why would you not feed alfalfa?

[Inchy]

I know why in some schools of thought it is a good feed stuff for horses..

But I've noticed on here (especially barefoot followers) that people don't like to feed it..

What are you reasons for feeding or not for feeding alfalfa based products?

I'm just curious

Please feel free to be as scientific as you like

 

[paddy555]

Please feel free to be as scientific as you like

because it makes my barefoot horse footy.

 

[Ladyinred]

because it makes my barefoot horse footy.

This ^ And also because it seems to cause skin irritation in some horses, two of ours break out in lumps if they have it.

 

[Black_Horse_White]

I started feeding it to my section d x when we had no grass to give him a little extra feed. He came down with laminitis about 3 weeks after giving it to him. Not sure if it was just coincidence, but I'd owned him for 4 years with no previous problems.

 

[Escada2004]

Ive always fed it however my youngster i bought a few months ago cant eat it as she comes out in hives, ive put it down to the alfalfa as i changed her feed and they have practically gone.

 

[Alphamare]

It makes my horse itchy

 

[catkin]

Because mine gets completely wired on it.

She's Sec D and there is a lot of anecdotal evidence that it doesn't always suit native mares in particular.

 

[Winklepoker]

Mine is on 2 heaped scoops a day and doing really well - Not unmanageable in the slightest, has energy for a scoop of Spillers slow release cubes and Alfa for bulk. - I add veg oil and balancer too.

 

[Kola Bear]

Mines on dengie alfa a molasses free and shes absoloutly fine! x

 

[Brownmare]

I really wish I could feed it because we grow it for our cattle but it is way too high in calcium to feed alongside our home grown haylage. Same reason I don't feed sugar beet...

 

[Tr0uble]

I've always fed it, but my new boy gets itchy on it so I can't feed it to him, so took them both off it because I like to keep as few feed bins as possible!

Both mime are barefoot and never noticed any footiness on it, but I have heard that before.

 

[Oberon]

Same as Brownmare.
I used alfalfa pellets as the base of my old boy's 'dodgy teeth diet' last year. I also scratched my head at why his hooves were less concave than they were.
Then I had a forage analysis done and followed the recommendations (which didnt Inc alfalfa) and lo - his hooves went back to their former glory!
Alfalfa has it's place, but I get annoyed that it's the only choice out there. You actively have to try and avoid it as it's in EVERYTHING

 

[Tr0uble]

Same as Brownmare.
I used alfalfa pellets as the base of my old boy's 'dodgy teeth diet' last year. I also scratched my head at why his hooves were less concave than they were.
Then I had a forage analysis done and followed the recommendations (which didnt Inc alfalfa) and lo - his hooves went back to their former glory!
Alfalfa has it's place, but I get annoyed that it's the only choice out there. You actively have to try and avoid it as it's in EVERYTHING

Have you tried fast fibre? There is no alfalfa in that...I have mine on it and ther other one (the one that doesn't get itchy from alfalfa) has all sorts of metabolic issues that FF seems to be a lot of good for.

 

[Oberon]

Yes it's what I use now. Ta

 

[PooJay]

Yes it's what I use now. Ta

I feed this and hi fi lite (which has small amounts of alfa in it i know but it just seems wrong to me to feed just mush for dinner for some reason)

Alfa has high levels of calcium in it - if you match the levels of calcium fed through this with magnesium, does it cancel it out or do you then cause other deficiencies?

my girl has fabulous feet (this time i was a lucky barefoot transitioner) so i'm not looking to change her diet atm but i am curious

 

[Tr0uble]

I stick a handful of ready grass in it to bind it a bit!

 

[PooJay]

I stick a handful of ready grass in it to bind it a bit!

pretty much i do with the hi fi tbh It'll take me all winter to use the bag up i think!

 

[Firewell]

I think Alfa chaff is fine in sensible quanities. I feed HiFi which has it in and my horse does fine. My mum feeds a double handful of Alfa a with her feed and so does my Sister and horses look well.

However I don't like feeding a lot of it. I think it's too high in protein.
I used to feed it as the main feed for my horse (4-5 Stubbs scoop per day) and he had loose droppings, he was really itchy and scurfy, too fresh and trying to
chew wood.
The moment I cut it down to just one scoop a day he was so much happier and more comfortable. That's why I feed the HiFi now. Little bit = good
Too much = bad
IMO anyway .

