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Veteran
Posts: 242
 
| I have been feeding renew gold for several months & really like it. I feed it with alfalfa. This weekend 1 of my 4 got blister beetle poisoning! She's ok, but I'm in Texas & afraid to feed alfalfa again. Will renew gold still do good with grass hay? 3 of mine are super easy keepers- not worried about them. But 1 isn't hard, she just isn't as easy as they are- they would be fine without but I like the extra shine! |
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 Hog Tie My Mojo
Posts: 4847
 
Location: Opelousas, LA | Where was your alfalfa coming from? |
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 Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
| I would like to know too where your alfalfa came from. I hope your horse is recovering. I also feed RG with alfalfa. I love it and would not stop feeding it.
Edited by rodeomom3 2017-09-26 2:37 PM
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  Witty Enough
Posts: 2954
Location: CTX | I would not stop feeding the RG.
I feed RG with Omnis cubes and pasture/ round bales.
Hope your horse recovers.
Edited by cranky B4 10am 2017-09-26 2:47 PM
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | Sorry about your horse but I'm another one that would like to know where your alfalfa came from..Thats scary stuff, was she the only one eating the alfalfa? |
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 I Prefer to Live in Fantasy Land
Posts: 64864
Location: In the Hills of Texas | How horrible! Prayers for a complete recovery. 
I also feed RG and feed the Danco Forage Mustang Sally Cubes and free choice Coastal.
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Expert
Posts: 1599
| Blister beetle poisoning is so scary!! So happy your horse is doing better! I live in TX and only feed cubes. Just safer:/ |
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Expert
Posts: 1599
| I will add that I've been doing a lot of research and have switched from alfalfa cubes to timothy/alfalfa, lower protein and lower starch. A lot of vets around here are saying that research has proven that the risk of impaction colic increases dramatically in horses receiving free choice coastal. I'm staying clear of coastal  |
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 Expert
Posts: 2604
Location: Texas | Can't blister beetles also be in alfalfa cubes?
Please share where you purchased the alfalfa with the blister beetles from.
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Expert
Posts: 1695
Location: Willows, CA | I can clear a few things up here. First, there are few things worse to go through than Blister Beetle poisoning. I have seen it first hand and it will give you nightmares. That instance was from an alfalfa based feed pellet that was made in Texas by a Nationally known feed company using Texas grown alfalfa. I have not seen any Blister Beetle problems with Standlee cubes or pellets, or other more northern produced alfalfa products.
As to Renew Gold, I like some alfalfa in the diet to slow the transit time of other roughage through the hind gut. One challenge of straight grass hay diets is that they go through the system faster than they can be properly broken down. The way to make them more digestible while they are there is to slow them down with an alfalfa source (two pounds or so) morning and night. And, to make sure that the teeth are in great shape so they have no pain when they chew. This allows your horse to chew as much as they would want and breaks up the grass hay much more so that it will be better digested in the hind gut. We feed a lot of horses on good straight grass hay diets with great result as long as they chew it well. I see teeth problems on a great number of horses that are "hard keepers". This is the single most overlooked issue that I see in horse health.
As a side note, every coastal Bermuda impaction that I have seen has been from dehydration or more often, poor teeth condition that caused pain to chew. When that happens the horse only chews enough to swallow and not enough to break down the long tough strands of hay that then wrap around each other. this forms the start of the blockage that leads to impaction. Since those long unchewed strands are tougher in Coastal, you see more impaction. However, it can happen with any type of grass hay that a horse can't or won't properly chew. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 317
Location: MS | I have 2 on Renew Gold and Bermuda hay for over a year now. They look amazing. I don't have alot of grass.
I swear it's cured my ADHD colt. He's a different horse. |
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Veteran
Posts: 242
| I live in east Texas and was driving 1 1/2 hrs to get it. The only other option is at tractor supply and its always dusty with dirt clods in it. I agree they look phenomenal on it but I'm really scared of it now and I have a big vet bill! Ive also read even in pelleted form or seeing how its added to a lot of pelleted feeds the cooking/heating process DOESNT get rid of it! That's why I wanted to stay with renew gold because there isn't any alfalfa listed in the 3 ingredients. |
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Expert
Posts: 1695
Location: Willows, CA | donk - 2017-09-27 8:52 AM
I live in east Texas and was driving 1 1/2 hrs to get it. The only other option is at tractor supply and its always dusty with dirt clods in it. I agree they look phenomenal on it but I'm really scared of it now and I have a big vet bill! Ive also read even in pelleted form or seeing how its added to a lot of pelleted feeds the cooking/heating process DOESNT get rid of it! That's why I wanted to stay with renew gold because there isn't any alfalfa listed in the 3 ingredients.
