Horse Hay Analysis: What are ‘ADF’ and ‘NDF’?

Acid detergent fiber and neutral detergent fiber measurements can help you decide if hay is good for your easier keeper, broodmare, or growing foal.
Share
Favorite
Please login to bookmarkClose
Please login

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT

horse hay analysis
Generally, NDF content of 40-50% and ADF content of 30-35% is considered ideal for performance horses, young stock, and broodmares. | Photo: The Horse Staff

Q.I recently got my hay tested and received the analysis back. I have heard of water-soluble carbohydrates (WSC) and starch, but the analysis also lists “ADF” and “NDF” on it. What are they, and are they relevant?

—Via e-mail

A.The abbreviations “ADF” and “NDF” stand for “acid detergent fiber” and “neutral detergent fiber,” respectively. They are measures of feeds’ cell walls, or structural carbohydrate components

Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.

TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com.

Start your free account today!

Already have an account?
and continue reading.

Share

Related Articles

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

In the past 12 months, have you spoken to your farrier about the benefits of nonmetal/synthetic/plastic horse shoes?
108 votes · 108 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

Sign In

Don’t have an account? Register for a FREE account here.

Need to update your account?

You need to be logged in to fill out this form

Create a free account with TheHorse.com!