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BuckSkin 
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Location: Poor Farm
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 Topic: Horses and Alfalfa Pellets ???
Posted: 23 Jan 2025 at 6:14am |
When it comes to horses, I ain't no green-horn; I was born in the saddle and have owned, ridden, shod, doctored, fed, and taken care of as many as twenty at a time and have never been without at least one horse.
However, I have came against a bit of a conundrum.
I have an older horse that, along with his super-sweet all-grain horse feed, I give him a 50:50 mix of Beet Pulp Pellets and Alfalfa Pellets, which I soak in about three times as much water as pellets for at least an hour prior to feeding.
A half-gallon of pellets will swell up over the top of a two-gallon bucket.
It has always been my consensus that it is better for the pellets to swell up in the bucket than inside the horse.
Yet, on every bag of pellets, Beet or Alfalfa, regardless of brand, soaking is never mentioned and the feeding instructions assume feeding the pellets dry.
Now, here is my conundrum; we have had several consecutive days that haven't gotten above freezing with every night in the single digits(American).
He can't eat his water-soaked pellets quick enough before they freeze solid, only getting about 25% eaten before the rest turns to solid ice.
If you are a horse feeder person with experience feeding Alfalfa and Beet pellets, what are your thoughts if I were to feed the pellets dry instead of soaked during these cold spells ?
I don't have the luxury of "tapering him in" or gradually introducing the changeover.
Maybe if I start by giving him half as many pellets dry as I have been feeding soaked ?
He always has the absolute best Great Bend Kansas Alfalfa Hay available free-choice; but, like an old back-row church-goer chewing Mammoth Cave Twist, he just sort of chews it up and sucks the juice out of it and then leaves the chewed up remnants all over the place without actually ever swallowing it.
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RP Farms
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Joined: 29 Jul 2023
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Posted: 23 Jan 2025 at 8:12am |
Sounds like your horse either has tooth problems or no teeth. The only thing I can recommend is feeding in batches and not all of it at once.
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DanWi
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Posted: 23 Jan 2025 at 8:56am |
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It is unfortunate, we take such good care of our animals that they live longer. Then it requires more care. Give him hay try to find some nice soft stuff and sweep up the chaff and feed them that. Feed him some sweet feed with a small amount of beet pulp multiple times a day. Make sure they have free access to water. If you do soak feed use less water and stir it up when you feed it so it doesn't freeze solid and hope for warmer weatherš
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Gary
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Posted: 23 Jan 2025 at 9:02am |
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Is it possible you could mix some RV Antifreeze with his water to lower its Freeze Point.
RV Antifreeze is suppose to be safe for human consumption on a small scale.
G
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NEVER green
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Posted: 23 Jan 2025 at 9:32am |
 Gary wrote:
Is it possible you could mix some RV Antifreeze with his water to lower its Freeze Point.
RV Antifreeze is suppose to be safe for human consumption on a small scale.
G |
A bombed horse with a bad liver!!!
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2-8050 1-7080 6080 D-19 modelE & A 7040 R50
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steve(ill)
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Posted: 23 Jan 2025 at 9:35am |
PLEASE... DONT DO THAT !!!
- Most RV antifreeze is propylene glycol based: While less toxic than the ethylene glycol found in regular car antifreeze, it can still cause issues if consumed in large quantities by a horse.
- Sweet taste can be attractive: Antifreeze has a sweet taste which can entice animals to drink it.
- Potential for kidney damage: Even small amounts of antifreeze can damage a horse's kidneys.
Edited by steve(ill) - 23 Jan 2025 at 9:36am
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Like them all, but love the "B"s.
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LouSWPA
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Posted: 23 Jan 2025 at 10:04am |
I'm no expert, so take what I say for what it's worth. If the horse is one of us elders, i would be wary of changing his diet. I certainly would not take the chance on antifreeze. So that would leave you with finding a way to heat his "china", or mixing and serving his dinner in smaller batches over a period of time. If he is a good old friend, he is worth making the time.
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I am still confident of this;
I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Ps 27
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AC7060IL
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Posted: 23 Jan 2025 at 10:35am |
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For freezing winter times & If itās an option, try adding a percentage (33%-50%?) of horseās regular ratio of alfalfa / beet pellets directly into heated waterer (water tank?). Maybe introduce it & watch how they(rest of herd) react to it in their water source?
If water tank is deeper type, then maybe try to incorporate a perforated āsurface panā that would help to somewhat contain pellets & also allow them to soak?
Edited by AC7060IL - 23 Jan 2025 at 10:39am
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ekjdm14
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Posted: 23 Jan 2025 at 11:59am |
I can see your reasoning with the pellets swelling PRIOR to being in his stomach, BUT if you think about it you could feed the same amount of pellets as he'd normally take in a sitting & they won't swell enough to be a problem since he'd eat that amount soaked. Only difference to my mind is he'd need to drink more water as they soak up what's in his belly, but that ought to come naturally to him anyway.
