Do you have to soak beet pulp?

[PlanB]

@Fred

I agree with Bethe, and AKdraft.
I feed BP and soak it first, and then when I mix up their feeds, add hot water again to everything.
Why would you not want to add water to your horses’ gut? It’s not hard, it takes so little time, and it is just one more step in trying to keep them healthy.

I find it very difficult to feed soaked feeds. In winter, you have freezing weather to deal with, and in summer, it can go sour very quickly. Makes a slobbery mess which is a pain to clean or attracts more flies or is just a general pain in the butt. Also hauling water around to soak with or carrying soaked feed from the house to the barn is a huge pain if you don’t have the luxury of running water in the barn.

I’ve never actually fed beet pulp, but I have fed many other types of pelleted feed, (High Fat/High Fibre, EasyCube, etc) and never soaked any of them. Too much effort for negligible benefit.

Alfalfa cubes I always soak because they are sometimes huge and hard as rocks.

[DMK]

@Saffron_Rose

How long on average, then, do you folks soak your pellets of beet pulp for versus your shreds?
I’ve heard 24 hrs for pellets: is that about right? And about 45 minutes for shreds in boiling water?

I soak pellets overnight, but I think a good rule of thumb is apply boiling water and don’t feed until fully cooled, so at least 3 hours.

If using hot/boiling water (and then cooling off by adding cold water) I get shreds ready in about 30 minutes

If you are feeding beet pulp, one of those water kettles ($15, walmart) is your best friend. I just flip it on at night when I get there and at some point added it the beet pulp. Then next AM when I am rinsing out that bucket and mixing up the next day’s pellets (I add electrolytes, some canola oil and beer, although the beer is added just before feeding), I refill the kettle and we are ready to go at night.

And add me to the group that says if you are feeding beet pulp why wouldn’t you add water. Any opportunity to add more water is generally a Very Good Thing, plus it makes your horse think he’s hit the jackpot with that giant bucket o’empty calories.

That said, I have two absolutes: chokes always get wet/moist/soupy food and beet pulp pellets ALWAYS get soaked, because while all pellets expand, the degree of expansion in BP pellets is considerably greater, and you are setting yourself up for potential choke for a horse who shovels food down his throat as fast as he can. And one episode of choke can (not always, but can) set you down the path of many chokes.

Water is cheap, choke is not. Use the water.

[flaxenfilly23]

@DMK

Water is cheap, choke is not. Use the water.

^ +1,000

[Bethe_Mounce]

overnight whenever possible; otherwise 45 minutes to an hour; always hot water; but I am trained well by my “hot house flowers.” And, always a stir, a good stir before going into feed tub. Invest in wooden spoons. Or one those old spoons your grandma had.

[RInurse_Rider]

My horses are about 100 feet from my house. I keep the beep inside. 1.5 lbs twice a day split by 3 horses. I set up the next feed after I come in, so mine soaks for about 12 hours in the climate-controlled house. It’s nice and “juicy”.

[myamego]

I always add some water to any grain/supplement/bucket I give my horse. If the feed will soak up water and my horse will eat it, why not? It’s such a simple thing to do and it can only do good. I’ve also heard that shredded beet pulp can be soaked wayyy less time than pelleted.

[Saffron_Rose]

Thank you.
I should add, I’m the wrong side of the pond to use places like Walmart.
That’s also why I needed some advice on feeding because beet pulp is not commonly fed here much anymore, but I think it is the best option to meet the needs of all my 4 over winter.

[JB]

Don’t use boiling water - that’s a good way to degrade some of the nutrients. It just doesn’t need to be that hot.

A good metal sweat scraper makes an excellent stirrer.

[Another_Poster]

Always always always soak the pellets. I soak for at least 10-12 hours. Soak the PM feeding in AM. A normal 3 quart scoop makes a 5 gallon bucket of soaked pellets. That is a lot of water to take out of a horses gut.

[Ghazzu]

@JB

Don’t use boiling water - that’s a good way to degrade some of the nutrients. It just doesn’t need to be that hot.

A good metal sweat scraper makes an excellent stirrer.

What nutrients in BP are degraded by contact with boiling water?

[Ghazzu]

I use shreds, add the rest of the feed (variable,but some combination of bran, flax, alfalfa,and RB,vitamins) ,wet thoroughly, stir,and feed. Warm/hot water in winter, tap water temp in summer.

[cloudyandcallie]

Get the shreds and soak for the 10 or 15 minutes while you do things like clean stalls and refill water buckets, etc. It is so much easier and in summer you don’t risk spoiling. Cost more but is worth it.

I want to know if it is OK to feed fresh organic whole beets. With or without the green stems.

[jvanrens]

@Bethe Mounce

overnight whenever possible; otherwise 45 minutes to an hour; always hot water; but I am trained well by my “hot house flowers.” And, always a stir, a good stir before going into feed tub. Invest in wooden spoons. Or one those old spoons your grandma had.

Or sweat scrapers (saved just for stirring feed of course). Always seem to have a couple of extras aound TYMMV.

I’m sure there was a study done by Guelph U a "few years back that showed you didn’t have to soak it unless you had a horse that was prone to to choking but I haven’t been able to find it lately.

I always soak it though, but with racehorses you want them as hydrated as possible.

If being fed for am feed I usually soak overnight unless it’s really hot and humid otherwise it depends on what type. Shreds in warm water are ready in about 15 minutes, pellets in about half an our with slightly warmer water.

[akdraft77]

Someone mentioned the feed freezing in the winter. Just make sure you feed small enough amounts that doesn’t happen. even at the coldest temps I have fed (I think the record was -65F) I didn’t have that issue.

I always used shreds and hot water. Never took longer to soak than my shower. (about 15 min)

Smaller beet pulp meals more often is better at those temps anyways.

[Miranda_and_Oscar]

I always soaked beet pulp. At the last farm I was at, someone gave one of the horses some and didn’t soak it and he choked immediately. Whenever I have soaked it, it has been 10 minutes or so (maybe less), especially if the water is warm, it seems to hydrate quicker.

[akdraft77]

@cloudyandcallie

Get the shreds and soak for the 10 or 15 minutes while you do things like clean stalls and refill water buckets, etc. It is so much easier and in summer you don’t risk spoiling. Cost more but is worth it.

I want to know if it is OK to feed fresh organic whole beets. With or without the green stems.

Beet pulp is what you get when the sugars are processed out of beets, so is safe to feed as it is mostly just the fibrous “left-overs”.

I don’t know that I would feed them whole, at least not in any quantity.

https://equusmagazine.com/management/feeding-beet-pulp-26851

[DMK]

@Saffron_Rose

Thank you.
I should add, I’m the wrong side of the pond to use places like Walmart.
That’s also why I needed some advice on feeding because beet pulp is not commonly fed here much anymore, but I think it is the best option to meet the needs of all my 4 over winter.

You don’t need walmart, we all have Amazon!

Something like this is perfect

1.7L ELECTRIC KETTLE BLACK & BLUE 360° CORDLESS PORTABLE 2200W RAPID BOIL JUG
by YesUK
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