About

Maurice Eastridge is a Professor and Senior Associate Chair at The Ohio State University in the Department of Animal Sciences. His role involves leadership within the department, and he is involved in research related to animal sciences. Specific details about his research focus, background, and key contributions are not provided in the page text.

Research topics

• Biology
• Medicine
• Animal science
• Endocrinology
• Chemistry
• Veterinary medicine
• Biochemistry
• Internal medicine
• Food science
• Microbiology
• Pathology
• Agronomy
• Biotechnology

Selected publications

• Ohio horse industry survey: feeding and housing management practices

  Translational Animal Science · 2025-01-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract Equine industry housing and feeding management strategies vary widely. Management choices are important as horses spend most of their time in housing environments and demonstrating ingestive/foraging behavior. As of 2023, over 1.4 million Ohioans identified as horse owners and/or enthusiasts. The objectives of this survey were to determine demographics of the Ohio horse industry, commonly used sources of information, knowledge gaps regarding equine management practices, and to explore what may influence equine management choices. Using Qualtrics (Provo, UT), a 52-question online, anonymous survey was made available to Ohio horse owners and industry personnel through local horse organizations and social media from October to December 2023. Data were summarized using descriptive statistics (mean, percentage, frequency) and relationships between variables were explored using Pearson chi-square tests or Kruskal-Wallis H and Mann-Whitney U tests in SPSS (Armonk, NY). A total of 1,011 usable survey responses were collected. Most respondents had between 1 to 10 yr of horse experience (64%) and identified as primarily white (63%), females (61%), between 35 to 44 yr of age (31%). Quarter Horses (29%) were the most represented breed. Overall, the primary sources of equine management information were internet (15%), veterinarians (14%), and personal contacts (12%). There were differences between respondents’ main source of equine information based on horse owners’ experience level (X2 = 60; P < 0.01) and awareness of resources provided by Ohio State University (OSU) Extension (X2 = 80; P < 0.01). Respondents’ familiarity/use of body condition scoring differed based on awareness of OSU Extension resources (H = 234; P < 0.01). For housing management, most respondents either stalled horses with unlimited turnout (31%) or group housed horses on pasture (32%). For feeding management, most respondents fed concentrates (96%), primarily measuring concentrates either by weight (42%) or visual estimation (46%). However, forages were more commonly fed by visual estimation (52%) rather than by weight (18%). Feeding forage twice per day was most common, regardless of access to pasture (49%) or not (30%). Concentrates were more commonly provided once per day (41%) with 21% feeding twice per day. The results from this study can be used to assist in developing educational opportunities and resources and to design horse management research to benefit Ohio’s equine stakeholders.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Feeding and housing management practices of the Ohio horse industry: A survey

  Journal of Equine Veterinary Science · 2025-05-01

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Effect of meal frequency on outdoor, group-housed horse behavior, social hierarchy, and stress

  Journal of Equine Veterinary Science · 2025-05-01

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Validation of a Commercial ELISA Kit for Non-Invasive Measurement of Biologically Relevant Changes in Equine Cortisol Concentrations

  Animals · 2024-10-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  The measurement of fecal cortisol/corticosterone metabolites (FCMs) is often used to quantify the stress response. The sampling method is relatively non-invasive, reduces concern for elevation of cortisol from the sampling method, and has been shown to measure cortisol more consistently without the daily diurnal rhythm observed in blood. Commercial ELISA (enzyme-linked immunoassay) kits offer benefits over previously validated immunoassay methods but lack validation. The objective of this study was to evaluate a commercial ELISA kit (Arbor AssaysTM DetectX® Cortisol ELISA kit, K003-H1, Ann Arbor, MI, USA) and provide analytical and biologic validation of equine fecal and plasma samples. Horses (4 male, 4 female, mean ± SD: 4 ± 5 yr) were transported for 15 min with limited physical and visual contact via a livestock trailer. Blood and fecal samples were collected pre- and post-transportation. Parallelism, accuracy, and precision tests were used to analytically validate this kit. Data were analyzed using PROC MIXED in SAS 9.4. Plasma cortisol concentrations increased in response to trailering (254.5 ± 26.4 nmol/L, 0 min post-transportation) compared to pre-transportation (142.8 ± 26.4 nmol/L). FCM concentrations increased 24 h post-trailering (10.8 ± 1.7 ng/g) when compared to pre-transportation (7.4 ± 1.7 ng/g). These data support that changes in FCMs can be observed 24 h post-stressor. In conclusion, the Arbor AssaysTM DetectX® Cortisol ELISA kit is a reliable, economic option for the measurement of biologically relevant changes in cortisol in equine plasma and FCMs.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Assessing alternative fiber sources from by-products

  Burleigh Dodds series in agricultural science · 2023-03-14

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  Feeding plant-based by-products to dairy cattle has become so commonplace for some of the ingredients that they are no longer thought of as secondary products from food processing. These feed ingredients allow for more economical approaches for meeting the nutritional needs of dairy cattle and contribute to improving farm profitability. The by-products vary in total fiber (NDF) and the characteristics of the fiber for stimulating chewing and saliva production and providing energy to the cow. Oftentimes, these fiber sources can be used for partial replacement of forage, but even more commonly, they can be used to supply highly digestible fiber to replace rapidly degraded starch in high grain diets for lactating cows, providing for a slower rate of carbohydrate digestion and maintaining of rumen pH. Utilization of these feeds by ruminants is very important in environmental sustainability of food systems.

