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 Off the Wall Wacky
Posts: 2981
   
Location: Louisiana | I'm not sure how much I need to feed to compare.
The people I got it from feed 1 flake twice a day to their roping and barrel horses. Even the stalled one's.
My guys are turned out with a tiny bit of grass and a crappy round bale to give them a snack.
Most were eating about 4-5 pounds twice a day, my big gelding was getting more like 8-9 pounds twice a day.
We tried to weight a flake and it was about 4ish pounds.
Im thinking start the fatties on one flake twice a day, and my big guy on two.
Opinions??
My husband thinks they won't need as much bc it's a lot richer than the cubes. I think the cubes are compressed so that counts for something. Lol.
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 I hate cooking and cleaning
Posts: 3310
Location: Jersey Girl | Not sure of what the weight is because I have never actually put it on a scale....but my horses get 4 good handfuls of dried cubes once a day. Soaked it measures a full 8 quart bucket.
My horses have grass hay 24/7 and get a small amount of grain once a day. They are pretty fat. |
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  Twin Sister to Queen Boobie
Posts: 13315
Location: East Tennessee but who knows?! | 3 quart scoop will hold around 3 pounds of cubes. Replace it pound for pound. University of Colorado did a study on feeding alfalfa hay vs feeding cubes. The ones on cubes actually picked up weight and they attributed it to consistency of the cubes, and being being more consistent in poundage of what's being fed. I feed beet pulp & alfalfa cubes but I have fed straight alfalfa cubes. I fed 1 to 1 1/2 scoops twice a day, and they got grass hay. I had one mare that got nothing but alfalfa cubes & she got 2 gallons twice a day. She was 1,000 pounds. I have one now that's on a compressed bale, he gets a 2" flake with his grass hay once a day.
Edited by Fairweather 2016-02-21 6:01 AM
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 883
Location: Southern Indiana | 2 flakes a day during winter and only 1 when the grass greens up. Mine get 2 flakes at shows for breakfast and bed time. |
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Off the Wall Wacky
Posts: 2981
Location: Louisiana | Thanks everyone :)
We bought a few bales for now and are testing it on the two hardest keepers. I figure those two will tell us pretty quickly how much they need. The rest would be fat with nothing but weeds to eat I swear. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 851
Location: West Texas | Depends on the cubes. I doubt the hay is much richer, if any. Cubes will have better digestibility and less waste. Pound for pound, I estimate you would have to feed roughly 25% more alfalfa hay than cubes. Another thing, weight from flake to flake and bale to bale will vary more with bales than cubes, so it is more difficult to know exactly how much hay they are getting.
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 Expert
Posts: 2457
| Tdove - 2016-02-22 8:36 AM
Depends on the cubes. I doubt the hay is much richer, if any. Cubes will have better digestibility and less waste. Pound for pound, I estimate you would have to feed roughly 25% more alfalfa hay than cubes. Another thing, weight from flake to flake and bale to bale will vary more with bales than cubes, so it is more difficult to know exactly how much hay they are getting.
All good points.
Are your bales tested? Our hay guy tests moisture and protein in every bale lot (large 4x4x8 bales). When I switched from cubes to bales, I actually fed less (by the pound) in bales as my protein content went from averaging 17% to almost 25% ..... My horses clean it up better since they are not leaving the larger cubes behind (yes they are prima-donnas). Quality, weight, and moisture content can vary more in baled hay but if you can find a good source, someone who knows how to put it up properly, you can save money. However, these people are not a dime a dozen. |
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Veteran
Posts: 130
| The people you buy it from also feed a pound of Renew Gold to their stalled horses daily. Most performance horses are going to need a fat source to go along with their alfalfa. |
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