Beet pulp/horse feeds

[furbabymum]

I have a lot of horse feed left over and I decided to feed it to the chickens. The beet pulp is a great weight adder on horses and since I had an emaciated horse I bought a lot. Now that I've sold him and am out of the horse business, again, don't want to waste. So yesterday I took a bunch of beet pulp (soaked as it expands) and threw it out to the chickens. They didn't seem to want to eat it when I put it out but at the end of the day it was all gone. Beet pulp is SUPER cheap compared to most other feeds. I'm wondering how bad it is to give them a lot of beet pulp. It does have mollasses in it to make it palatable for the horses.

I'm giving them just a small scoop of the grain but they're eating it like it's the best thing ever so I'm not really concerned about it.

 

[Den in Penn]

Besides unbalancing their diet with too much beet pulp, the molasses can give them diarrhea. Moderation in feeding would be advisable. What else are they getting besides the grain and pulp? Do they get to pasture? All that should be considered in how they are feed.

 

[furbabymum]

They have a large pen with plenty of grass and I give them crumbles. They also get a large variety of scraps.

 

[Den in Penn]

Certainly you can feed it, I just had to ask what else they had. As a kid we experimented with beet pulp with the cows. I was taken by how much it expanded when water was added.

 

[FlaRocky]

When I put it on to soak for the horses, all the chickens come on the run. They think it just for them. And then pitch a fit while following me when I feed. They act like I'm stealing the treats and feeding it to them(horses). It's so funny to watch the hens get mad. BTW, I feed the beet pulp with NO molasses on it.

If you read on some of the bags, depends on company, up to 10% sugar added. That is why I only feed plain beet pulp no molasses.

Maye

 

[furbabymum]

He wouldn't eat the nonmollasses kind. I found myself adding molasses so that he'd eat it. Stupid horse! I'm on my last bag of it but it is so cheap that I'm rather enamored with the thought of feeding it to the chickens.

 

[FlaRocky]

Well if its just for the chickens now, you can go with the no molasses one and get more beet pulp for your buck. Mine did not like it at first so I had a bag of each and weaned off of the sweet one a little at a time.

Maye