Question

I have a question about a possible supplement for my horse, though it is a little unusual. Can I feed eggs to horses? I live on a farm where we get a plethora of chicken eggs every morning, and I thought that perhaps eggs would be a good alternative to fat supplements for my horse. I was trying to dig up some research on it, but I did not find anything except forum posts that label it as an old racehorse trick. Do you think that feeding eggs to my horse would harm him? Or better yet, help him?

Answer

Eggs are an excellent source of protein, as we all know. Protein quality is exceptional because eggs have an ideal balance of amino acids. Remember, the yolk is the sole source of food for a developing chick.

As for horses, eggs have been and still are a common addition to the Irish and English racehorse diet (along with a Guinness stout), and I met a three-day event rider in the United States that fed raw eggs as well. I’ve never heard of feeding them boiled to a horse, only raw.

I do not know of any problems that are associated with feeding a horse eggs and mixed into the feed they do not have a palatability problem.

I think they are not commonly used because it is a little expensive if you have to buy the eggs, but if you have an abundance of eggs on the farm I would say that the horses may benefit from the surplus.