Dengie Alfalfa Pellets -refuses to eat them

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DollyDolls

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I have bought & fed Dengie's Alfalfa pellets for over a year, my horse loves them, or at least loved them. Does anyone else use them or had problems recently?

In past 2/3 weeks my horse has refused to eat her feeds. At first I thought it was change in routine & warm weather, but have separated feed out (1 bucket Hifi, another alfalfa pellets & third sugar beet) and she loves the hifi & the SB, but wont put head in bucket of pellets. I contacted Dengie who sent out new sample......loved those. So I went back to feed merchant to buy new (having thrown "old" pellets away & cleaned out freezer where I store them).
Put new bags in freezer & started feeding again. -Refuses to eat again.

I'll have to wait til Tues before I contact either feed merchant & Dengie, but does anyone else have this problem?
 
Is your horse stabled? If out on grass in the day it maybe that they are getting enough from new grass our always leave their feed when grass comes through. The sugar beet will be sweet like sugar lumps. Has your horse lost any weight or condition over the last 2/3 weeks?
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No, I dont soak them, never have done -but the SB does soften them a little.

My girly's just 3 and is still growing (although at 17.2hh I wish she'd stop!) She's out all night in a huge field and in during the day. She's still hungry as she gets so excited when I come in with her feed, and when I made just the hifi & SB she ate all of it. She eats a fair amount of hay too.

I really am sure that the pellets are the issue & that the sample I was sent direct were fine, it's almost as if there's some issue regarding the merchant. Perhaps their storage which could be affected by the hot weather.

I am concerned as she does need that little bit extra as she's growing and yet to fill out, her hips & breast bone are quite proud. -I've done her teeth & wormed/ egg counted/ tapeworm test etc.

Another horse I have that's in light/medium work also went off the pellets at the same time (he doesn't have the SB), & he normally eats for England.
 
I think these can be a little bitter if the horse is not used to them - even with the sugar beet added. Know my youngsters used to pick through their (well blended) meals and leave the 'sucked clean' alflfa pellets at the bottom of the bucket everytime! It's not just yours
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If, like me, you try soaking them into a mash you may find your 3 year old simply doesn't bother eating up any of her feed; Especially if she's out at grass and not starving hungry.

Had more success with AlfaBeet, although some of mine were still reluctant eaters of this.

Another idea, have you thought of using something like Naked Oats or Bailey's Outshine for adding condition instead? I've used both for my youngsters. At the moment I use Outshine. Be warned, it's mighty expensive (£35+/sack) but you may just need to use a bag or two to get the condition on and then be able to cut it back out. Naked oats which are cheaper than the Outshine and also good for adding condition, are also fed in low quantities.







 
Alfalfa pellets are not very tasty. They are made of alfalfa and nothing else. They don't contain molasses and other junk that is used to make horses eat feed. Lots of horses simply refuse to eat them.

Horses do from time to time go off a particular feed stuff.

Unmolassed sugar beet is about as far removed from sugar as you can get. It is a by product of the sugar refining process and it is a very low sugar feed, hence, it is suitable for laminitics. Taste some and you will see!

So, your horse is probably rejecting the feed because it is very boring compared to the lovely sweet grass that contains lots of sugar. Personaly I would save the bulk, ie, the sugar beet and alfalfa pellets for winter and simply feed the balancer/vitamins. Youngsters are best kept slightly on the lighter side. That way you avoid problems like growth spurts which can lead to permanant problems .
 
I wonder if the new ones are from the same batch as the old ones as she ate the test ones Dengie sent. Do you still have the bags and is there a batch number on them?
 
We mostly use Rowan and Barbary Alfa pellets and have had no problems with any of the horses eating up. However, supplier ran out and I bought a Dengie bag for the interim. They didn't go down well with ours at all, they didn't smell as nice to me either but maybe I just had a not-so-good bag.
 
sounds like you have a "bitter" batch, could be cut from a different field, or at a later stage making them have a different taste.
 
Thanks for all your advice, will contact Dengie tomorrow & see what they can suggest. I'll update when I get an answer.
 
i use them and can tell my horse doesn't really like them but he will eat them - plain alfalfa is quite bitter. i would always soak them though - they swell up nearly as much as sugar beet pellets - i'd be terrified of feeding them dry and them causing an impaction.
 
Spoke to Dengie, I'm sending a sample back together with the batch numbers.

They said that last years wet weather would have led to a more bitter crop which could be the issue, ie what I was feeding up until 1-2 months ago may have been the pre wet weather crop & now the bitter crop is in circulation.

They will test the sample I send back & let me know. Thanks for all the answers
 
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