Hope the weather breaks for ya soon, can't imagine how it must be to be that cold!
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WF owner
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Posted: 23 Jan 2025 at 1:55pm |
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I know it would take more time, but how about cutting his feedings in half and feeding him four times a day?
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BuckSkin
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Posted: 23 Jan 2025 at 4:13pm |
To everyone = lots of good ideas here and I appreciate them.
My approach to my dilemma will probably incorporate parts of all these ideas.
ekjdm14 wrote:
I can see your reasoning with the pellets swelling PRIOR to being in his stomach, BUT if you think about it you could feed the same amount of pellets as he'd normally take in a sitting & they won't swell enough to be a problem since he'd eat that amount soaked.
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Thanks for enlightening me; I might never have came to that line of reasoning all by my lonesome; it makes sense to me.
LouSWPA wrote:
If he is a good old friend, he is worth making the time.
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Sad as it is to say, he is the only friend I've got.
He has tried his best to kill me dead on a number of occasions.
Twice he has rolled completely over me, managing to step on and kick me hard during the process; but, I stayed in the leather both times and was still aboard when he came back to his feet --- and this with a Big Iron on my hip and a rifle in the boot.
Putting a set of shoes on him is a four day process; one shoe each long day.
If he don't want to be caught, fifteen Red Indians and a pack of Blue Heeler dogs couldn't catch him.
Woodrow Calls white horse is gentle as a lamb in comparison.
He is as slick and fat as a preacher's wife and looks like he stepped off the cover of the Quarter Horse Journal.
He and I have an accord that defies understanding; I don't trust him and he don't trust me but we get along and either would be lost without the other.
The funny thing is, there is this little 10-yr-old girl who has been coming around here since she was in diapers; and, from day one, she can get away with things around him that would get me killed; she trusts him and he watches over her.
As broke as I am, I wouldn't take a million bucks for him on that account alone.
As for heating the feed bucket, the wife came in with a pair of cordless hand-warmers that, on High, get hotter than a branding iron and last all day on a charge.
I have been thinking about maybe putting them in some sort of sleeve or maybe just a ziploc bag and putting them in the bottom of the bucket and see how that works; one thing for sure, I wouldn't worry about him getting lextrocuted like I would with one of those corded buckets.
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dr p
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Posted: 23 Jan 2025 at 8:55pm |
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Something funny about animals and small children. I have miserable old cow that would just as soon kill me as look at me(the feeling is mutual). But she would let my 8 year old daughter put berets in her hair. While standing on a chair. While the two of them shared a box of oreos. No one will ever stick a fork in that cow.....except maybe me
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DanWi
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Posted: 23 Jan 2025 at 11:03pm |
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What if you got a cheap cooler or something insulated to feed the horse in, have to take the lid off it. Or made an insulated box to set your pail in. Where are you located? Is this just something you have to deal with for a week or 2 or 2 to 3 months?
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BuckSkin
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Posted: 24 Jan 2025 at 6:16am |
DanWi wrote:
What if you got a cheap cooler or something insulated to feed the horse in, have to take the lid off it. Or made an insulated box to set your pail in. |
Now there's an idea...
Our weather is very intermittent and highly unpredictable and it never gets cold before raining fiercely nonstop for several days, preventing anyone from preparing for the cold that is coming and then freezing everything tight.
We usually get at least two 3-week periods where it never gets above freezing mixed with several episodes where it is 72Ā°American at 4:PM and 12Ā° at 4:AM and year round constant heinous humidity that would strangle a fish.
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ekjdm14
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Posted: 24 Jan 2025 at 7:24am |
DanWi wrote:
What if you got a cheap cooler or something insulated to feed the horse in, have to take the lid off it. Or made an insulated box to set your pail in. Where are you located? Is this just something you have to deal with for a week or 2 or 2 to 3 months? |
Now this is an idea. Coupled with the cordless hand warmers this could be your winner.
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Gary
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Posted: 24 Jan 2025 at 11:00am |
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Buckskin
After reading some of the Reply's, I did some follow-up search about the hazards of RV Antifreeze.
My Post was a thought or idea and not a recommendation.
If you were to consider it, your local Veterinarian would be the one to advise you of any risk to your elderly friend.
I did learn though that even though the RV Anti-freeze is described as Non-Toxic, it can be dangerous even to horses if ingested IN LARGE QUANITIES.
What method are you using now to prevent his drinking water from freezing?
A search on Amazon found a large number of choices for heated Water Buckets etc for use in freezing temps.
There are heated Flat-Back buckets that might work if one were secured in place and used for his watery 3:1 mixture of feed.
Gary
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Dirt Farmer
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Posted: 24 Jan 2025 at 9:17pm |
Not a horse person here but a thinker of things  wonder if you could mix up the feed as you always do then put it in a taller trough and pack wood shavings, sand or soil around the bucket to hold it steady and insulate it form the cold in that manner. Surely the well trained horse wouldn't disturb the insulating materials. Start with a bucket of hot water in the trough area to warm the insulating materials while you get things ready then mix feed and switch buckets. Just a thought. Good luck
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steve(ill)
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Posted: 24 Jan 2025 at 10:33pm |
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Potential for kidney damage: Even small amounts of antifreeze can damage a horse's kidneys.
