time taken to digest 1kg oats with 1/2kg wheat bran

Question
hi ma'am. may i know within how many hours can an average thoroughbred horse digest 1kg oats along with 1/2kg wheat bran?

Answer
Hello Roberts,

That may be a bit of a difficult question to answer and depends on a number of variables.  The rate of passage can depend on a number of variables including the amount fed per feeding and the horse's activity level.  In an ideal world, oats are digested in the stomach and early portion of the small intestine.  But in an imperfect scenario, oats can travel undigested to the cecum in which case digestion (and fermentation) are stretched out over a longer period of time.

If your 1kg of oats and 1/2kg of bran are fed alone, without other feed fed immediately afterwords, it could be digested in a properly functioning stomach without excessive risk of the oats making it to the hindgut.  Emptying time for the stomach (from the time of filling) can be as quick as 12 minutes, and the rate of passage through the small intestine as quick as 1ft/minute.  

Thanks, Corlena