  PublisherDOI

• Effects of corn silage and grain expressing α-amylase on ruminal nutrient digestibility, microbial protein synthesis, and enteric methane emissions in lactating cows

  Journal of Dairy Science · 2023-05-22 · 11 citations

  articleOpen access

  Increasing ruminal starch digestibility has the potential to improve microbial protein synthesis (MPS), milk production, and feed efficiency. Enogen corn (Syngenta Seeds LLC) expresses high α-amylase activity, and we evaluated effects of Enogen corn silage (CS) and grain (CG) on ruminal starch digestibility, MPS, and milk production in lactating dairy cows. Fifteen Holstein cows (6 ruminally cannulated and 9 noncannulated; average ± standard deviation at the beginning of the trial: 170 ± 40 d in milk; milk yield, 37.2 ± 7.73 kg/d; body weight, 714 ± 37 kg) were used in a replicated 3 × 3 Latin square design (28 d per period) with 3 treatments: a diet containing isoline CS and CG (control, CON); a diet with Enogen CS and isoline CG (ECS); and a diet with Enogen CS and CG (ECSCG). Dry matter (DM; 30%), starch (35% of DM), and particle size distribution of the isoline and Enogen CS were similar. However, the mean particle size of Enogen CG was larger (1.05 vs. 0.65 mm) than that of the isoline CG. Cannulated cows were used for digestibility and nutrient flow measurements, noncannulated cows were used for enteric CH4 measurements, and all cows were used for production evaluation. Dry matter intake (DMI) and milk yield were greater for ECS and ECSCG compared with CON (26.7 and 26.6 vs. 25.1 kg/d and 36.5 and 34.1 vs. 33.1 kg/d, respectively) without a difference between ECS and ECSCG. Milk protein yield was greater (1.27 vs. 1.14 and 1.17 kg/d) for ECS compared with CON and ECSCG. Milk fat content was greater (3.79 vs. 3.32%) for ECSCG compared with ECS. Milk fat yield and energy-corrected milk did not differ among treatments. Ruminal digestibilities of DM, organic matter, starch, and neutral detergent fiber were not different among treatments. However, ruminal digestibility of nonammonia, nonmicrobial N was greater (85 vs. 75%) for ECS compared with ECSCG. Total-tract apparent starch digestibility was lower (97.6 and 97.1 vs. 98.3%) for ECS and ECSCG compared with CON, respectively, and tended to be lower (97.1 vs. 98.3%) for ECSCG compared with ECS. Ruminal outflows of bacterial OM and nonammonia N tended to be greater for ECS than for ECSCG. Efficiency of MPS tended to be greater (34.1 vs. 30.6 g of N/kg of organic matter truly digested) for ECS versus ECSCG. Ruminal pH and total and individual short-chain fatty acid concentrations did not differ among treatments. Concentration of ruminal NH3 for ECS and ECSCG was lower (10.4 and 12.4 vs. 13.4 mmol/L, respectively) compared with CON. Methane per unit of DMI decreased for ECS and ECSCG compared with CON (11.4 and 12.2 vs. 13.5 g/kg of DMI, respectively) without a difference between ECS and ECSCG. In conclusion, ECS and ECSCG did not increase ruminal or total-tract starch digestibility. However, the positive effects of ECS and ECSCG on milk protein yield, milk yield, and CH4 per unit of DMI may show potential benefits of feeding Enogen corn. Effects of ECSCG were not apparent when compared with ECS, partly due to larger particle size of Enogen CG compared with its isoline counterpart.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• 7 Validation of a commercial ELISA kit for non-invasive measurement of equine cortisol concentration

  Journal of Equine Veterinary Science · 2023-05-01 · 1 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Validation of a Commercial Elisa Kit for Non-Invasive Measurement of Equine Cortisol Concentrations

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2023-01-01

  preprintOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• The Impact of Overstocking and Negative Energy Balance on Quantitative Measurement of Non-typhoidal Salmonella in Periparturient Dairy Cattle

  Frontiers in Veterinary Science · 2022 · 8 citations

  • Biology
  • Animal science
  • Veterinary medicine

  to cattle, the environment, and humans.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Sustainable Processing: Minimizing the Impact of the Dairy Industry on the Environment – Toward Zero Carbon Footprint

  Encyclopedia of Dairy Sciences · 2021-05-16 · 3 citations

  book-chapter
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• J.L. Firkins

  The Ohio State University

  49 shared

• N.R. St-Pierre

  18 shared

• W.P. Weiss

  The Ohio State University

  17 shared

• D.L. Palmquist

  The Ohio State University

  10 shared

• Kent H. Hoblet

  9 shared

• V.F. Colenbrander

  Purdue University West Lafayette

  9 shared

• Davina L. Hill

  University of Glasgow

  9 shared

• D.R. Mertens

  9 shared

Awards & honors

• DeLaval Dairy Extension Award (2001)
• Nutrition Professionals, Inc. Applied Dairy Nutrition Award…
• Mid-Career Alumni Award from the Department of Animal Scienc…
• Purina Animal Nutrition Teaching Award in Dairy Production (…