Questions about Beet Pulp

[StellaLenoir]

Ok I have done a search so I think adding beet pulp for my mares would be a good and safe addition to their diet. They are mostly on a dry lot in beautifull sandy Florida.

: so sand tends to build up. Silver, my 2 year old is a very messy eater and always rooting in the dirt.

On to my questions......

1.) When you weigh beet pulp to feed, is it dry weight or soaked weight?

2.) How much would you recomend each for 2 b size minis, tape weighted ate 250# when being used to help rid them of sand?

3.)How much can you prepare at one time and how long does it keep after being soaked? Could I make up enough for a few days and refrigerate it or does it have to be used the same day it is soaked?

I have shredded beet pulp with mollasas. So far they are not very excited to have it.They thought it was their grain and came running and stuck their heads in their buckets and after a few bites they were like YUCK! what is this?????

So last question,

Can it be added to their grain and still help with sand removal?

Thanks!!!! :aktion033:

 

[Floridachick]

We are in FL also. Sand is fun fun fun esp on Clippers! NOT! We feed up soaked beet pulp, but I soak 2 hrs ahead of each feeding, its nasty made up ahead of time. Start off adding it slowly in with their grain. I only do 1 cup per mini at each meal/ I use it as a fiber additive as Coastal is not the best forage. They also get PErennial peanut. I think your thinking about Psyllium. I use Sand clear or the Walmart brand orange flavor for people. You DEF want that in FL horse diets. Even grazing I find they consume lots of un wanted sand. FYI follow them and get a long glove, as soon as one poops grab some poop from the top of the clean pile. take the glove off and fill with warm water and SQUISH it all around once disolved ck the fingertips to se how much sand is in them.

 

[Gracie]

We feed beet pulp to large rescues that come in Ive never used for minis so the amount to feed is unknown to me. However Beet pulp once mixed with water is rancid within 9 hrs,

If ya dont want to soak for hours you can use hot water and it is ready within 30 minutes, I do this so it is able to be in the stall a little longer. for safety sake I usually always pull it within 4 hours.

your horses may show NO INTEREST in this at all but after a few days will get a taste for it,

 

[disneyhorse]

My B size minis get half of a one-pound coffee can of beet pulp pellets, each, which is then soaked.

My vet does not think that beet pulp alone will help prevent sand colic, so for the first seven days of each month I sprinkle Psyllium powder onto their beet pulp. They never know it's there and eat it right up.

It's important to feed either whole flax seed or psyllium to your horses if you live in a sandy area.

Good for you to look into it!

Andrea

 

[StellaLenoir]

Thanks for the replys! :aktion033:

I do use the psyllium metamucil stuff and just bought some sand clear too. I just want to have all bases covered to get this sand out of them and help them keep things moving.

I have tried the sand test, with a baggie and a jar. I could not feel any with the baggie and could not see any in the jar. But if I just squish their new poo I can feel grit. Yummy!

Thanks again!

 

[HGFarm]

I wonder if the 'new poo' is just picking up sand from landing in it? If you are not getting any the other way, I would take that as a good sign.

I have not heard that BP helps with sand, just keeps thing functioning and moving.

Mine didnt care for it the first couple of days (I feed the plain kind, not with molasses) but man, once they got a taste for it, now they about run over me when they see the bucket coming!! SLURP!!!

Disney, do you know how the pellets weigh as compared to the shreds?

 

[Gracie]

Oh one other note on the beet pulp. feed it MORE on the wet side than dry, lots of folks go for a middle of the road feel, I now keep my where when ya get a hand full ya can squeeze water from it, Reason COLIC, 3 horses in 4 weeks , Vet checked my beet pulp said its moist but add MORE WATER no more colics since,

 

[Marty]

There are some studies done at the University of Florida that now are suggesting that beet pulp does help avoid sand colic.

I feed mine 5 parts water to 1 part beet pulp and in the summer, I don't let it sit more than 30 minutes to an hour so it doesn't ferment in the heat. I feed 1 cup per day of this to everyone as a lunchtime snack once a day. The larger horses get more. In horrible humid weather, I replace the water completely with gatorade, killing two birds with one stone.

When I lived in sandy Florida I used Sandblast or Sandclear since "beet pulp" wasn't popular back then.

 

[HGFarm]

Thanks for the info Marty!

 

[disneyhorse]

StellaLenoir... the "baggie test" only shows if they have sand in their digestive system. My friend and I did a baggie test with different sand products in it to see what would "stick" to the sand but my vet said that it wouldn't work like we thought. The action of psyllium and/or whole flax seed is to act as a laxative, which makes the stomach muscles churn and constrict which helps churn up the sand and helps it pass through the rest of the digestive system. I had always thought that the sand "stuck" to the psyllium but I guess I was wrong.

