A Common Question

Just finishing up with a tradeshow in Colorado, a common question was coming up. “Isn’t 30% protein a lot?”. As you may be aware, the crude protein content of ProAdvantage Grass is 30% and this may seem high. But two things must be kept in mind. First, the feeding level of ProAdvantage is very low compared to other grain mixes, thus the concentration or level of each nutrient will be higher to get the adequate nutrition.

Secondly, the protein, or for that matter any nutrient, quoted on feed tag, means little, until it is combined with forage to get the actual Total Dietary Intake of protein (or other nutrient). To calculate this, you can use the following equation.

lbs of hay/day x % Protein of hay / 100 = lbs of protein in hay (# 1)

lbs of grain/day x% Protein of Grain / 100 = lbs of protein in grain (# 2)

# 1 + # 2 = Total lbs of protein / Total lbs Hay & Grain x 100 = Total Diet Protein %

Sample

18 lbs x 8% / 100 = 1.44 lbs of protein from hay (#1)

1lb x 30 / 100 = 0.30 lbs of protein from grain (#2)

1.44 + 0.30 = 1.74 lbs / 19 lbs of food per day X 100 = 9.15%

You can use this equation for any nutrient just plug in the number and go from there. This is the true representation of the nutrient intake for the horse, because they eat more than just the grain—the forage MUST be factored into the picture. Happy Calculating!!!!!!!