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Alfalfa pellets - horses

A

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member
I have a few older horses & I have noticed them losing weight as winter is setting in. I am currently feeding a brome/crested wheatgrass/intermediate grass to them. So, I am looking at adding some alfalfa pellets to their diet this year to help get more protein. I have never fed pellets before & was wondering if anybody had before & if there was any information (pro's/con's) that they could provide?? Thanks
 
Over the past few winters we noticed our 30 year old horse losing lots of weight in the cold. So we found "triple crown senior" feed, and it has had amazing results. He maintains weight through the winter even when we have weeks of below zero weather.
 
Sounds like they are on mature, late season grass pasture and it probably is not meeting their energy or protein requirements. Horses only digest approximately half of the crude protein in grass but as much as 75% of the crude protein in Alfalfa and other legumes. The cheapest ration is going to be grain based, higher energy feeds will keep them warm and fatten them up and most all grains are 7-8% protein which is adequate for a mature horse. A few pounds of Alfalfa pellets or Alfalfa hay every day will more than supplement their protein requirements if on pasture and being fed corn, oats or combination of the two.
 
Forgot to mention that I also give each horse a couple of lbs of cracked corn with a little bit of DDG (dried distillers grain) each day too. Would if be fine to feed the pellets with this mix? Or should I quit mixing in the DDG when I start them on the pellets?
 
I have a cistom blend of feed I use for my 3 horses and I have never had any weight problems with them or the ones I have had in the past. I feed 1 cup a day plus pasture then on a mixed grass clover hay and as I said never had a weight problem and one of my horses right now is 23 plus, but I also have Arabians which are easy keepers
 
Can you get beet pulp reasonable? Ours get nothing but hay. Pregnant mares get about a half cup of mineral pellets a day and a mix of oats and barley the last 3 months and about 6 weels after the babies are born (or until they go on pasture). If you can get beet pulp, fill a bucket about 1/3 with dry pulp, fill it half full of water, and let it set over night. You'll have a big muffin in the morning that they'll love. You can cut back on the high corn too. You may feed a little different if it gets really cold where you are.

Dave
 
Alfalfa pellets and corn is one of the best rations available for any class of Cattle, Horses, sheep or goats. Simple and easily adjusted. Using the DDG as a protein source is economical in many regions of the country but, the same regions usually have reasonably priced Alfalfa products. On average, a 1000 pound mature horse needs approximately 1.25 pounds of digestible protein per day for maintenance if not ridden or worked hard. Any combination can be calculated, such as 10 lbs. corn 7% (dig.) = .70 lbs. -- 5 lbs. Alfalfa pellets at 13%(dig.) = .65 lbs. -- = 1.35 lbs. digestible protein total.
 
When we had horses, they responded quite well to the senior feed - Purina. I tried alfalfa cubes a couple of times, horses wouldn't eat them.
 
My wife, the horse guru, has been doing the soaked beet pulp thing for years, with older horses. The other reason it works is that as they get older, their teeth don't work as well (maybe just need them floated)- so don't do well on stuff that's hard to chew. That about rules out alfalfa cubes, although pellets aren't as bad. But the soaked beet pulp is soft and sweet, and they'll do great on it. And it's pretty cheap, as well.
 
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