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  Bye-Bye Jiggle
Posts: 1691
   
Location: Where ever there's sunshine! | Getting alfalfa hay is near impossible where my horse is so I'm limited to cubes or pellets or the bales you can buy at tractor supply(which are hit and miss) my question is, for those of you feeding RG with alfalfa pellets, how many pounds of pellets are you feeding per day? |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 788
| I was told to give 2 pounds of alfalfa pellets per 1 lb of RG. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 851
Location: West Texas | As much as you want or need, there is no minimum or maximum. |
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 Dog Resuce Agent
Posts: 3459
Location: southeast Texas | Yep, feed as to your horses needs. Mine get a pound scoop of pelets, one big scoop of cubes 2x a day and one good size flake of alfalfa once a day. His renew gold has been scaled back to one cup once a day. |
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 Expert
Posts: 2013
Location: Piedmont, OK | I feed chaffehaye for alfalfa because it's hit or miss around here. I feed 1 cup renew gold am & Pm in a bucket full of chaffehaye for the barrel horses. |
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 Cute Little Imp
Posts: 2747
Location: N Texas | Mine get 1lb of alfalfa pellets in the morning and 3/4-1lb of Renew Gold in the evening, along with free-choice grass hay. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 595
Location: North Dakota | Does everyone always soak their pellets? I've wanted to feed some pellets but I board my horses and can't be there all the time to soak. |
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I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| I had a horse choke on pellets, so I always soaked them per my vet's instructions. BUT, I feed Danco alfalfa cubes now and do not soak them. My horse that is a terrible gobbler has slowed waaay down on his eating and no longer turns his feed tub over. I have to laugh a little when I watch him eat now because he has such a blissful look on his face as he is eating. He chews so much more and more carefully too.
Edited by GLP 2016-07-21 11:11 AM
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Cute Little Imp
Posts: 2747
Location: N Texas | MidWest1452 - 2016-07-21 10:49 AM
Does everyone always soak their pellets? I've wanted to feed some pellets but I board my horses and can't be there all the time to soak.
I soak them overnight for my senior horse only. The other two get them straight out of the bag. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 595
Location: North Dakota | Gunner11 - 2016-07-21 11:05 AM
MidWest1452 - 2016-07-21 10:49 AM
Does everyone always soak their pellets? I've wanted to feed some pellets but I board my horses and can't be there all the time to soak.
I soak them overnight for my senior horse only. The other two get them straight out of the bag.
What brand do you feed? |
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Cute Little Imp
Posts: 2747
Location: N Texas | MidWest1452 - 2016-07-21 11:08 AM
Gunner11 - 2016-07-21 11:05 AM
MidWest1452 - 2016-07-21 10:49 AM
Does everyone always soak their pellets? I've wanted to feed some pellets but I board my horses and can't be there all the time to soak.
I soak them overnight for my senior horse only. The other two get them straight out of the bag.
What brand do you feed?
Standlee from Tractor Supply.
Edited by Gunner11 2016-07-21 11:18 AM
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Meanest Teacher!!!
Posts: 8555
Location: sunny california | where i live you can get alfalfa pellets called 5/32 because that is their size. they are rabbit pellet size no need to soak and if you still want to soak they are ready in a few minutes |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 795
Location: GODS country | kwanatha - 2016-07-21 12:51 PM
where i live you can get alfalfa pellets called 5/32 because that is their size. they are rabbit pellet size no need to soak and if you still want to soak they are ready in a few minutes
This is what I can get...so I don't soak mine either since they are so small and actually quit soft! |
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Queen Bean of Ponyland
Posts: 24955
Location: WYOMING | I feed one plastic scoop of alfalfa pellets but increase when needed. I feed one lb of rice bran pellets. Renew Gold is too hard and too expensive to get around me so I feed a different brand. Ive been feeding this way for going on two yrs now and they are doing great! |
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 Whack and Roll
Posts: 6342
Location: NE Texas | Please soak your alfalfa pellets. I had a horse choke. He's the slowest eating horse on the place and has never had a choke episode before. If you haven't seen a horse choke, it is terrifying! I called all of my vets, but it was almost 3 hours before anyone could get to me. I gave banamine and massaged, and we had to tube him to try to slowly get it pulled out without him aspirating. I suspect the choke caused pretty serious damage to his airways, as this is the beginning of the respiratory images despite him not having any pneumonia issues. We did put him on antibiotics as a precautionary measure.
I would have never suspected this gelding to choke, but he did, and it was scary. Please take the extra time to soak the pellets to at least soften them.
