Limit on how Much Soaked Alfalfa is Safe to Feed at Once?

[YoungGirlOldHorse]

Hello,

I have a 31 yr old Quarter horse. Roughly 14 hands and 850 lbs. She had her front teeth removed in the summer (absess). Now in the winter she doesn’t do well eating hay. I have been feeding her twice a day a mixture of soaked alfalfa cubes and beet pulp pellets. It takes her 2-3 hours to eat a total of 4lbs of soaked hay and 1 lb of beet pulp. (she gets a total of 5 lbs of senior feed a day as well).

She has maintained weight well on this diet.

Our horses have full turnout unless they are eating. Then everyone is locked up to prevent food stealing. The issue I am running into now is I have to return to work so I wont be around all day to feed the horses in the morning, wait two hours, check if shes done eating, then let her out if she is. My mother works a full time job so she can feed in the morning grain (doesn’t take her long to eat that), but she cannot feed then wait two hours for her to finish, because she has to leave for her job.

My plan is to switch to only giving her the soaked feed at night so someone can be there to let her out when shes done. Thus I am wondering if there is an upper limit to how much volume of cubes/pellets I can give at once. She does not scarf it down, she eats slowly.

Thank you all for advice!

[Simkie]

The only real limit is their ability to finish before it freezes or before it starts to ferment. Outside of that–it’s analogous to hay, and you can feed it as you would alfalfa hay.

[4horses]

I would run an electric fence or make a small paddock so she can eat by herself.

My old mare was extremely slow to eat. Her teeth were as smooth as sea shells. She was given 3 meals of 5 lbs each. She ended up with her own pasture because she ate so slowly. She was arthritic and couldn’t get out of the way of the other horses fast enough.

[trubandloki]

All things horse seem to end up complicated. Darn them.

I think giving her all her soaked hay product in one feeding will work, but it seems like it would be better if she could continue having it split into two feedings. (And I totally get having to go to work, I have that problem too.)

I like 4horses idea above, just for these winter months, can you make her a space that is just hers and she can eat her soaked forage as slowly as she wants during the day?

Can you shift your morning schedule so you feed her first thing, then she gets the time while you/your mom prepare for work to casually eat some portion of her soaked food, and then you let her out right before you leave? Maybe this way she gets 1/3 of her soaked food in the AM and 2/3 in the PM.

Do you know anyone with a slightly different schedule that would be willing to swing by and let her out a little later in the morning, after she has finished her food?

[endlessclimb]

Are these stalls that open to the paddock? Any way to rig up a latch on a timer, that would open automatically after some time?

Otherwise, I agree that she may need her own space for awhile.

[SmlHpy1]

I’ve always been told that alfalfa pellets are the equivalent of a concentrate. And therefore to stay at or below 5 lbs (including any grain fed at the same meal). Is that not accurate?

[RedHorses]

Cubes are long stem forage and take longer to eat than pellets. They don’t fall into the concentrates concerns.

Though even if the OP were feeding pellets, the length of time it’s taking her horse to eat negates the single feeding limit.

[mmeqcenter]

No it is not. They are hay.

[SmlHpy1]

(post withdrawn by author, will be automatically deleted in 24 hours unless flagged)

[SmlHpy1]

Pellets aren’t long enough to be long stem forage, therefore they act as a concentrate. That’s what I’ve been told and I try to treat mine as such

[Simkie]

@SmlHpy1

Is that not accurate?

No. They’re hay. You can treat them as hay.

[SmlHpy1]

Yes I’ve heard that with the cubes. Although long stem fiber is suppose to be 2 inches or longer and I am not sure my cubes actually contain much that is 2 inches. I guess I should asses that better.

I have a slow eating senior as well, but I thought the 5 lb limit was suppose to be spaced out like 4 hours apart or something. I err on the side of caution and keep his grain + pellets as close to 5 lbs as I can. He prefers pellets over cubes.

[SmlHpy1]

I understand they are hay, but pellets are not long enough to be long stem forage. Everything I’ve read regarding nutrition states that they act as concentrate and should be counted as such. Cubes are different, but pellets aren’t even close to the 2" length of long stem forage.

[Simkie]

@SmlHpy1

Everything I’ve read regarding nutrition states that they act as concentrate and should be counted as such.

Then I don’t know know why you asked? If you’re comfortable with what you’re doing, that’s great.

But they’re hay, and it’s fine to treat them as hay, and the OP here is fine to give her horse a larger serving, especially with how slowly they’re being consumed.

[mmeqcenter]

Sure but not being long-stem doesn’t somehow change them into a concentrate.
They’re still high-fiber, not high starch or fat.
Concentrates are low fiber.

The main benefit of long-stem forage vs short-stem is the length of time they have something to chew on. It’s not chemically a different substance. Chewing increases saliva production, which helps buffer stomach acid. Having food in the digestive tract for a longer period of time is healthier for grazing animals, because their system is designed to process food all day long.

As an example - feeding one flake of dry hay that a horse devours in 30 minutes, vs five pounds of soaked pellets that the same horse takes two hours to eat, isn’t still better just because it was long-stem. The digestive tract being used for a longer period of time is the healthier choice for the horse.

[mmeqcenter]

I had a little guy boarded with me in Florida that quidded everything including alfalfa cubes. So, soaked pellets he got. He was in a paddock by himself to eat, and got about 10 pounds (when dry) of alfalfa pellets for overnight. It took him the better part of six hours to eat it all. Never had an issue with spoiling (obviously freezing wasn’t a consideration). In the morning he got another scoop (about 2.5 pounds) with a scoop of senior feed, then when he was done he got to go out with some friends for a couple hours where he would attempt to graze; I think he got down about 25% of what he chomped. But I could do this easily because I worked from home. If I didn’t work from home, he’d have just lived in the solo paddock, and I’d have split up his feedings more equally so the morning feed lasted longer in between. Which I actually did at first, until I figured out the best diet for him. He lived solo and I took him soaked pellets five times a day, spread out as far as possible, with the night still being the largest amount. Once I got to the amount where he started putting weight back on, I slowly condensed the quantities to the two feedings so he could get some friend/“grazing” time.

I would agree with others that your best bet is to make her a little paddock by herself. It is not healthy for them to go half a day with nothing in their stomach.

[mmeqcenter]

Would love to see where you read that? I’ve literally never seen that statement in my whole life.

[SmlHpy1]

Long stem fiber is processed differently in the GI system. Once it’s not a long enough length to qualify it’s not processed the same.

[mmeqcenter]

So the theory is that chewing the stem somehow doesn’t shorten the stem?
Oh. Okay.

[SmlHpy1]

I don’t know. I’ve had similar thoughts. I don’t need to get slammed here. I’m just asking questions. I had a nutrtionist from a feed company tell me that pellets have to count towards my 5 lb limit, but cubes do not.