I did speak with a Tribute vet and sent her pics of the large pieces of beet pulp that I found. One piece was two inches long and there were many that were an inch long. I was given the same info as MapleLeaf. It is a supplier problem and I was told Tribute would be contacting them with proof that they are not supplying what they are contracted to supply.
I am not sure where I will go from here for feed. I really like what this feed has to offer. But the mare that choked has never choked in ten years. I have 15 horses on the farm and I haven’t had a horse choke in over ten years. Horses are stressful enough, I really try to minimize the stress. And right now, this feed makes me nervous.
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I talked to my local store and I’m returning my unopened bags. I am going to switch to Proelite feeds I think.
I was told that if the ingredients are on the tag (instead of on the bag), you are more likely to get variances in ingredients, etc. Proelite has them printed on bag and I know some folks who are happy with their feeds.
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ProElite’s Senior looks like a good option. And it has an even lower NSC. Any idea on price comparison?
I’ve been feeding senior sport for about a year now. I’ve been feeding it to two seniors that are 28+ with bad teeth and to a gelding in his late teens. It’s fed in relatively high quantities and when it’s above freezing we’ve had no issues with choke. But when fed dry below freezing, the senior mare has choked on it twice. Now, whenever it’s below freezing it gets hot water poured in and it breaks apart in only a couple of minutes. When it’s above freezing it’s much softer and they can all eat it comfortably without being soaked. I haven’t seen any chunks that large in the year I’ve been feeding it.
Welcome! I am truly glad that you have not had a problem with it except when it is freezing.
Maybe I had a bad couple of bags. It doesn’t freeze where I am. There were very long, hard pieces in the bag I opened. My mare had never choked before in her life. I asked her last owner and I have had her ten years. Her teeth are fine and were done a few months ago.
I am not comfortable feeding this grain. It is a supplier problem, and until that is remedied, I am steering clear.
I am sorry to be leaving Tribute, I really liked this product up until now, but I just can’t risk another choke.
Ditto. The pieces in the above picture are just what I grabbed from the top of visible grain. Lots of too large/too thick pieces. It definitely doesn’t soften like normal beet pulp (which, regardless of prevailing opinion, I don’t feed dry).
I think Proelite runs somewhere around $23-24 per bag. I am only switching one horse who does not eat much so the price difference is not problematic. I actually like the kalm n ez, so I’m keeping another horse on that tribute product.
The PE Sr is a nice feed. Triple Crown Sr is very nice as well if that’s an option.
That’s not true though. What matters more is how the formula is set. Fixed formula (fixed amounts of all ingredients, with fairly tight requirements of nutritional content of the major ingredients), Fix ingredient (all ingredients listed plainly, but amounts might vary to meet the GA as there may be less of a nutritional range in the main ingredients), and non-fixed formulas which contain things like “grain products” where actual ingredients COULD change, though likely don’t change often.
There are regulated variances allowed depending on the nutrient being tested.
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Thank you JB. I am fortunate that most feed choices are available to me. I am leaning towards the PE. Will check on the cost. The Tribute Senior Sport is $24.75 for me and TC Senior is the same.
A friend today mentioned she just switched to: SAFE 'N EASY™ Textured Horse Feed | BUCKEYE™ Nutrition The first ingredients are Soybean Hulls, Wheat Middlings, Whole Oats, Soybean Oil, Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal. I left Buckeye years ago when it was bought by Mars.
Update – Switched to PE Senior. Opened the first bag and to my dismay were the same big chunks of beet shreds. Again, scattered throughout the bag were pieces measuring 1.5 to 2". So I taped up the bag and it’s all going back.
I’m switching back to Nutrena in defeat.
Oh, brother! I switched to PE Senior. I will keep an eye on the beet pulp pieces and if I see big ones I will go to TC Senior.
I’ve been feeding this feed for at least 6 months and have not had any issues with choke however my horses feed is already soaked and beet pulp shreds are added. I did note that the last few bags did seem to have large chunks of beet pulp then I have seen in past. So far, my 30 and 21 year old have not had issues but again the food is already soaked due to the aforementioned addition of beet pulp.
ProForce Senior is a good alternative if you are looking for another. I also love Tribute Kalm Ultra which has no addition of beet pulp. I was feeding my 30 year old Tribute Kalm Ultra solely up until 6 months ago when he really became unable to eat hay so needed a more complete feed.
TC Sr Gold has a very fine consistency that soaks up quickly. You may want to look at that if you continue to have trouble.
My husband accidently bought this when I asked for the ProElite Sr. The ingredients are not constant, that is why you can not find them anywhere online. Caned molasses was the third ingredient in the bag I bought. A couple of the horses were fired up and some got diarrhea after starting to switch them to it. I took the unopened bags back and so far have been happy with PE Sr.
Just wanted to update on the ProElite Sr. All had been going well with it. I soak my two choke prone horses feed for an hour before feeding. One of them choked on this yesterday. I found some very big pieces of beet pulp in the bag. One is almost three inches. I have a call in to ProElite. But I am not comfortable feeding this feed any more…ugh
This will happen with every feed that uses whole beet pulp shreds as part of the mix. I don’t know exactly when sugar beet harvest is, it’s either now, or coming up soon. When that happens, all the feeds that use whole shreds in the mix will have bigger pieces. As the year wears on and the shreds get “old”, they get more broken down so by the time they’re mixed in with feeds at the end, they’re much smaller.
But sometimes, those big pieces hang on and end up in feed
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Thank you, I figured that out and will be looking for a feed without beet pulp. Even with soaking the bigger pieces they stay quite hard.
Since this seems to be an industry wide problem does anyone know of any senior feed or complete feed that does not use beet pulp?
It’s not that you don’t want beet pulp, it’s that you don’t want a textured feed where beet pulp is part of the texture.
Tribute Seniority comes in a textured and pelleted formula, both of which have beet pulp
Buckeye has a Safe N Easy Sr that is extruded, and Safe N Easy Performance pelleted which totally reads like a “senior” feed as well, both of which contain beep
I’m sure there are others, but those are 2 brands/3 feeds that might get you started.
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I was trying to steer clear of pelleted feeds. I don’t soak everyone’s grain. Just the two who have choked. But I may need to go in that direction.
I like the higher fat content and NSC of the Safe N Easy Performance. I’ll call my feed store tomorrow, I am curious what it is priced at and will also see how much Tribute’s Senior Sport is. ProElite Senior is now costing me $26.45 a bag.
Hopefully my final post on this. I had another non choker choke on ProElite Senior. I have switched to Buckeye Safe N Easy Performance. I chose it over the Senior for the higher fat content. It is soaked to a mash easily. It is also a couple of dollars less here than PE Senior.
I was told by ProElite rep: we’ve had no others report this issue.
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