Beet Pulp Shreds

[dsqard]

Quote:
Beet pulp is what is left over from making sugar from beets. It is really good roughage for livestock. My horses love it mixed in with their feed.

I would be careful feeding the pellets not soaked though. It will absorb a lot of water in the digestive tract. That is why you can not feed it to horses without soaking it first.

 

[NellaBean]

Yes, it is a livestock feed. You can buy a 50lb bag of it for about $10 at feed store. I always soak mine as there is just too much drama surrounding whether you need to or not. Better safe than sorry! My horse loves it but is fat enough as is. My chickens eat anything they can get their beaks on, so they enjoyed it as well. It will make a great hot soupy mash in the winter too

 

[dragonlair]

I feed it to my old mare in the winter because she can't have hay, so she gets the bulk of her roughage (no pun intended) from the beet pulp. I have fed it both soaked and dry, with no problems either way. My goats also get it in the winter, soaked, just for added moisture. My chickens used to clean up after the goats and horses when the hens were allowed to free range, the LOVED the beet pulp.

A lot of the horse concentrates contain beet pulp, as do a lot of the dog and cat foods. It can be fed dry, it doesn't suck up the fluid from the body and expand like it does in a bucket. The biggest problem with dry beet pulp in horses is choke.

 

[Akane]

Beet pulp is a good supplement for herbivores. It's often used to either gain weight, lose weight (yes it helps with both), or for animals with health issues similar to diabetes who can't eat carbohydrates like grains and to much hay with alfalfa or clover. Beet pulp can replace a good percentage of the daily hay a grazing type animal needs. I spent a whole year trying to track down local beet pulp for a horse and never accomplished it. Now my rabbits are eating an alfalfa and beet pulp based horse pellet since the rabbit pellets here are junk with all sorts of grain by products and unspecified ingredients.

Beet pulp is heavily debated when included in the diet of strict carnivores like dogs and cats but should be fine for omnivores like chickens. It should also be safe dry. Despite the myths running around beet pulp is perfectly safe for horses dry as well. They are just more likely to eat it wet.

 

[tatertot]

Can chickens eat it dry?
how long do you soak it for