Are there natural sources of electrolytes for horses in winter?

Are there natural sources of electrolytes for horses in winter? While the term "electrolytes" doesn’t appear in the search results, the basic nutrients that animals need to maintain good health include minerals, and the article discusses minerals that animals require.

What Nutrients Do Horses Need in Winter?

The basic nutrients that animals require for maintenance, growth, reproduction, and good health include carbohydrates, protein, fat, minerals, vitamins, and water. The minerals essential for animal life include common salt (sodium chloride), calcium, phosphorus, sulfur, potassium, magnesium, manganese, iron, copper, cobalt, iodine, zinc, molybdenum, and selenium.

How Can I Ensure My Horse Gets Enough Minerals?

All farm animals generally need more common salt than is contained in their feeds, and they are supplied with it regularly. Of the other essential minerals, phosphorus and calcium are most apt to be lacking because they are heavily drawn upon to produce bones, milk, and eggshells. Good sources of calcium and phosphorus are bonemeal, dicalcium phosphate, and defluorinated phosphates. Calcium may readily be supplied by ground limestone, ground seashells, or marl, which are all high in calcium.

What About Trace Minerals?

In some areas, soil and forage are deficient in copper and cobalt, which are needed along with iron for the formation of hemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying pigment of the red blood cells. In these areas, farm animals may suffer from anemia unless the deficiency is corrected by means of a suitable mineral supplement.

How Can I Provide Minerals to Livestock?

To furnish both calcium and phosphorus, grazing livestock may be allowed free access to such a mixture as 60 percent dicalcium phosphate and 40 percent common salt. Trace mineralized salt is used when copper or cobalt may be deficient. Livestock usually are given access to common salt separately, so they will not be forced to eat more of the other minerals than they require to get the amount of salt they need.

What About Swine?

Swine diets usually contain prescribed levels of calcium, phosphorus, salt, and essential trace minerals that may be deficient in the grains they are fed.

Want to discover more about the specific mineral requirements for horses and how to meet them through diet and supplementation?