There is no Alfalfa in Renew Gold. If you got anything but perfect clean Renew Gold from Tractor Supply please let me know. If you look at the web site renewgold.com and go to the blog page, there is information on how to date when the bag was made. There should be no aged product or dirty bags at Tractor Supply. I would be happy to take care of that if you pm me any store that you see that situation.
Win |
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Veteran
Posts: 242
| No I think you mis read my information. No problem with renew gold & would like to continue with it. The dirty/dusty alfalfa was the standee bales which is why I bought alfalfa somewhere else. That alfalfa had blister beetles in it- not renew gold or standlee!
My question was would renew gold still do as well with grass hay because although alfalfa is outstanding I'm scared of it. My horse is fine now & im grateful but I have a hefty vet bill & don't have a lot of choices to buy alfalfa. |
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I Am a Snake Killer
Posts: 1927
Location: Golden Gulf Coast of Texas | I feed RG with Hay Rite mini alfalfa cubes. I was feeding an alfalfa pellet and they were doing ok but when I switched to the hayrite cubes they all really bloomed. I wouldn't touch alfalfa unless it's coming from the western drier states. I worked for the ranch that owned Colonel Freckles when he ingested blister beetles. It was a truly horrific death. That hay came from Kansas. They can still get the beetles in pellets and cubes so make sure you know where that alfalfa was processed from. |
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I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| Blister beetles are the reason I dive 2 hours one way once a mom h to get my alfalfa cubes. I buy the Mustang Sally cubes. They are made from Canadian alfalfa, mini sized and you don't need to soak them, they break apart easily. I have been told to make sur your alfalfa hay come from the northwestern states. |
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Expert
Posts: 1599
| Wow I learned a lot in this thread! Had no idea blister beetles could turn up in cubes too. We feed Hayrite cubes and have had 0 problems. Good to know! |
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 My Heart Be Happy
Posts: 9159
Location: Arkansas | mreklaw - 2017-09-27 1:20 PM
I feed RG with Hay Rite mini alfalfa cubes. I was feeding an alfalfa pellet and they were doing ok but when I switched to the hayrite cubes they all really bloomed. I wouldn't touch alfalfa unless it's coming from the western drier states. I worked for the ranch that owned Colonel Freckles when he ingested blister beetles. It was a truly horrific death. That hay came from Kansas. They can still get the beetles in pellets and cubes so make sure you know where that alfalfa was processed from.
I didn't know that about CF. . . |
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I Am a Snake Killer
Posts: 1927
Location: Golden Gulf Coast of Texas | Chandler's Mom - 2017-09-27 8:40 PM
mreklaw - 2017-09-27 1:20 PM
I feed RG with Hay Rite mini alfalfa cubes. I was feeding an alfalfa pellet and they were doing ok but when I switched to the hayrite cubes they all really bloomed. I wouldn't touch alfalfa unless it's coming from the western drier states. I worked for the ranch that owned Colonel Freckles when he ingested blister beetles. It was a truly horrific death. That hay came from Kansas. They can still get the beetles in pellets and cubes so make sure you know where that alfalfa was processed from.
I didn't know that about CF. . .
Yep it was a sad day. Luckily Boon Bar was on the other end of the barn and he didn't get any. Two other young studs lost too. |
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Expert
Posts: 1695
Location: Willows, CA | mreklaw - 2017-09-28 7:46 AM
Chandler's Mom - 2017-09-27 8:40 PM
mreklaw - 2017-09-27 1:20 PM
I feed RG with Hay Rite mini alfalfa cubes. I was feeding an alfalfa pellet and they were doing ok but when I switched to the hayrite cubes they all really bloomed. I wouldn't touch alfalfa unless it's coming from the western drier states. I worked for the ranch that owned Colonel Freckles when he ingested blister beetles. It was a truly horrific death. That hay came from Kansas. They can still get the beetles in pellets and cubes so make sure you know where that alfalfa was processed from.
I didn't know that about CF. . .
Yep it was a sad day. Luckily Boon Bar was on the other end of the barn and he didn't get any. Two other young studs lost too.
Those who have known me a long time will remember "Tony", the gelding that we hauled all over the country as a turn back horse. He was by Colonel Freckles and out of an own daughter of Cal Bar. That was the horse of a lifetime, and convinced me that nothing will hurt the ground stopping like a Colonel Freckles horse will. Blister Beetle was a very unfair way for such a great horse, Colonel Freckles, to die. They were unique and that big stop while staying sound is hard to find today.
Edited by winwillows 2017-09-28 4:01 PM
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