# Whats better alfalfa pellets or cubes?



## Rachel1786 (Nov 14, 2010)

I've been giving my 30ish year old gelding soaked alfalfa pellets, i'm almost out so i'm going to TSC to by more today, but before i do, i'm wondering if i should stick with the pellets or get cubes, he is missing all but 4 of his bottom molars, so he cannot chew well and he gets a mash of senior,beet pulp, alfalfa pellets and rice bran, i soak it in warm water for about 20 minutes to get it nice and mushy for him....pellets are so much easier to use, but if cubes would be better for him i will get those instead


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## Peggysue (Mar 29, 2008)

since you are using them for forage I would go with the cubes it's more of a long stemmed fiber


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## justjump (Jan 18, 2011)

Cubes, definetly. My horse is 8 years old, and literally has the worst time getting weight on. I put him on alfalfa cubes. We have a corner feeder in his stall, and pour a whole 50 pound bag in it, and he eats what he wants. He has literally gained almost 250 pounds. Cubes!!


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## Rachel1786 (Nov 14, 2010)

Peggysue said:


> since you are using them for forage I would go with the cubes it's more of a long stemmed fiber


actually I'm using them to help him gain weight, he eats Timothy hay and does pretty well with it despite his lack of teeth, we throw a few flakes out throughout the day for him and the others, between them(him 2 other horses and a donkey) they usually eat 1-2 bales a day, Blue is the herd leader so i don't have to worry about him being chased away from the hay so he gets as much as he wants


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## Rachel1786 (Nov 14, 2010)

justjump said:


> Cubes, definetly. My horse is 8 years old, and literally has the worst time getting weight on. I put him on alfalfa cubes. We have a corner feeder in his stall, and pour a whole 50 pound bag in it, and he eats what he wants. He has literally gained almost 250 pounds. Cubes!!


I wish i could do that, but the cubes are too hard and he needs them soaked, and even if they weren't he gets board with the cubes and ends up leaving them and the others eat them(i had him on timothy/alfalfa cubes before)


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## myhorsesonador (Jun 21, 2009)

soaked pellets are easier to chew. Maybe try both?


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## Peggysue (Mar 29, 2008)

if you are using them for extra calories and NOT forage then I use pellets 

if you are unsure about how much hay is is actually digesting then go with cubes 

Nutritionally they are pretty much the same ...


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## qtrhrsecrazy (Aug 2, 2009)

You'll need to soak the cubes a lot longer for him than the pellets before they'll be ready for him to eat


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## Rachel1786 (Nov 14, 2010)

Peggysue said:


> if you are using them for extra calories and NOT forage then I use pellets
> 
> if you are unsure about how much hay is is actually digesting then go with cubes
> 
> Nutritionally they are pretty much the same ...


I'm not sure exactly how much he is eating, but when there is hay out(i try to have it out 24/7 even tho sometimes they are without it a few hours) i always see him digging into it, i think i read somewhere that beet pulp can he used as forage, which he gets about 2-3/3quart scoops in his food so even if he is not eating a lot of hay would that be enough to help his digestion 



qtrhrsecrazy said:


> You'll need to soak the cubes a lot longer for him than the pellets before they'll be ready for him to eat


thats good to know, i would actually think by looking at them that they would soak faster



myhorsesonador said:


> soaked pellets are easier to chew. Maybe try both?


easier to chew if a plus, i'm glad that he loves his mushy stuff, i've heard of some horses that won't touch their grain if soaked, i was worried about that when i first started soaking it, he was probably just glad to be able to eat it, poor guy, i felt so bad when i would out he had lost so many teeth


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## Peggysue (Mar 29, 2008)

he can have approx 40% of his forage in beet pulp ...so approx 6 to 8lsb max when I fed the shreds 3 qts was alittle over 1lb ... 

I think with his age I would soak the cubes regardless of what you are using them for...but weigh them so you know how much he is getting


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## Peggysue (Mar 29, 2008)

I would probably jsu tsoak the alfalfa cubes and drop thebeet pulp completely LOL I hate mixing tons of stuff though


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## Rachel1786 (Nov 14, 2010)

Peggysue said:


> he can have approx 40% of his forage in beet pulp ...so approx 6 to 8lsb max when I fed the shreds 3 qts was alittle over 1lb ...
> 
> I think with his age I would soak the cubes regardless of what you are using them for...but weigh them so you know how much he is getting





Peggysue said:


> I would probably jsu tsoak the alfalfa cubes and drop thebeet pulp completely LOL I hate mixing tons of stuff though



I tried to weigh it, but the scale i bought isn't very good, when i first got it it couldn't get it to read 0, then my friends boyfriend(he works on scales for a living) fixed it, but appatently it's a spring scale and isn't all that accurate, i think it weighed out at a little over 1.5lbs/scoop and that seemed a bit high to me...
I have like 3 bags of beetpulp, so that will take a few weeks before i run out, i really don't mind mixing all this stuff, i mean between the grain, alfalfa, beet pulp and rice barn what is one more thing to add in lol I will do ANYTHING to get this horse to freaking gain some weight, he is my baby and i'm always worrying that something is going to happen to him, i mean besides his weight he is in perfect health, i've had him 13 years and he has never colicked(knock on wood a million times) I just worry about his weight constantly, i have him on 3 scoops senior, 2 scoops alfalfa pellets, 2 scoops beet pulp and 4 cups rice bran and i haven't seen a difference in his weight(although it's hard with his winter coat and i don't like to take his blanket off, so i mostly check his weight by feeling his ribs...am i doing enough for him? we only grain once a day because of my work schedule, but being i work for my moms kennel she is trying to rearrange the schedule so that i come in later so that i can feed before and after work,which i think will help him a lot


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## Babes Ribbon (Jan 25, 2011)

I think you're doing all the right things, it's just hard with older horses. We have a 29yr old mare boarded and we have her on twiz wix seniour, 2 cups beet pulp and alfalfa cubes twice a day and free feed hey. She has improved in th past three months that we've had her but not as much as I was hoping.... Just think her age is more a factor then anything.


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## Peggysue (Mar 29, 2008)

rachel will you PM me your zip code please let's see if Purina and Nutrena are the only two brands you can get ... might be some farmer dealing down the road somewhere like my old Buckeye dealer ... literally this man dealth feed out of his garage!!


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## deineria (Mar 22, 2009)

I would stick to pellets AND add some rice bran pellets soaked for the fat - nothing put weight on better than rice bran if they are having difficulty maintaining weight. If a Southern States is near you, try Triple Crown Complete for a great feed.


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