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 Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
| Herbie - 2016-08-29 4:31 PM
Please soak your alfalfa pellets. I had a horse choke. He's the slowest eating horse on the place and has never had a choke episode before. If you haven't seen a horse choke, it is terrifying! I called all of my vets, but it was almost 3 hours before anyone could get to me. I gave banamine and massaged, and we had to tube him to try to slowly get it pulled out without him aspirating. I suspect the choke caused pretty serious damage to his airways, as this is the beginning of the respiratory images despite him not having any pneumonia issues. We did put him on antibiotics as a precautionary measure.
I would have never suspected this gelding to choke, but he did, and it was scary. Please take the extra time to soak the pellets to at least soften them.
Yep.. I've had 4 choke episodes on my horse. first choke was on alfalfa pellets (unsoaked) I never even thought twice about him choking. 2nd time he choked on soaked alfalfa pellets that weren't soaked enough, someone else fed for me... 3rd time he got out of his stall and got into the feed room and ate ... yep, alfalfa pellets. Last choke was on some sr feed that I didn't think needed soaking.. I've finally found a feed he won't choke on and I don't have to soak it. |
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Queen Bean of Ponyland
Posts: 24955
Location: WYOMING | Ive never had choke with alfalfa pellets. My horse is a slow eater and I feed in a huge tub on the ground. The pellets spread out enough so they cant take big bites and gulp them down easily. feeding on the ground helps also.
I did have choke episodes before I started feeding this way. I agree its probably best to soak. |
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Expert
Posts: 1695
Location: Willows, CA | The primary purpose of adding alfalfa to a grass hay diet, whether you feed Renew Gold or not, is to slow the transit time through the hind gut. While there can be a benefit from the digestibility of the alfalfa, I am more interested in the mechanical process of slowing the hind gut down that I get from adding some to the program. Grass hay is harder for the horse to break down because it has a tougher cell wall structure. That in combination with not being in the system very long makes efficiency questionable. I like to see at least two pounds morning and night. If you are feeding coastal Bermuda that is rough quality, another pound or two really helps get it digested. The bloom that you often see when you add the alfalfa is more a result of the grass hay now being well digested instead of just passing through to end up on the ground behind the horse. |
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| I feed 1/2 lb Renew gold with one pound of alfalfa pellets and 1 pound of beet pulp (soaked) twice a day, along with free choice grass hay in a Savvy feeder and they are turned out on pasture 
Edited by AmazingStretch 2016-08-29 7:28 PM
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 824
Location: Duvall, WA | Not to hijack the thread but I have a question for you: Why is it suggested to feed less RG to 1-3 year olds? I have a two year old I was hoping to bulk up a bit but read the feeding instructions so now am unsure. We are in WA so also have really great quality orchard grass and alfalfa, I feed about 50/50 and 1 lb RG. I don't want to cause any damage. . . |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 851
Location: West Texas | winwillows - 2016-08-29 6:19 PM
The primary purpose of adding alfalfa to a grass hay diet, whether you feed Renew Gold or not, is to slow the transit time through the hind gut. While there can be a benefit from the digestibility of the alfalfa, I am more interested in the mechanical process of slowing the hind gut down that I get from adding some to the program. Grass hay is harder for the horse to break down because it has a tougher cell wall structure. That in combination with not being in the system very long makes efficiency questionable. I like to see at least two pounds morning and night. If you are feeding coastal Bermuda that is rough quality, another pound or two really helps get it digested. The bloom that you often see when you add the alfalfa is more a result of the grass hay now being well digested instead of just passing through to end up on the ground behind the horse.
Winwillows, I have read you say this many times. In all my research on forage digestibility, I have never come across this idea or claim. I am not disagreeing with you. I am interested in finding out where this was researched and what are the proposed causes that would allow this to occur. If it is true, I assume that it is a recent discovery? I have to admit, it doesn't seem logical, to me. However, I am genuinely willing to keep and open mind and learn more about this, if indeed proper research has been performed, positively concluding alfalfa increases digestibility of grass hay. Thank you. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 851
Location: West Texas | I am going to bump this back up. Hopefully, win will see it. Anyone else, if you have information on this, feel free to contribute. Thanks. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1165
Location: California | I'm very curious about that proof as well..... |
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 I Prefer to Live in Fantasy Land
Posts: 64864
Location: In the Hills of Texas | Tdove - 2016-09-02 8:57 AM I am going to bump this back up. Hopefully, win will see it. Anyone else, if you have information on this, feel free to contribute. Thanks.
