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Target Feeding Rate (% of body weight to feed per day) Forage Format Feeding Change Timeframe (Duration to transition to feeding change) Horse: 0.05 to 0.2%: Pellets, Shreds: Soak in water for 15-30 minutes prior to feeding: Bison: 0.15% of total forage intake: Pellets, Shreds She eats about 12-14 pounds of alfalfa per day (half in the morning, half at night) along with about 5-6 pounds of pelleted feed per day (half at morning, half at night). Start by replacing 1/4 of your horse’s old feed with alfalfa cubes. Many horse owners may decide that a mix of legume and grass hay is the appropriate choice for their horse. No argument there. Grain is also too rich and should be fed in small quantities. Practicality and cost of feeding are always considerations when devising a feeding plan for horses. in the urine, so horse owners that feed alfalfa to adult horses may find that the horses drink more water and urinate more than when they use a grass hay. Long stem hay is the traditional baled hay. I also chose this option because I am highly allergic to straight alfalfa. Horse owners are or should be concerned about the presence of mold in the hay they are feeding regardless of what type of hay it is. High quality hay can be an excellent source of nutrition for - including protein and calcium - for horses and ponies and is a very palatable feed.. I heard somewhere if you feed your horse 1 cup (or scoop, or whatever) of straight oats with their feed, they'll replant your field through their poo. … Duren also doesn’t recommend feeding straight alfalfa to endurance horses due to its protein and calcium content. It can be detrimental, however, to horses with impaired kidneys or liver. When a former boarding barn ran out of mix and fed all the normal horses straight alfalfa my gelding became unrideable and basically unmanageable until … Feeding alfalfa pellets does not provide enough fiber length to be an optimum fiber replacement. There are many types of hay harvested from grasses including alfalfa, timothy, clover and rye. For most horse owners, feeding a horse is the major cost of ownership. However, the 50/50 mix does not seem to make him overly energetic. I used to feed alfalfa hay as a supplement or grass/alfalfa mix but my horses are also tramplers and found that a lot of it got wasted. To hit the high spots, here are the conditions that are precipitated by too much alfalfa: •Diminished Performance. Traditional feeds for horses include grass or alfalfa hay, corn, oats, a sweet feed of some type or commercially developed feed. Some say there's nothing better. My horses benefit from the Alfalfa but the mixture helps me be able to handle it better. The most important thing to remember is what is best for your particular horse. Grasses commonly used as hay are brome, orchard, and timothy. It is too rich in protein, calcium and phosphorus which poison the liver. It is also very crucial, no matter what you choose to feed, you feed it in a healthy portion. It can be bundled in 30- to 80-pound square bales or large, round or long square bales that can weigh tons. The pros and cons of Grass and Alfalfa. Some owners choose to feed their horses straight alfalfa, but there is a downside. Add alfalfa cubes to your horse’s diet gradually, as sudden dietary changes can cause health issues. Fiber is undoubtedly essential for proper functioning of the equine digestive tract. Bales– the typical horse owner feeds Alfalfa in ~50 pound square bales. It can be detrimental, however, to horses with impaired kidneys or liver. This is one of the problems often encountered when horses are fed straight alfalfa hay or cubes with no additional P supplementation. Your horse will never … I add alfalfa pellets as needed as a supplement. In fact, retired horses and those in light work may do fine on a hay- or pasture-only diet. Young horses on this type of feeding program are predisposed to skeletal development issues. When should I cut my horse’s alfalfa? Feeding horses is never an easy topic to simplify since every horse is different. You might be interested: How to ride a horse western. Few things create more arguments and opinions when it comes to feeding horses than whether alfalfa should be a part of the equine diet. A mixed bale (or feeding a flake from each type of bale) provides medium energy and protein counts, adds relatively high (compared with solely grass hay) calcium, and a more appropriate calcium-to-phosphorus ratio than straight alfalfa. Others view it as a kind of poison. Here are some things you should know if you choose to feed a straight alfalfa diet. Beet pulp, alfalfa pellets, or low starch commercial feeds are excellent alternatives. Alfalfa is high in calcium which suppresses magnesium and it causes an imbalanced calcium to phosphorus ratio of 5:1. Duren also doesn’t recommend feeding straight alfalfa to endurance horses due to its protein and calcium content. If good quality baled Alfalfa isn’t available, substitute Alfalfa pellets or cubes. It is cut, cured, and baled. California Complete can be fed to any type of mature horse and provides a viable alternative to feeding horses straight alfalfa diets. Some horsemen may be hesitant to feed hull-less oats because they believe the hulls contribute significantly to fiber intake of horses. Many horse owners feed grass hay or straight alfalfa or a combination of grass and alfalfa to their horses. I’ve started to feed him the cubes twice a day along with free choice grass hay and hay stretcher pellets. Alfalfa hay generally runs at least 18-20% protein, often higher. Mix the cubes with its old feed to get its digestive tract and taste buds accustomed to its new diet. Young horses should be fed a mixture of alfalfa and grass hay to help improve the Ca:P balance. Alfalfa hay would not be the best forage for certain groups of horses. Another fiber solution is to feed a complete diet. The nutrition the horse needs, the cost of the hay, and the availability of the feed needs to be carefully balanced to make owning a horse possible for many people. Some Advantages Horses love it! This might be one of the biggest misconceptions out there about feeding horses. However, as a general rule, the preferred feed for particularly idle or light work horses is grass hay and/or grass/alfalfa mixed hays rather than straight alfalfa. Straight alfalfa will provide more protein, more calcium and perhaps more calories per pound than an alfalfa-grass mix. Both grain hays and alfalfa also have very unbalanced mineral profiles that will require careful supplementation. If alfalfa cubes will be its primary feed, replace 1/4 of its old feed with alfalfa cubes. 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