People that feed beet pulp - question?

I have heard of people in the States feeding it dry - but I just figured it was pre -treated or something, like you said so many things are different from what we get over here.

I was told to always soak it and I tend to give it a full 24 hours whether it's pellets or shreds ( I only use it in Winter so there's no chance of it starting to ferment) I did try Speedi-Beet once but the horses weren't impressed so I gave up on that.

I have, on occasion, used dry sugar beet as rat bait. They like the taste and I was told ( by a very old country guy) that they eat it, go away and die from the swelling - not a very pleasant death but we were a bit overrun at the time.

I remember when I was young, the barn I was at fed it dry. They'd use about 1/2 to 1 qu dry in the feed. We never had a problem...however I also remember the same debate about the soaking & eventually they stopped using it. I've never seen anyone use it dry anywhere since. Personally I don't belive in using it at all; it;s better to get a high fat grain & good quality hay or pasture to add or keep weight on the horse. And why would you feed beet pulp to a foal?! That's asking for trouble since their digestive systems are still developing...

I use shredded...not pellets.

I can use HOT...not warm...but HOT water...and it is ready within 20 minutes. I mix it in the house so I have access to hot water. If I mix with cold...it takes close to 3 hours.

I fed it dry in small quantities when one of my horses would not accept wet food. Started with a handful of dry on top of his pellets. Or using it as a "treat"...cause he's goofy and thinks anything from the hand is a goody.

Then would slowly add water to his mix. Upping the pulp and the water at each feeding. At first I had much more pulp than water...but I also mixed it all through his regular grain and pellets. So there was no way he was only getting a mouthful of pulp.

It took about 2 weeks or more, for him to adjust to wet food. Now, I can actually have 'too much' water and he eats it fine.

I do know a couple of people who feed it dry. I'm not comfortable doing that. I mean...if a vet call can be avoided...simply by adding water to food...to me, that's a no brainer.

I also know one lady who scoops the pulp, adds double the amount of cold water, and gives it to her horses immediately. She hasn't had any trouble. Then again...I'm not willing to run the risk.

I'd rather spend my money on more hay and food or ANYTHING else...than an emergency vet call.

I understand and have been told that pelleted beet pulp takes longer to soak. That's why I prefer shredded. If I'm running late...it's ready quickly with the hot water.

Gaaaa!! Sounds like a ridiculous shortcut to colic, to me. I know folk in the US do a lot differently ... but to feed something which must be soaked without soaking it isn't "different", it's bloody negligent.

My neighbour's horse is still recovering from eating a bucket of dry sugar beet three months ago. He was in the large animal hospital for a long time; he seemed a lot sicker than my pony was when he had his gut perforate last year. That's the only case I know of (in person) of a horse eating dry sugar beet.

YOu shoudl never feed beet pulp dry. Becasue if you watch beet pulp when it gets wet it takes in the water and bloates. If you feed it dry it will bloat inside the horses intesitnes and stomach and is the likley reason they coliced. Also Beet pulp should really only be given to horses that need to gain weight or that are doing heavy work loads on a weekly basis.

Beet pulp shouldn't be fed dry because it can expand in the horse's intestines or stomachs and cause serious complications. I'm shocked such a big facility would be ignorant of this little fact.

We usually soak our beetpulp for several hours. It starts soaking when we feed the morning grain at 6:30, and is fed out at noon as a snack.

I've never fed beet pulp dry.

Although, a gelding that boards with us jumped out of his pasture and got into a bucket of beet pulp. We watched over him, and he was fine, but the amount was very small, and it only happened once. Still, I'd never feed this to ANY horse on purpose, unless it's been soaked for a little while.

...You'd think they'd get the message.

I did feed it dry for a bit, at the recommendation of one of the professors at Purdue University. Their recommendation was to feed dry, and have water in the stall available if the horse wanted/needed it. For all but one of my horses, this worked fine, however, the same mare choked twice, requiring vet attention the first time, the second time she managed to clear the blockage herself without veterinary intervention. Now, I didn't soak it after that, I would just put the dry in, mixed with their feed, and pour water over the top, stir well, then let the horses in. That was sufficient and I didn't have any more problems. I did quit feeding it though because the second choke incident was after I started watering, and it was evidently too difficult for everyone who fed to remember to water it down. She got dry beet pulp again, and choked again. Since I didn't have water in the stalls at that time (they are brought in to eat, and then turned back out) I quickly took her out to the trough, she drank, and the blockage cleared. That said, she was one of 7. 6 of them ate dry beet pulp with no problems at all.

ohh im guessing its the same as sugarbeet (UK name)

i know of a sheep that got its head in the bag of sugarbeet and popped...well prob wasnt quite that dramatic but u no what i mean.

you def sudnt feed sugar beet unless its soaked for atleast 24hours. otherwise a bad case of colic will look pretty. you cud end up with caste horses or even twisted guts frm them goin crazy and thats pretty much a death sentence... .

id say if people are so ignorant and stupid that they give sugar beet un-soaked get them to eat a few and let them see how horrible it is (1-2 will make your tummy hurt real bad more than that and its throwing up everywhere)

I have never fed a horse dry beet pulp and have never heard of anyone feeding it dry .