I remember reading about how starchy foods (grains) pass through too fast and doesn't allow the acids to break down the food efficently and can cause digest upsets. Adding oil can slow down the process and I'm assuming that the fat in the rice bran does the same. I'll try to find the article. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1165
Location: California | Nevertooold - 2016-09-03 12:56 PM
Tdove - 2016-09-02 8:57 AM I am going to bump this back up. Hopefully, win will see it. Anyone else, if you have information on this, feel free to contribute. Thanks.
I remember reading about how starchy foods (grains) pass through too fast and doesn't allow the acids to break down the food efficently and can cause digest upsets. Adding oil can slow down the process and I'm assuming that the fat in the rice bran does the same. I'll try to find the article.
Yes but winwillow's was saying it's the alfalfa pellets that help slow the rate at which the grass hay passes through so it can be digested better. |
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I Prefer to Live in Fantasy Land
Posts: 64864
Location: In the Hills of Texas | Serenity06 - 2016-09-03 3:50 PM Nevertooold - 2016-09-03 12:56 PM Tdove - 2016-09-02 8:57 AM I am going to bump this back up. Hopefully, win will see it. Anyone else, if you have information on this, feel free to contribute. Thanks. I remember reading about how starchy foods (grains) pass through too fast and doesn't allow the acids to break down the food efficently and can cause digest upsets. Adding oil can slow down the process and I'm assuming that the fat in the rice bran does the same. I'll try to find the article. Yes but winwillow's was saying it's the alfalfa pellets that help slow the rate at which the grass hay passes through so it can be digested better.
I just re-read it...I'm like Killary...can't comprehend anything...I was reading what I wanted to read instead of what was typed..I do remember reading how oils will slow down transit time and since oil is a fat is why I posted what I did. I know my vet told me to feed Alfalfa to my ulcer prone horse over Coastal as it is easier to digest and the calcium in Alfalfa is soothing to the gut. The coastal hay can wad up and cause an impaction. For whatever reason...the alfalfa can keep things moving in the gut. |
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Expert
Posts: 1695
Location: Willows, CA | Sorry for being slow here. I have been traveling. Actually this is not new news. I was part of a clinical trial for Absorbine about fifteen years ago for a flex product "Flex+" that I formulated for them. While preparing the 55 horses used the for the trial, we had the opportunity to do some additional testing on the degree of roughage digestion in the manure while we stabilized the diets of all of the horses for the eleven cells of the testing. It was too good of an opportunity to pass up. We were moving from the straight grass diet that all the horses were on to one that included some alfalfa before starting the trial. Analysis of the manure showed a marked difference in the digestion of the total roughage fed. This started a change in my use of roughage sources in diets.
In the thirteen years that my office did all the customer service recommendations for ADM Equine products (1993 to 2006) we evolved our recommendations to the mixed hay base diet as the roughage source. While the feedback from that was anecdotal, it did involve over two thousand customers diets consulted upon per year. The results were beyond dispute, at least in my opinion, that a difference in the efficiency of the hind gut to digest higher lignin content grass hays could be effected by adding a significantly different roughage source.
There are several reasons for this. One, of course, is the improvement of hind gut efficiency brought on by our recommendation of limiting grains in the diet to a level that allows for them to be broken down completely in the small intestine, and therefor be less disruptive to microbial populations in the hind gut. But, even when the grain rations were too high, there was an improvement in total condition with the addition of even a fairly small addition of alfalfa to the diet that should not represent enough additional calories by itself to justify such an change. In that case, the result can only come from a slowed transit time giving the system more time to break down the tougher grass hay structure. You can take that for what it is worth, but I have seen such a consistent positive result that I have been recommending an alfalfa source be added to any straight grass hay program ever since. Since I don't sell alfalfa or any other roughage product I guess I never will run another clinical where I would try to duplicate the results I got from that testing, but I would imagine someone has. At any rate, this is why I like to see an alfalfa source in a grass hay based diet. Once again, this is my opinion, and everyone is welcome to a differing one.
Edited by winwillows 2016-09-05 4:53 PM
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 851
Location: West Texas | Thank you for the reply. |
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Expert
Posts: 1695
Location: Willows, CA | Tdove - 2016-09-06 10:22 AM
Thank you for the reply.
You are welcome. This is one of the reasons that I like the Omnis hay cubes with a coastal Bermuda diet. The added oats in those is at a level that still fits the digestive system without traveling undigested into the hind gut. I use RG with that, as you might expect, but I personally feel that there is much more to be had, from Coastal Bermuda hay diet in particular, when a few pounds of an alfalfa source is added morning and night. |
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Alfalfa pellets with Renew Gold