 

[NOISYGIRL]

After my boy had lami mildly few years back he was on happy hoof and hi fibre cubes and speedy beet.

He went off the happy hoof so I started giving him Alfa A lite, he liked it but I was worried that it was supposed to be for horses in harder work than he was on, so changed him back to happy hoof, both changes were gradual.

I had vet for annual vacs and she noticed his gums were a bit pale, as its not something I noticed I dont' know what colour they were before, so my normal vet told me to feed him a bucket full of alfalfa, so I said well he used to be on Alfa A lite is that ok and he said yes, so he's been having it every night since June, his hooves have never been better and his skin and coat are lovely, I do add a bit of oil around the times when his coat changes. I also feed alfalfa pellets which dengie told me had no mollasses which was even better, so he has them for breakfast with speedy beet. Haven't had any probs. He's 33 in Jan and you wouldn't think it if you saw him, I have posted pics before, my vet said that due to his age he wouldnt' be doing as much as a youngster anyway whos gums would be pink, so just to monitor it, but he seems fine thank god

 

[lachlanandmarcus]

I feed some HifiLite which has a bit of it in to my pony, mainly cos she has quite a lot of her forage as oat straw to try to lose weight as she is overweight, and that is low in protein and calcium which the alfalfa is good for redressing.

But I wouldnt feed pure alfa to anything.

 

[Piglet]

I don't feed my horse Alfafa chaff or Hi Fi as he just doesn't like it and won't touch his food, he gets grass nuts which I soak for the day and he LOVES it, he seems to be doing well on it and is much more chilled.

 

[Goldenstar]

I use Alfa A and readigrass in order to get some high quality protein into my horses diets but they are sport horse types and working six days a week. I tend to think of it a bit like oats in the old days if the horse is not working hard enough to have been getting oats in the dim past when I started out then I would be not be feeding much Alfa A or Readigrass .probally I would just use hi fi lite to bind their balancer to make it all look a bit more like a meal.

 

[dreamcometrue]

It made my poor horse so itchy he was beside himself with it. I didn't even link it to the alfalfa until someone told me it had made their horse itchy. As soon as i stopped it he was fine.

 

[Fransurrey]

My native also went footy on Alfa A. HiFi is ok during the winter and I'm ok feeding Hi-Fi Lite, but the pure stuff is a complete no-no. For the main feed I use Veteran Vitality or Fast Fibre. Both alfalfa free.

 

[Enfys]

Alfa is very high in protein, and if fed to horses it should make up only a % of their forage intake, especially if there is no grazing available.

Sometimes it will affect a horse, sometimes not. Amongst others, itchiness, lumps, bald patches, thick urine and general hotting up are all indications that there is too much alfa and the dietary management needs reviewing.

http://voices.yahoo.com/downside-feeding-alfalfa-hay-horses-481448.html

http://www.alfalfahayfarm.com/Alfalfa_Horse_Feeding_Facts.html

http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/hrs3243

 

[SpottedCat]

I like my horse's feed to contain some alfalfa because it is alkaline so good for horses which have had stomach ulcers. I won't touch alfa-a, because it has made so many horses I know, including him, loopy. People think you're mad when you suggest the problem is the alfa-a!

 

[Ladyinred]

I like my horse's feed to contain some alfalfa because it is alkaline so good for horses which have had stomach ulcers. I won't touch alfa-a, because it has made so many horses I know, including him, loopy. People think you're mad when you suggest the problem is the alfa-a![/QUOTE]

Yep. And I admit I was one of those with itchy horse and no idea why. A friend told me and I thought she was barking She wasn't, she was right.

 

[Toast]

Makes 3 of mine insane in the membrane! x

 

[MotherOfChickens]

I am off of the 80s noone fed alfalfa then.

so, lusitano goes bonkers on it (found that out when YO changed feeds without my knowledge) and my exmoors don't need anything like as 'good'.

 

[blackcob]

Mine went incredibly itchy on it - hives, rashes, white/grey dandruff everywhere.