beet pulp

[jjnov]

Im thinking about getting a bag of beet pulp and was wondering if you feed it to your minis and if so how much?

 

[chandab]

It depends on why you want to feed it. Are you stretching hay? Using it to add water to their system? Put on weight?

I do feed beet pulp to my minis, primarily for extra hydration; and a little dry makes a big soaked meal.

For my minis, I have 6 B-size minis; I take two pounds dry beet pulp pellets (about 4-5 cups, comes to about 1/3# each) plus 1/2# forage pellets (forage pellets are almost gone and I don't know if I'll order more), put them in an 8-qt bucket and add warm water (about 1/2 bucket worth), when they are done soaking the bucket is about full. So, each mini gets about 4-5 cups soaked beet pulp (I use a scoop from the calf milk replacer, and it's roughly 2 cups - they each get two scoops soaked). They really enjoy it as their noon snack.

[i feed it to my senior half-Arab gelding too. He gets 1# beet pulp plus 1/2# forage pellets, then soaked, his is about 1/2-2/3 an 8-qt bucket soaked.]

 

[dgrminis]

I have a mini mare that is a harder keeper and she gets 2 cups dry beet pulp mixed in with her grain each night in the summer/spring and in the winter she gets it wet -- in the summer she eats too slow though and it tends to kinda ferment before she finishes it so she gets it dry.

 

[jjnov]

It depends on why you want to feed it. Are you stretching hay? Using it to add water to their system? Put on weight?

I do feed beet pulp to my minis, primarily for extra hydration; and a little dry makes a big soaked meal.

For my minis, I have 6 B-size minis; I take two pounds dry beet pulp pellets (about 4-5 cups, comes to about 1/3# each) plus 1/2# forage pellets (forage pellets are almost gone and I don't know if I'll order more), put them in an 8-qt bucket and add warm water (about 1/2 bucket worth), when they are done soaking the bucket is about full. So, each mini gets about 4-5 cups soaked beet pulp (I use a scoop from the calf milk replacer, and it's roughly 2 cups - they each get two scoops soaked). They really enjoy it as their noon snack.

[i feed it to my senior half-Arab gelding too. He gets 1# beet pulp plus 1/2# forage pellets, then soaked, his is about 1/2-2/3 an 8-qt bucket soaked.]

Well, to downsize the use of hay, and my stallion is a hard keeper, he was attacked by dogs and then his nostrils collapsed 6 months after, had surgery, threw his bite off, he has a hard time breathing now, and its hard to keep weight on him, and I want to fatten his up some before winter hits. He gets unlimited hay, 1 flake of alfalfa, and a half scoop of feed(full size horse scoop). He is gaining weight some, he had a little cold a few weeks ago. He lost some weight then, he is slowly but surely getting it back, but I just want something to help him threwout the winter, something extra. He gets wormed monthly, I alternate my wormers, he teeth are fine, just has some personal issues. The poor guy gets scared when strange dogs come around.

 

[TinyMiteVillage]

I feed shredded beet pulp to all my horses, mules and donkey. I mix it is with their grain, corn, oats and two cups of beet pulp. They eat it all up and Must say my horses look better now then they ever heave. I live half a mile from the road and we are in the middle of the woods so on dry lots so I can tell ya all about keeping one fat , slick and pretty.................

 

[jacks'thunder]

Yes I feed beet pulp!

: And I love the stuff! Thanks to a great friend who told me about it it's now part of our daily routene! I feed about a cup and a half and 2 cups of senior pellets all soaked and mixed and I split that between 4 minis. This seems to work well in my herd, having each one need alittle something to either keep weight on, being a yearling or oldie :bgrin , or an off bite issue this seems to do the trick! I also make sure they have hay free choice all day, then every one gets 1-2 flakes of hay(depending on size) when going to bed for the night. I found beet pulp to be a wonderful weight builder!( even for my goats!LOL!

Leya

 

[chandab]

Well, to downsize the use of hay, and my stallion is a hard keeper, he was attacked by dogs and then his nostrils collapsed 6 months after, had surgery, threw his bite off, he has a hard time breathing now, and its hard to keep weight on him, and I want to fatten his up some before winter hits. He gets unlimited hay, 1 flake of alfalfa, and a half scoop of feed(full size horse scoop). He is gaining weight some, he had a little cold a few weeks ago. He lost some weight then, he is slowly but surely getting it back, but I just want something to help him threwout the winter, something extra. He gets wormed monthly, I alternate my wormers, he teeth are fine, just has some personal issues. The poor guy gets scared when strange dogs come around.

Not that you necessarily want to feed this much, but... Beet pulp can be fed at a rate of upto 40% of the forage portion of the horse's diet. It is high in calcium, so to balance the Ca ratio; you can do one of the following:

1. 1# beet pulp and 1# oats (whole or rolled doesn't matter)

2. 1# beet pulp and 2 oz non-calcium added rice bran

3. 1# beet pulp and 1 tsp monosodium phosphate

[these are just the ratios, so you would have to calculate for actual amounts fed.]

Beet pulp is also lower in protein, only about 9%; fine for adult horses, but low for growing horses.

 

[Margo_C-T]

I have 8 A sized minis, ranging from 30.25" to 34", and a 38" B. All get soaked beet pulp once daily, in the evening, year round; in the summer, the littlest gets @ 1 1/2 C, all the other A's get a generous 2 C., and the B mare gets 4 C. In the winter, I up the amount that each gets by a third to a half more.

I use it to help in hydration and to extend the amount of 'good' fiber, allowing the amount of (now-VERY-expensive, AND sometimes hard-to-get!)hay to be kept moderate. I do feed alfalfa hay at least once daily to all, and twice daily(in addition to a good mixed grass hay)to several who are older, work harder, and/or harder keepers. I get the beet pulp in pellet form, and try to get it molasses-free(though I'm not sure ANY really is, as it takes something of that sort to 'make' the extruded pellets, I suspect!)

Margo