COMPARED SIZE AND STRUCTURE OF PLANT PARTICLES IN THE

HORSE AND THE SHEEP FECES

ELIZABETH GRENET', W. MARTIN-ROSSET', and M. CHENOST'

tLaboratoire des Aliments,zstation des Productions Bovine et Chevaline, INRA - Centre de Re-
cherches Zootechniques et Vitirinaires de Theix 63122 Ceyrat, France'

The horse fecal particle size is small but is larger than that of the sheep: I .8 and 0.3 mm, respectively
(n : 11). The iize depends on the forage composition and digestibility. The particle lignification
is lower in horse than in sheep feces because the cellulosic cell walls are less digested.
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Key words: Horse, sheep, fecal particle size, fecal particle lignification

The ruminant fecal particle size is very small;
0.2 mm in sheep and 0.4 mm in cattle, on the
average (Grenet 1966, 19'70; Thomas and Cam-
pling 1977). The difference between both is rel-
atively low, according to the differences in size
between the two types of ruminants. Few studies
have been carried out on the fecal particles of
the horse which should be larger than those of
ruminants, (Ud6n and Van Soest 1982), and in
which the digestion of plant structures should be
lower (Harbers et al. 1981).
In a comparative study ofthe feeding value of
For personal use only.
cumulative percentage of particles under size
was plotted against sieve size. From this curve
a theoretical particle size was determined every
5Va, from 5 to 95Eo. The mean particle size is
the mean of the 19 values so obtained. The pro-
portion of lignified tissue, as opposed to cellu-
losic tissue, in the largest particles was meas-
ured by microscopic observation and was graded
on a scale from 0 to l0 (Grenet 1970).
The results show that the proportion of DM
retained on the sieves varied widely according
to the diet (Fig. 1). The mean fecal particle size

forages for horses and sheep, 17 horse and sheep
feces samples were prepared. The composition
and the digestibility of the forages (Martin-Ros-
set et al. in prep.) are given in Table 1. The poor
hay, the straws and the maize silage were fed
with soybean meal:l1Va of dry matter (DM) in-
take. Groups of five or six adult half-breed
horses maintained in a stable and fitted with a
rubber sheet against the hindlegs, and groups of
six sheep maintained in metabolism crates were
fed ad libitum. After a pre-experimental period
of at least 2 wk, the measurement period lasted
for 6 days during which samples were collected
on the weighted mixture of the feces excreted.
The fecal particle size was measured by a wet-
sieving analysis on sieves with mesh openings
of, respectively, 8 mm, 6.3 mm, 4 mm, 2.5 mm,
1.25 mm. 0.8 mm.0.4 mm and 0.16 mm. The
in the horse was small (1.8 -f 0.8 mm) but was,
however, higher than sheep particle size (0'3 r-
0.08 mm). The correlation coefficients between
the percentage of fecal DM retained on the sieves
equai to or higher than 0.16 mm and the forage
and feces characteristics are given in Table 2'
This shows that this percentage of DM increases
when the forage organic matter and crude fiber
digestibility decrease, and varies in the same
way as the nondigestible organic matter content
(NDOM) and the nondigestible crude fiber con-
tent (NDCF) of the forages. Furthermore, it in-
creases with the crude fiber content of the feces,
and varies inversely with their crude protein
content.
The lignification of the fecal particles was sig-
nificantly lower (P<0.01) in the horse, with a
mean of 5.5 x. 1.4, than in the sheep (7.0 *

Table 1. Chemical composition and digestibility of the 17 forages

10 fresh Imatze
forages 4 hays 2 straws silage

Crude protein (Vo DM) .6-28.6

tr 5.2-21 .4 3.1- 3.6 8.0
Crude fiber (7o DM) 15.5-30.5 23.5-36.6 42.6-44.'l 15.5
Digestibility 7o of Horse Sheep
Organic matter 41.6-'76.0 46.5-76.s
Crude fiber 29.8-73.8 39 -5-73.3

Can. J. Anim. Sci. 64 (Suppl.):345-346 (Sept. l9E4)

345
 346 GRENET HORSE AND SHEEP FECAL PARTICLES
-
Table 2. Correlation coefficients obtained between the amount of particles above 0.16 mm 7o DM in the horse
and sheep feces and the forage and feces characteristics (n : 1'7)

Percentage of particles > 0.16 mm

Diet Horse Sheep

Organic matter digestibility (7a) - 0.80 - 0.'74
Crude fiber digestibility (7o) - 0.'79 - o.74
NDOM (7o DM) + 0.83 +o.76
NDCF (7O DM) + 0.87 + 0.82
F eces
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Crude fiber 7o DM + 0.72 + 0.79

Crude protein 70 DM - 0.83 - 0.75
r: 0.61 is significant at P : 0.01 for n : l'7

ing intake; observations we have made in other

50
experiments on ponies have shown that the par-
ticle size is already very small in the boli swal-
cf Horse
lowed during feeding, collected from esopha-
E10 geal fistula. Lastly. our microscopic
E observations showed that the digestion of cel-
o1n
lulosic cell walls was less efficient in the horse
o than in the sheep.
a 2t1
The technical assistance of H. Dubroeuco and
t10 L. L'Hotelier is gratefully recognized.
For personal use only.

o
0
0 GRENET, E. 1966. Les particules v6g6tales des
8 e.z 12.51'25G80'40.16
< rower .n"" SliJ"ritze
s soLubte
Fig. 1. Distribution of particles in horse
sheep feces.
0.7) for 13 of the diets fed ro both animal cate-
gorles.
In conclusion, forages have to be reduced to
very small particles within the digestive tract of
the horse, as well as in the ruminant. This com-
minution depends on the composition and di-
gestibility of the forages. The reduction in small
particles seems to be mainly due to chewing dur-
< s
fbces de mouton. Ann. Zootech. 15: 303-312.
(mm) GRENET, E. 1970. Taille et structure des par-
ticules v6g6tales au niveau du feuillet et des
fdces chez les bovins. Ann. Biol. Anim. Bioch.
Biophys. 4:643-657.
and
HARBERS, L. H., McNALLY, L. K. and
SMITH, W. H. 1981. Digestibilityof threegrass
hays by the horse and scanning electron micros-
copy of undigested leaf remnants. J. Anim. Sci.
53: 167l-1677.
THOMAS, S. and CAMPLING, R. C. 19'77.
Comparisons of some factors affecting digesti-
bility in sheep and cows. J. Br. Grassl. Soc. 32:
3341.
UDEN, P. and VAN SOEST, P. J. 1982. The
determination of digesta particle size in some
herbivores. Anim. Feed Sci. Technol. 7:3544.