HG Farm... I think at one point I had determined that the loose beet pulp shreds were twice as light as the pellets, which were more dense. I feed the pellets just because I can buy 50 lbs for $10 versus 40 lbs for $10 at my feed store. The pellets take longer to soak but they really do puff up many more times the size of the shreds.

Andrea

 

[StellaLenoir]

Yes! Thanks everyone, especilly Marty.

:

I was reading all the past posts about Beet pulp, but these are the last things I couldnt find, also my kids were done with mommy being on the computer!

:

I think I will try the lunch time snack idea. They are right out side my door so I see them all day and check their food, water, area like 100 times a day. I am obssesed. Then my 8 year old goes out 100 more! So it will NOT sit around. Fermenting gross beet pulp is the last thing I need. :smileypuke:

thanks again!

 

[CKC]

We have had an issue with sand colic over the years with one of our minis. We were told to add psyllium.... had another bought with sand colic and started feeding mash and beet pulp(both soaked). Have not had another sand colic since and all stools are solid and formed.

I for one feel that beet pulp does have a positive effect on sand ingestion. Not a vet... just my opinion.

 

[HGFarm]

Hey thanks Disney, that is good to know about the weight of the pellets vs. the shreds. I have the shreds here because the pelleted ones they offered had molasses in them and I didnt want the extra sugary content. Though I dont know really how much they put in there and if it is really enough to matter much.

I have not been feeding BP long, and then had run out recently and just got some more and the 'kids' are all thanking me. How long does it take to soak the pellets? I am limited on time before work in the morning and can't hang out for a couple of hours to wait for them, but the shreds are working out ok. I soak them with warm water when I get up, so when I go out to feed, it is ready.

I was also under the impression that the psyllium would help 'pick up' some of the sand and move it out, but if that is not the case, then the BP is certainly much cheaper and probably actually better for them, or how many of you use the BP and still the psyllium? I usually use the psyllium pellets by Equus.

 

[Lisa-Ruff N Tuff Minis]

There have been studies that show that beet pulp does help with sand removal and I agree with you if you are in a Sandy area doing that and psyllium sure can't hurt.

I only use pellets and my horses get 6-12 cups of soaked beet pulp a day. 1 cup of dry = 6 cups of wet and I weigh it dry to figure it into there diet amounts 1 cup of dry = 1/2 lb of my pellets.

I soak it for 3-4 hours even in the summer I have never had it go bad. It takes at least that for it to really soak I have found. In the winter I use hot water and it soaks a bit faster but you have to really be careful to check it for hot spots in the middle of the bucket

HG I have soaked it over night for my hard keeper who gets it morning and night and it is fine like I said I have never had it go bad

 

[HGFarm]

I am not in a sandy area, but have no pasture either... just dry lots.

It is probably ok for you to soak yours overnight, your temperature is probably a LOT less than ours, LOL It was 110 today with more to come. I guess if I brought mine in the house it would be ok soaking overnight, but I have the shreds..... wouldn't want to feed them 'beet wine' or anything due to fermenting, hahaha

So when you feed BP, it will make up some of the diet, so you take away how much, say hay or pellets so you are not over feeding? And, are you figuring the weight before or after soaking, vs. how much hay you take away? I know I'm just not getting something here!

:

 

[minifarmgirl]

My minis are on a dry lot of sand. I feed soaked beet pulp in the morning. I also feed (Walmart brand ) Equate fiber therapy sugar free for 5 days out of the month. Someone told me that the sugar free version is not good for horses as it contains aspertame. Anyone else hear this, or have any input? I haven't had any problems so far (and don't want to). Thanks!

 

[PaintedPromiseRanch]

no experience here with beet pulp but our dirt is very sandy and we have so many that the cost of psyllium is prohibitive... so once a month for a week they all get bran and flax seed (soaked overnight so it makes a sticky liquid) and we have had no problems since we started doing this. the best "poop test" we have come up with is to watch for a fresh pile, pick up as much as you can without getting the part that touched the dirt, put it in a bucket and add water, swish around and add water continuously until all the green has floated out and over the bucket rim and the water is clear and then you can see whatever sand there may be in the bottom. vet said more than a teaspoon, DO SOMETHING! less than half, don't worry. in between half and one teaspoon, probably need to work on it... however one hint i learned the hard way, DO NOT STIR UP THE POOP AND WATER WITH YOUR BARE HANDS! even washing five times with soap after, my hands smelled like poop for several days... :smileypuke: i wasn't worried, thought it would wash off with soap but :no: it didn't!