Alfalfa cubes??? Anyone feed them???

[Candice]

I'm seriously considering putting all my horses on them. I'm having so much trouble getting decent hay. I have a really brown load of NY T&A. It smells good, but it looks rough. I can't get "good hay" on a consistent basis.

Does anyone feed the alfalfa cubes? If so how much? I'm not entirely certain how to accurately measure them.

I'm in So central Florida. No pasture.

Candice

 

[appypintolady]

I feed them in small amounts to a few of my horses. A couple of my horses have colicked on Alfalfa so I use it very sparingly. I soak them 'cause the cubes are huge, I had no idea until I got them. I soak them until they are mushy then mix with their beet pulp and they love it.

 

[Mini Wonders]

We feed each of our horses three cubes in the morning and three at night. We usually do that during the winter though. We only feed it them when they have no grass or can't fing hay.

 

[qtrrae]

I also feed alfalfa cubes! I always soak them - they are great for horses that are hard to keep weight on. I have heard of minis choking on just the cubes without soaking them.

Not sure about using them completely in place of hay - someone with experience in that could help you more.

 

[Minimor]

We've used cubes--when we were short on hay I was feeding 2 or 2 1/2 lbs (measured dry) of cubes per horse--that worked out to about a 2 litre container of dry cubes. Note that I'd measure them dry, then soak them in warm water before feeding them. That amount was per feed, 2x a day, and the horses were getting a little bit of hay along with that.

 

[cowgurl_up]

I used to work at a large Arab farm and we fed out Alfalfa cubes. They worked well, and they liked them because they were easier to take to shows in bags than a bale is. I like that you can soak them and make them soft for older horses who are having problems eating hay.

Another farm I used to work at had Alfalfa pellets. They are much smaller of course and I liked them better for the fact that they would be easier for the horses, especially a mini, to eat.

 

[Bess Kelly]

You need to use "some" stems for the "scratch factor" in their guts. The cubes have enough of that and the length to satisfy this issue....pellets do not. I usually keep some cubes on hand and of course have to feed them occassionally to keep them rotated/fresh from bag to bag. Southern States has a cube that is a timothy/alf mix and is much softer, so easier to break up. If feeding to animals with own feed bowl and who aren't gobblers, you can use dry -- but, I like to moisten a little. If feeding to animals who are at troughs and competing, the risk of choke is greater. Consider your own situation, then decide. Better safe than sorry.

Oh, amount? Weigh dry and feed what you would with loose hay -- in pounds. If you have hay issues (and we all have at some time/will again at some time) remember that you can replace a large quantity with beet pulp for roughage intake. So, you may want to consider several options.

Don't you just HATE not being able to rely on hay quality as much as you can, say a Pepsi, to be "the same" each time

: Well, unfortunately, it just has so many things to affect it -- type of grass, rain amounts and when, fertilizers, temperature, time of cutting, time of baling, moisture content at bale, way it is stored and the list goes on!

: Some days I wonder how we get by in winter at all. Just frustrating.

I'm waiting for my dealer to receive his shipments of Canadian timothy -- and stressing over what I know will be a huge, huge, HUGE -- did I mention unbelievably LARGE?? -- bill for the stuff. BUT, my guys are worth it

: I may have to eat it along with them :lol: so I hope it is really good again this year.

 

[MiniJoys]

I have been giving my 3 yr old mini stallion 3 cubes of Alfalfa at dinner by breaking them up/crumbling them to a manageable size for him. Recently, I found Alfalfa pellets at TSC and am currently feeding him those at dinner. The Alfalfa cubes seem to keep his system working better; whenever I have given out and he did not have them for a day or two, he did not poop as regularly.

 

[Feather]

I Know a MAJOR trainer that ONLY has fed cubes for years. The trick seems to be in the control to seperate feeding each mini. Hay is alot more of a mess & storage problems; today the cost is about the same or even better for cubes. The trainer has done very well at the Nationals and shows in many other Regs. as well as big horses.

 


ALWAYS ALWAYS try a sampling before moving your whole program. Good Luck!

 

[whitney]

I have used the timothy/alfalfa cubes before soaked. When Dusty had the high fever that was all he would eat. So I keep a bag on hand all the time.

 

[Jill]

I currently do not use hay cubes, but I have extensively in the past and may yet again use them. I love them for supplementing good hay, which is not easy to consistently come by here at times! Our minis are also on dry lots with no pasture. Currently, we can get very, very nice orchard grass hay but I feel this winter we may be using more complete feed than we are now, and some cubes.

In the winter time, I like to use hot water to soak the cubes. They soak up pretty quickly that way. I have not ever fed them dry. When we first offer them to a horse, they are a bit perplexed with the wet cubes but before long they get used to them and love them. It's also a great way to get extra water into your horses.

 

[Bess Kelly]

When I use cubes and moisten them , I don't try to get them soupy -- I WANT them to chew! But, I moisten to allow them to be chewable :lol: as some are so hard that, I swear, you need a sledge hammer!

Mine actually prefer the timothy/alf mixed to the pure alfalfa. Could be the density of them, more chewable lengths in there. If I had an old, old, old one with no teeth, then soup!

Yes, if only on the pellets of alfalfa, the poo isn't going to be adequate -- gut issues -- there's the scratch factor and the bulk issues which are needed.