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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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