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 Mrs. BigWig
Posts: 1868
   
Location: chasing kids and animals | I was just curious to how much alfalfa everyone feeds? Benifits, pros and cons |
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Expert
Posts: 1226
| We feed all alfalfa. But we also live in AZ where they grow it pretty much year round. So it's always a good quality. For the horses being ridden a lot we do a flake and a half twice a day and they get a snack in the middle part of the day. |
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 Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
| Thru the winter I feed one big flake off a 3 string bale with timothy and coastal. I have 100 acres, when the grass is back I cut that in 1/2. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 690
Location: Georgia | I live in GA so I can not get good quality for a resonable price like some other places. But I feed one big flake, sometimes 2 of the nicest stuff I can find, once a day. They get a high protein feed also |
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Mrs. BigWig
Posts: 1868
Location: chasing kids and animals | Thank you. I have been feeding a flake in the morning and evening and they are also getting regular hay and I feed Pegasus ( alfalfa based feed ). They are looking and feeling good.
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| We feed 1 flake 6/8lb flake twice a day. I'm guessing on the weight. Some hard keepers get close to 20lbs a day. We used to feed coastal/Jiggs but they would waste it. All mine are pasure kept so they also graze 24/7.
Pros - Feeding less hay than normal with alfalfa.
My horses look better on alfalfa.
Cons- Cost wise it is a tad bit higher but like I said your feeding less. |
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Expert
Posts: 4766
Location: Bandera, TX | 20% of their required weight requirement forage during the cool season. Cut back in summer during grass abundance. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 322
| As much as my horses want ... we have a large round bale set out and they can eat as they please. |
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 Shoot Yeah
Posts: 4273
Location: Where you need a paddle... Oregon! | Pretty much free-choice. Grass hay free-choice, also. |
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 Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
| Mine get 1 hefty flake in their stalls at night. They are turned out on grass and a roundbale majority of the day. |
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 Party Girl
Posts: 12293
Location: Buffalo, Wyoming | Mine are pretty much free choice. I come from the land of good alfalfa. |
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  Champ
Posts: 19623
Location: Peg-Leg Julia Grimm | 3-5 # per day for any age horse because it fills the protein and mineral gaps in the base diet of grain and grass hay. More if they are a lactating mare or hard keeper. I don't feed it free choice because that's all they would eat. lol It's like candy to them. |
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Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
| UTAHCANCHASER - 2017-03-08 12:30 PM Mine are pretty much free choice. I come from the land of good alfalfa.
I have one that would never quit eating if I fed free choice, he is a pig! |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 516
| Pretty much free choice alfalfa. As long as they're cleaning it up, I'll give them more. |
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Mrs. BigWig
Posts: 1868
Location: chasing kids and animals | mine too!! they love their alfalfa and when i put it in their stall she will go grab a bite of it before eating her feed..no way I could afford to feed it free choice...but they do have pasture and then a roll of hay out with them also |
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 Lived to tell about it and will never do it again
Posts: 5409
| Our horses are dry lotted and we feed alfalfa only, no grain. The get roughly 10lbs two times a day.
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 Veteran
Posts: 158
| anywhere from free choice to a 1/2 flake depending on each horse |
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 Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | Most of mine get zero. But I started to give my show horse a flake or 2 at night while he is in the barn under lights. And then since my crippled mare Bella is outside or in a stall next to him if the weather is crappy, I feel she needs a flake too. I mean it does smell so good and she has the sweetest puppy dog eyes when she sees him gets some |
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 Veteran
Posts: 288
| 20# or so. They get solely alfalfa as forage. |
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I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| Has anyone had a horse that sweated excessively if feed alfalfa in the summer? I have one that is sweating really bad in the summer since feeding alfalfa. Our summers in South Texas are high 90's to 100 degrees with high humidity. I don't have stalls with electricity, so fans are out, although he has trees and a run in shed that is open on all sides. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 516
| GLP - 2017-03-09 10:42 AM
Has anyone had a horse that sweated excessively if feed alfalfa in the summer? I have one that is sweating really bad in the summer since feeding alfalfa. Our summers in South Texas are high 90's to 100 degrees with high humidity. I don't have stalls with electricity, so fans are out, although he has trees and a run in shed that is open on all sides.
I had a horse who I brought in mid winter to get his coat shed out sooner and any time he would eat, which happened to be alfalfa, he'd sweat. As soon as he shed his coat he was a lot better. |
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Party Girl
Posts: 12293
Location: Buffalo, Wyoming | rodeomom3 - 2017-03-08 12:01 PM UTAHCANCHASER - 2017-03-08 12:30 PM Mine are pretty much free choice. I come from the land of good alfalfa. I have one that would never quit eating if I fed free choice, he is a pig!
You would be surprised how often they walk away. Once they get used to it and are full they don't eat near as much as you would think. When we lived in Texas I could not get my horses to eat grass hay, we had to burn the round bales we got because they sat so long and got ruined, my horses are spoiled. :) |
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Expert
Posts: 1611
| As much as I can afford to... |
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 Saint Stacey
| 80% grass and 20% alfalfa is the ideal mix that I prefer. |
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 Money Eating Baggage Owner
Posts: 9586
Location: Phoenix | It's the main forage source for mine. He gets Bermuda at lunch for a snack. |
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 I hate cooking and cleaning
Posts: 3314
Location: Jersey Girl | I supplement with either one flake a day or every other day. Mine are both just pasture ornaments at the moment. |
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How much alfalfa do you feed?