Assessment of the minimum protein requirement of adult ponies

Summary The aim of the present study was to determine the minimum protein requirement in adult ponies. Literature data from nitrogen‐balance trials in adult ponies were used. In addition, nitrogen balance was measured in three mature ponies that were fed a low‐ and a high‐protein diet according to a cross‐over design. On the low‐protein ration, which provided 1.1 g digestible crude protein (DCP)/kg0.75 day, plasma albumin and total protein concentrations were non‐significantly decreased by about 6% and group‐mean nitrogen balance was negative. Using data from the present experiment and from six other studies, the sum of endogenous faecal and urinary nitrogen losses was calculated to be 166 ± 37 mg/kg0.75 day (mean ± SE, n = 13). Subsequently, a minimum protein requirement of 1.7 g DCP/kg0.75 day was calculated. The value for minimum protein requirement has low precision, which should be taken into account when setting the protein allowance of adult ponies.