Hay wastage...

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

When I feed alfalfa cubes (I usually don't because there is alfalfa in my hay mix ) I use HOT water to soak them I run my tap until the water is hot (uncomfortable to hold my hand under by not hot enough to scald me) and put enough water over the cubes to just cover them. They soak it up in about 10 minutes and my horses feel special getting a warm meal Some of the cubes completely break down some don't but all are softer and easy for the horses to chew.

 

[whitney]

Becareful about the KIND of cubes you buy they should LOOK like GOOD hay. I bought 5 different bags last year and BOY WERE THEY DIFFERENT and price DID NOT reflect quality. The best ones came from TSC and they were middle of the road price wise.

I also soak mine in HOT water. Some brands of cubes broke down better than others.

 

[shorthorsemom]

My local store actually sells a alfalfa/timothy hay cube at about 50/50%. I used these at one time soaked out when I was feeding up a thin geriatric full sized horse that didn't have much chewing power left due to limited teeth. He gobbled up the soaked hay cubes and loved them. I used hot tap water and would soak 12 hours in advance, fix up pm meal at the am feeding etc... Be sure you get your hands in the mix and feel for hard lumps that they could gobble up and swallow whole. I liked them better than 100% alfalfa due to the protein difference.

 

[nicmac74]

Hi,

You feed one hay cube at a time??!I have been feeding 8!My question is- are cubes the same weight wise as hay?Does one pund of cubes = 1 pound of hay?They do take ages to soak...a good 12 hours for sure. I would not want to give them dry but I noticed at the cowboy's barn, they do feed them dry?Maybe bigger horses can eat them easier. Still..the minis like the soaked cubes and the "alfalfa" tea. They get the alfalfa cubes in the morning and nice quality orchard at night. I cannot believe how there is not a single strand left of the orchard. They used to leave nearly all the Timothy and all the alfalfa stems too. Not good!

My local store actually sells a alfalfa/timothy hay cube at about 50/50%. I used these at one time soaked out when I was feeding up a thin geriatric full sized horse that didn't have much chewing power left due to limited teeth. He gobbled up the soaked hay cubes and loved them. I used hot tap water and would soak 12 hours in advance, fix up pm meal at the am feeding etc... Be sure you get your hands in the mix and feel for hard lumps that they could gobble up and swallow whole. I liked them better than 100% alfalfa due to the protein difference.

 

[whitney]

Yep same weight as regular hay

 

[shorthorsemom]

No, not one cube at a time... type error. I don't use these hay cubes on my minis, my guys just get the mixed grass hay. I used to soak some on an old full sized horse. I pick the fine mixed grass hay and they gobble it up, zero waste. On my boys I feed the hay and give them some triple crown lite pellets for vitamins and such and add some flax and probios. That is all. They look great and their weight is where I want it. For awhile my younger boy needed alfalfa pellets supplemented in his feed while he was still growing but not anymore.