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 Off the Wall Wacky
Posts: 2981
   
Location: Louisiana | At the risk of sounding crazy LOL...
I've always heard you don't want to feed over "X" amount of a grain concentrate at one feeding. Whatever you consider that amount to be doesn't matter to my question.
My question is do you "count" aflalfa pellets when going by this rule? Are they considered forage, or a concentrate because of the pellet consistency and the fact the horses consume them much quicker than hay?
My local feed store has nice alfalfa pellets that I've added to my horses' feed, but with them added in, the amount they're getting by weight is almost double. Is this OK because it IS a forage, or should it be split into a different feeding time?
Hope that makes sense!! On one hand I feel like I'm overthinking it, on the other I don't want to be feeding them a bucket full of feed if it isn't good on their stomachs.
As always, thanks in advance! |
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 The Bling Princess
Posts: 3411
Location: North Dakota | Really good question!! I've fed pure alfalfa pellets too and always considered them a forage, rather than a concentrated feed because they didn't have anything added to them like vits/mins and other feed stuff to enhance the pellet. They probably got a pound per day, so I never really gave it much thought. |
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 My Heart Be Happy
Posts: 9159
Location: Arkansas | Bump |
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 Take a Picture
Posts: 12838
| Considering a horse’s stomach does not stretch like ours and can hold about 7 pounds at one feeding, I would say that it should be counted as part of the feed weight |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1076
| I would think that it would be a roughage. I consider roughage any type of forage - aka something that has to be fermented in the cecum of the horse to be utilized. I think of concentrates as the starches and grains that we feed that are digested enzymatically in the stomach and small intestine. While I do think they are roughage, I am not sure how that translates as far as overloading the stomach. I would say it is okay though as it is not digested there and alfalfa pellets would technically still be roughage. |
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Expert
Posts: 1694
Location: Willows, CA | GeminiStarAce - 2018-11-22 9:59 PM
I would think that it would be a roughage. I consider roughage any type of forage - aka something that has to be fermented in the cecum of the horse to be utilized. I think of concentrates as the starches and grains that we feed that are digested enzymatically in the stomach and small intestine. While I do think they are roughage, I am not sure how that translates as far as overloading the stomach. I would say it is okay though as it is not digested there and alfalfa pellets would technically still be roughage.
This is pretty much true. Because the starch level in alfalfa is fairly low the pellets fall closer to the forage side of the scale. I consider pellets as a category of their own since there is often a binder used to hold them together that is not found in forage, but often in feed. I would not use alfalfa pellets as a forage foundation of the diet, but often recommend them at a low rate if the forage fed is low in quality or protein. |
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Off the Wall Wacky
Posts: 2981
Location: Louisiana | winwillows - 2018-11-28 1:27 PM
GeminiStarAce - 2018-11-22 9:59 PM
I would think that it would be a roughage. I consider roughage any type of forage - aka something that has to be fermented in the cecum of the horse to be utilized. I think of concentrates as the starches and grains that we feed that are digested enzymatically in the stomach and small intestine. While I do think they are roughage, I am not sure how that translates as far as overloading the stomach. I would say it is okay though as it is not digested there and alfalfa pellets would technically still be roughage.
This is pretty much true. Because the starch level in alfalfa is fairly low the pellets fall closer to the forage side of the scale. I consider pellets as a category of their own since there is often a binder used to hold them together that is not found in forage, but often in feed. I would not use alfalfa pellets as a forage foundation of the diet, but often recommend them at a low rate if the forage fed is low in quality or protein.
THANK YOU!!
These pellets actually don't have any binder so that's a bonus.
And yes, the reason you stated is exactly why I'm feeding them, low quality forage...the horses are turned out but we have little to no grass, and they have access to a round bale at all times.
Once we have a barn (y'all...I've been building this thing for TWO YEARS and it's soooo close to being horse-ready LOL) my feed program will get a few changes for the better. I'll have a place to keep better quality hay to feed when they're stalled, plus be able to better control each horse's diet.
Thank you again, and thanks everyone else! |
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 Member
Posts: 24
| I don't reccomended feeding a lot of alfalfa cubes/pellets. Both of my very fit horses got laminitis from too much. |
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Feed Question...regarding feeding by weight