Alfalfa cubes

[aart]

The rabbit ones may be softer or soak up faster, I've never used those.

Nope they take overnight too, even when started with warm water...depends on thickness, some are thicker than others.

 

[aart]

Alfalfa here has as many as seven cuttings per year. The first three are kept exclusivly for cows.. Too rich for horses.

Wish I could find a bale of pure alfalfa around here....not sure if they even grow it nearby, haven't really looked too hard tho.

There is also a product here called Chaffenhay... Which is a chopped alfalfa preserved with molasiss and PACKed in baled bags. Here the goat people rave over it. And I am certain the chickens would like it as well. Feed molassis has almost no sugar in it and is used as a binder in some grains bringing down the feed dust. Its mineral rich... And can be bought by itself as a feed additive.

Have read about the Chaffhaye in the goat realm....read about bad mold problems due to the dampness of it, especially if used in smaller quantities.

Interesting post @perchie.girl lots of good info.
I find hay kind of fascinating, need good experience to assess just what's in those bales.

 

[Mosey2003]

@aart do you know any dairy people? They'll have contacts for good alfalfa bales. Also many horse people feed straight alfalfa. If you're on FB, and haven't done so already, search for and join county farm sales groups, people list hay all the time.

 

[perchie.girl]

Wish I could find a bale of pure alfalfa around here....not sure if they even grow it nearby, haven't really looked too hard tho.

Have read about the Chaffhaye in the goat realm....read about bad mold problems due to the dampness of it, especially if used in smaller quantities.

Interesting post @perchie.girl lots of good info.
I find hay kind of fascinating, need good experience to assess just what's in those bales.

Yep on the hay. I used to get sale hay when I hauled it myself 9 dollars a bale for 125 pound bales... The grower I bought from used to mow the Aisles between hay fields... It was mostly bermuda but there were some additions of alfalfa or timothy or Orchard depending on which field he was next to. As long as you didnt have horses with allergies only just good clean forage... They were awesome.

Yep I could see the issues possible with the ChaffeHaye... Also the possibilities that they could slip in inferior or iffy hay in the mix... But then I am old school... and suspicious of "new and improved products" .

AFter fifty years of living around horses you kind of get stuck on what works.

deb

 

[perchie.girl]

@aart do you know any dairy people? They'll have contacts for good alfalfa bales. Also many horse people feed straight alfalfa. If you're on FB, and haven't done so already, search for and join county farm sales groups, people list hay all the time.

I dont know where you are located... Here I fed Alfalfa primarily for thirty years.... Dairy hay can be deadly to horses... Because Cows can eat forage that is iffy. Horses dont have a rumen... Nor can they chew cud... they only have a Cecum for their digestion....

Third to fourth cutting for horses and it MUST be baled at the right moisture...

deb

 

[Mosey2003]

I dont know where you are located... Here I fed Alfalfa primarily for thirty years.... Dairy hay can be deadly to horses... Because Cows can eat forage that is iffy. Horses dont have a rumen... Nor can they chew cud... they only have a Cecum for their digestion....

Third to fourth cutting for horses and it MUST be baled at the right moisture...

deb

I had horses too. I was always led to believe that dairy people were very picky about their hay. Not so much beef, but dairy specifically. I could very well be wrong about that, but it's what I was led to believe.

 

[aart]

@aart do you know any dairy people? They'll have contacts for good alfalfa bales. Also many horse people feed straight alfalfa. If you're on FB, and haven't done so already, search for and join county farm sales groups, people list hay all the time.

I've talked to an acquaintance that has show horses, says pure alfalfa too rich and they don't use it. Don't know any, but there are some around. I should ask at feed mill(might not get a straight answer-or sold crap-there) and ag extension about finding some...even tho they'll laugh when I say I only want one bale for my chickens.

 

[Mosey2003]

Honestly, the pellets are really convenient to come by and Standlee brand in particular are really good quality. They just don't have a big pile of hay to pick through that way.

 

[perchie.girl]

I had horses too. I was always led to believe that dairy people were very picky about their hay. Not so much beef, but dairy specifically. I could very well be wrong about that, but it's what I was led to believe.

Like I said regions are different Here I am located within thirty miles of the grower. And all hay is irrigated grown in the desert... the first three cuttings are too rich for horses... Here we get seven to eight cuttings of hay out of the fields... In Michigan I suspect they may get two at the most... because of the rain fall...

Colic and founder are two main issues...

For chickens Its so beyond different... LOL. I used to supplement with catifish pellets for them. I live in predator central so stopped allowing them to free range. Oh they got about two acres to mess around in Fenced around the house. and the Chaparal has lots of chickony titbits... Lizards mousies grass hoppers Seeds.... and lots of Decomposed granite to wash em down with.... But after a month they pretty much have cleaned out the yard. And I have to supplement.

deb

 

[Mosey2003]

Yeah, here in IL we can usually get 4 nice cuttings, weather permitting. And obviously, if you have Percherons, you're not going to want alfalfa The only time I fed straight alfalfa was when I had a super hard keeping OTTB.