HYDROPONICS FOR EQUINE FEED.

Hydroponics for horse diet, with the develoment and availability of products called fodder systems. Fodder refers to food grown for and fed in a living state to livestock. Rising feed prices are also responsible for the growing interest in fodder systems. Different varieties or combinations of grains or legumes , to cereal grains such as barley, oats, and wheat are available for different animal species, but the most common crops grown for horses are wheat and barley. The seeds germinate and grow rapidly, and in approximately six days a “crop” is ready to feed to livestock. The 6- to 8-inch-tall sprouts grow in a thick layer called a mat. You can remove the mat from the tray and feed it to horses in its entirety—roots and all. The idea is to have fresh, live, natural food that you’ve grown yourself within mere days. Sprouting grain is 80% digestible, and some of its vitamins are more readily available in this fresh crop than in dry hay. Proponents claim that benefits include a quick crop yield in a very small area that offers horses increased hydration (the sprout mats are very lush—think early spring grass). Two pounds of seeds equals 15 pounds of fodder. Manufacturers claim that horses consuming fodder recover more quickly from competition due to the increased hydration and to a more efficient uptake of nutrients and highly digestible fiber the fodder affords. They also purport that this natural feed is compatible with the equine digestive system, reducing ulcers, laminitis, tying-up, and impactions and other types of colic, along with increasing growth in young animals. read more here; http://www.thehorse.com/articles/35871/is-hydroponic-feed-in-your-horses-future?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=health-news&utm_campaign=06-02-2015