Those that feed alfalfa cubes....

[Sandee]

The hay that I have leftover from winter has some bad bales. By bad I mean they are mostly grass and what looks like straw! My horses are telling me that it's "Not nice stuff"! They'd rather eat almost anything else.

So I thought until we can get a first cutting this year, I'd supplement this crispy crunchy stuff with alfalfa cubes. Trouble is I've never fed it before.

I tried some tonight and after 30 minutes they were still hard as little rocks. 2 hours later some of the cubes still wouldn't break apart and in the process I end up with green gooey hands!

How long to soak? Do ya drain all the water out? What does everyone do?

 

[normajeanbaker]

I have been getting really awesome, soft alfalfa cubes that come from Canada. I tried the local feedstores alfalfa cubes and they wont break apart and require tons of soaking. The Canadian cubes break apart without being soaked, but I soak them anyways. Within 30 minutes, they are all fluffy and broken apart and ready to be fed. I dont drain the water off, as the cubes soak it in and there isnt anything to drain. I think the hard as a rock local cubes, I was soaking for a good 2 hours before I fed them. My horses LOVE hay cubes and turn their nose up at any baled hay if they have cubes in front of them.

~Jen~

 

[Mr.T]

The hay that I have leftover from winter has some bad bales. By bad I mean they are mostly grass and what looks like straw! My horses are telling me that it's "Not nice stuff"! They'd rather eat almost anything else.

So I thought until we can get a first cutting this year, I'd supplement this crispy crunchy stuff with alfalfa cubes. Trouble is I've never fed it before.

I tried some tonight and after 30 minutes they were still hard as little rocks. 2 hours later some of the cubes still wouldn't break apart and in the process I end up with green gooey hands!

How long to soak? Do ya drain all the water out? What does everyone do?

[/quote

When I soak my hay cubes take a pail and fill it half way with the cubes, then I add water to the top of the pail. Cubes will absorb lots and lots of water. They can expanded out of the bucket. They can take a few hours to get really soft. I also let them soak overnight for morning feeding,and then I soak them in the morning for supper feeding. If you add to much water simple pour some of it off. Make sure they are moist because I have had big horses choke on them before, that 's when I started soaking them. Plus an added benefit is it keeps them hydrated.

 

[5StarRanch]

A couple of questions for all of you that feed pellets or cubes.

How do you weigh, or how much do you feed once you soak the cubes? Also, does anyone feed pellets and if so, do you soak them as well?

Thanks a ton!

 

[Indy's mom]

Hi Sandee! I feed Freedom 3-4 cubes 2Xday. I have found that they need to be soaked in HOT water for about 20 minutes. I tried cold water and they didn't get solf even after hours of soaking! I also learned a trick... you can actually pop them into the microwave!! If I'm in a super hurry, I'll put the 3-4 cubes dry in the microwave for about 40-60 seconds, then they will break apart real well, then I add the water and it soaks right up!!!

Tammy

 

[muffntuf]

I feed cubes fairly regularly. I also use hot water to start them. Or I put them outside around 3 pm for a couple hours in the sun so the water warms up.

If the cubes are that hard I would look for another brand. TSC did stock Standlee and I absolutely love them. I am feeding some from fall of '07. I open a bag and they are still green and smell like fresh alfalfa. (I stored them inside, off the ground, covered with plastic).

You could also try some alfalfa timothy mix, they are a bit softer.

You weigh pound for pound. It's just dry compacted hay. A flake of alfalfa may weigh 2 lbs, so I weigh out 2 lbs cubes and then soak them.

Good luck!

 

[Jill]

We used to feed hay cubes and found that some brands are much harder and more compressed than others.

Hot water really helps them soak up faster, but you may also want to find a different brand and experiment as some will soak up much easier for you than others (and all come in 50# bags).

 

[shorthorsemom]

My best combination was the 50/50 alfalfa timothy cubes and hot water. Did that with full sized horses with no problems. If I didn't use the hot water and/or used the brick hard cubes I just set up the PM soak in the morning, and the am soak at night so I always had cubes soaking in preparation for the next feeding.

 

[Billy G]

Why soak them ? I feed mine dry and no problems......

 

[Becky]

Like Billy G, I feed alfalfa cubes (and pellets) dry. I find that the brand of cubes makes a big difference as to how hard they are. I've had some brands that are so hard you couldn't even break them with a hammer. I don't feed that kind! If you can get them, the Standlee hay products are the best I've found anywhere. Their alfalfa cubes are bright green and flake apart easily. My horses really like them.