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Like them all, but love the "B"s.
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klinemar
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Posted: 25 Jan 2025 at 4:42am |
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We bought a horse for my daughter years ago. Not knowing it had heaves or in layman's terms respiratory illness from eating moldy dusty hay. Veterinarian told us to wet the hay before feeding. Worked fine in warm weather. In winter I told my daughter to just get a bucket full of haylage from the Ag Bag we fed the cows from and feed it to the horse. Months later Vet was at the farm doing a herd check and asked if the horse died? I said no,do you want to look at her? He said yes. When he saw her he asked What are you feeding her,she looks pregnant! I said haylage. He said horses aren't supposed to eat fermented hay! I grabbed a bucket and said you want to watch? I did tell my daughter to cut back on the amount of grain she was giving as she wasn't riding the horse as much. I know in your case you don't have haylage,but if there was some way you could chop hay up and soak it,your horse might eat it. Pellets are dry,and would take a lot of soaking and turn into mush in my opinion. Livestock means work! Good luck!
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BuckSkin
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Posted: 25 Jan 2025 at 4:50am |
Gary wrote:
What method are you using now to prevent his drinking water from freezing? |
I beat the ice out of a flat-back 5-gallon bucket, rinse it clean, and hang it in his stall; he could drink it all if he so desired but he will drink about a third of it before it freezes. This is well water, not city water; most horses will dehydrate before they will drink city water and we should be smart enough to follow suit. I can be in someone's kitchen that is on "county water" and I can smell the bleach in it when they run the faucet.
In the barn lot he stays in when he is not out in the big field, there is a huge spring with a tremendous amount of water flowing from it that never freezes.
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Gary
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Posted: 25 Jan 2025 at 3:44pm |
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Buck
Do you have electricity available where you are feeding your horse, or perhaps even run an appropriate outdoor Power Chord so that you could utilize one of those Flat Back heated Buckets?
G
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LouSWPA
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Posted: 25 Jan 2025 at 4:04pm |
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BuckSkin, four legged friends are like a good woman. Very good company, loyal, comforting, but they all have their uppity moments. but they have your back
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I am still confident of this;
I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Ps 27
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BuckSkin
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Posted: 25 Jan 2025 at 5:17pm |
Gary wrote:
Do you have electricity available where you are feeding your horse |
Plenty of electricity.
I am a bit leery of corded buckets and floating water heaters, especially around livestock; there have been a few barns burnt and livestock electrocuted on account of those.
If more than one animal is penned where the first one gets electrocuted, each successive animal that gives the dead one a sniff gets it too.
The lazy man in me wants to take a chance with the corded buckets but the cautious man in me learns from others misery.
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Dave H
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Posted: 26 Jan 2025 at 9:01am |
Gary has got the answer. Lets get it on. A meteorite may fall out of the sky and conk you.. Pays your dues and take your chances. 
Edited by Dave H - 26 Jan 2025 at 9:34am
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DiyDave
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Posted: 26 Jan 2025 at 3:49pm |
Dave H wrote:
Gary has got the answer. Lets get it on. A meteorite may fall out of the sky and conk you.. Pays your dues and take your chances.
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He ain't a gonna take care of any horse of mine... 
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Walker
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Posted: 26 Jan 2025 at 4:45pm |
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Remogrify his pellets and roll him up a pack of ciggs. Marlboro's would be my preference.
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Ray54
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Posted: 26 Jan 2025 at 6:01pm |
I understand the love/hate relationship with a horse. But your over thinking this, just feed the dry pellets. In this wakey over lawyered world, if more than 1 in billion got a belly ack the makers of pellet mills would be run out of business. As well as every feed store selling pellets labeled for horses.
With a bit different climate here , we grow grain hay with the grain in the dough when making horse hay. Unless your working the horse on a plow all day every day just about all any horse needs.
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Gary
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Posted: 26 Jan 2025 at 8:06pm |
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jvin248
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Posted: 27 Jan 2025 at 7:54am |
.
Use a small igloo insulated lunchbox or medium cooler the size of your feed bucket. Remove the handle and lid and make a pocket on the bottom side you can securely retain the pocket warmer.
Use warmer water to soak the feed, half as much water as normal when cold, so it's damp not wet like porridge.
We had a cow when I was a kid with a bad tooth that didn't like cold water. Had to drink slow.
Sweet feed has cavity causing sugar. Vet/dentist might look at it sometime.
.
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steve(ill)
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Posted: 27 Jan 2025 at 8:18am |
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Gareee... could you take that bucket and install a PUSH BUTTON STARTER to feed the ANTIFREEZE in small amounts ?? ........ but i agree with you, DAVE is just being silly thinking you could feed the horse cigaretts !!
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Like them all, but love the "B"s.
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