggravate respiratory problems.
- Readily Absorbs Fat. Unlike pellets, the extruded nuggets readily absorb fat and oils because of a greater surface area. The fat and oils are thoroughly absorbed into the nuggets and not readily exposed to air which in turn reduces mechanisms that promote rancidity in comparison to pellets and coarse texture feeds.
© June, 2000. Blue Seal Feeds, Inc.
© Blue Seal Feeds – June, 2000