Pro's and Con's of pelleted horse feed.?

Question

I am really wondering if it worth the extra money to buy pelleted feed for my yearling and would like to hear your personal opinions. I feed all my horses oats and soybean meal with alfalfa and grass hay and provide them with a salt block and mineral block. I have a yearling who gets similar feed but I also feed him a colt grow supplement and Nutrena SafeChoice horse feed. When reading the label I realized one of the main ingredient is roughage byproducts and I am also wondering if anyone knows exactly what Nutrena means by this, it could be anything from alfalfa to cornstalks. Is it really helpful for me to be spending the extra money or is it probably a waste.

Update:

I'm not concerned about the colic factor. I really just want to know about the nutritional content.

? · Accepted Answer

Unless I'm working my horses hard I don't find the need for pelleted feed unless I am trying to get weight on or a hay shortage. For my growing horses I usually feed just a good quality half alfalfa half grass mix and a salt block and in the summer they live on good pasture and salt blocks. (Unless they have weight problems or bad teeth)

? · Answer

I have for many years fed nothing but pellets, I feed a 12% livestock pellet to all age horses from weanlings to 30 year old horses with plenty of grass hay and water, have never had a horse colic or founder on pellets and they seem to get all they need even if I am working them 4 to 5 days a week.

Jeff Sadler · Answer

There is one big con.....pelleted feeds can get caught and swell in the throat of a horse that wolfs down their feed.  It is especially prone to happen if horses are fed together so that they try to eat fast to either steal the grain from another or to prevent their grain from being stolen.

Anonymous · Answer

I have had all of my  cases of impaction colic with  alfalfa pellets and I have had other people tell me the same.

Trending News

Pro's and Con's of pelleted horse feed.?

4 Answers