Biotin for Horses
Biotin for horses is an extremely popular feed supplement.
Biotin supplement for horses is recommended by most experienced veterinarians. Biotin helps improve the strength and quality of the hooves of horses. It is also often used as a special treatment for treating dry and cracked hooves.
Biotin is a compound which contains sulphur and vitamin B.
Both of these are excellent for maintaining the health of the hooves of the horse. These also help in the necessary growth of the hoof horn. Once the horn has grown additional biotin can help maintain the growth.
While the results of adding biotin supplements may not be seen immediately, over a period of time, it is advantageous to use biotin for horses’ hooves.
When you continue to add biotin supplements to the feed of the horses, after a few months, the hooves begin to heal and the problem of dry, cracked and painful hooves becomes history. It is not uncommon for horses or ponies to pull off their shoes. If you feed them biotin supplements, this problem would be greatly reduced. Recurring laminitis can also be treated using biotin enhanced feeds regularly. There are many ways by which you can provide biotin for horses. Usually horses that graze on good quality pastures, do not require additional biotin supplementation, since good quality grass is a good enough supplement in itself. There are however, quantities of pure biotin for horses in Barley, soya bean and oats. Also, the fiber that the horse consumes breaks down in the large intestines, releasing small quantities of biotin and vitamin B. If you have been giving your horse a healthy diet, you do not really need to worry about the biotin supplementation. The horse’s body will be able to breakdown enough fiber to create biotin and if the horse is healthy, all of the biotin released in the body will be absorbed into it. Biotin is a water soluble mineral and therefore is not stored for long. It is recommended that daily dosages of the nutrient should be given to the horse in order to make sure that the nutritional needs are being met.
Usually, a horse requires about 15-20 mg of biotin per day. However, there is no clear consensus on this figure. It is believed that horses who do not have healthy hooves, can easily consume more biotin than healthy horses. To promote healthy growth of the hoof horn, however, a daily amount of 15-20 mg of biotin should ideally suffice.
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