# feeding alfalfa pellets



## redtailgal (Aug 22, 2012)

I found a source of Afalfa pellets.  I can get them for about the same as I have been spending on goat grain.

RIght now, I am mixing a handful in the grain at feeding time, and using it for treats.  The babies and the does eat them great.  Plato is coming around, but Socrates is doing his usual "ohh, GAG, something new" routine.    I am contemplating feeding either ALL alfalfa or a solid mixture of alfalfa/grain.

I wanted to hear from others that use ALfalfa pellets, even if its just part of your feeding program.  

How do you use yours?  Do you feel a mix or all alfalfa?

WHY do you use them?

What kind of effect has it had on your herd?

Those of you that feed JUST alfalfa pellets, 

do you find that (compared to goat pellets) they need More alfalfa pellets, or less or about the same amount?

Has anyone grown out kids for butchering using just alfalfa pellets?

How do bred does do on an all alfalfa pellet diet?


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## ragdollcatlady (Aug 22, 2012)

I used alfalfa so I could reduce the grain and add extra calcium when I was milking....I liked it, the girls did fine and looked good, able to gain condition despite being milked. I also gave this to the boys without worry because for the amount they ate, most was just extra alfalfa. A cup of this mix is more satisfying than a few piddly tablespoons of grain (fat wethers still need a little bedtime snack so they know you still love them.. I do feed good alfalfa hay as well.

I like the results, but felt it didn't mix as well with the grain because of the different size of the pellets, they are much wider than the calf manna pieces and grains. I think some of the grains ended up in the bottom. I was using about half pellets, half grain.

I do think that compared to the Oats, BOSS and calf manna that I am currently using, I feel like the pellets slowed them down and I probably used less. I seem to use more with the extra oats, but they are very light (and small) so I think they need more. If I could find alfalfa pellets that were the same size as the calf manna (regular rabbit food size) then I think I prefer the alfalfa pellets in the mix. 

The babies were too small to eat the pellets well so they would pick out the rest and leave the alfalfa til they were a little bigger. (nigerians)

I did give my prego girls this mix too for a little extra nutrition and they looked good and have shiny coats. 

I don't have a good complete goat pellet around here....the meat goat foods all have medications in them and the show foods have cotton in them. I know that my goats would eat cotton off the plants for sure if they had the chance...but they spray a defoliant around here on the cotton that will swell your eyes up and send you to bed with a migraine....not something I want my goats to be eating.


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## Catahoula (Aug 22, 2012)

My feeding practice sounds complicated but I have my reasons for doing so. 
I am feeding my two 6 months old boer wethers growers pellets (grains) because they are still young and I want to ensure they get proper nutrients for proper growth. I plan to train them for packing or harnessing. Because they eat grains, I want to make sure their CAH ratio is balanced. I also want to sure they get enough roughage so they get to browse all day. Here is the complicated part of my feeding practice. My kids don't like alfalfa hay. They preferred to browse so I add alfalfa pellets to their diet  for the needed calcium. It works fine as long as they get to browse (for roughage) but since we get deep snow here, they are going to need roughage from somewhere.... So I keep alfalfa hay 24/7...which sometimes they do munch on when the weather is bad. I don't like the way they pick through the hay and waste half of it also....so I also feed them Chaffhaye. Chaffhaye is chopped up alfalfa hay with molasses misted on. It comes in a bag and the kids eat it. It is a supplement. It gives them enough roughage, calcium and protein with minimum waste. So my feeding practice is really just grains and alfalfa (in three froms). Eventually, I will wean them off grains and just feed alfalfa (in three forms). Alfalfa hay keeps but only about 25% is eaten out of a flake. Alfalfa pellets works but I can't be sure they get enough roughage in the winter time when they can't browse. Chaffhaye is great but they dried out if I leave them out all day. 
My kids when full grown could probably live on just browsing off our property (with water and minerals) in normal weather. They need some supplement when they can't browse though. Some people feed or use as supplement the alfalfa pellets because it is more available, cheaper than hay or they switch out grain for pellets so the goats don't complain. I understand alfalfa pellets is made out of alfalfa. For whatever reasons you are feeding them grains, the alfalfa pellets is not going to replace that.


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## DonnaBelle (Aug 22, 2012)

I must have goats with strange taste buds.

Mine will not eat alfalfa pellets or alfalfa hay.

DonnaBelle


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## Renegade (Aug 22, 2012)

IMO they're a waste of money. If you read the label they are usually only 14% protein. That's too low for most goats. Around here they also cost more then good quality goat feed.
I would rather find a nice alfalfa hay and let the goats spend some time chewing. It's also higher in protein since most alfalfa hay is around 17% or more.

Donna


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## Catahoula (Aug 22, 2012)

DonnaBelle said:
			
		

> I must have goats with strange taste buds.
> 
> Mine will not eat alfalfa pellets or alfalfa hay.
> 
> DonnaBelle


LOL...my kids are also picky with food. They really don't live up to their 'eat anything' reputation. Also, they could be eating something one day and they changed their mind. They don't like the same thing either. One likes more salty treats while the other likes sweets. One likes watermelon rinds for awhile before changing his mind while the other refused to touch it. My dog ended up eating the rinds instead. They really don't care for the alfalfa hay.


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## redtailgal (Aug 22, 2012)

thanks for sharing!  anyone else want to chime in?


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## Southern by choice (Aug 22, 2012)

Hi all!

Glad this topic is up because I've been wanting to get opinions on feeding alfalfa.
Our regular Vet was going to be out of town for awhile (long story short) we had a 2nd vet come for a farm visit.
We had 3 goats added to our farm, quarantined til they could be checked out, and a check up for our other goats. 
This 2nd vet (who we'd never used before) told us she is anti-alfalfa. Told us NOT to feed alfalfa at all... especially to our bucks. She said it is to high in calcium, and the calcium/phosphorus ratio is way outta wack, causing UC.
Considering EVERYTHING she did on our farm was overkill, and my $250-300 visit turned into $700(OUCH) and she seemed to be over the top for everything, I am really wondering about this. 
My real vet came home the next day and stopped by the house(he is our neighbor/friend) saw the reports and his face was livid   a few choice words and shook his head    and said, "wow, she was looking for zebras in a horse pasture".
We feed Barlett Goat feed(17% protein), browse, a little pasture, a couple kinds of hay. 
My goats love alfalfa, we haven't been getting it lately because our neighbors have been giving us hay. Saves us $$$$.
BTW- goats are all  healthy!!


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## Roll farms (Aug 22, 2012)

My does won't touch them on the milk stand.  I was buying them when TSC first got them in b/c they were 'introductory priced' and really affordable.  If I mixed them in w/ their grain ration when I fed everyone, they'd eat them (competition, you know.)

Went to pay my feed bill after a few weeks and they'd nearly DOUBLED in price...so I put 'em back on the feed rack and stopped using them.

I have good alfalfa for growing kids / milkers and good grass hay for everyone else.


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## Renegade (Aug 23, 2012)

Southern by choice said:
			
		

> Hi all!
> 
> 
> This 2nd vet (who we'd never used before) told us she is anti-alfalfa. Told us NOT to feed alfalfa at all... especially to our bucks. She said it is to high in calcium, and the calcium/phosphorus ratio is way outta wack, causing UC.


This veterinarian needs to go back to school and learn more about UC in goats. Calcium does *not* cause UC. The calculi in goats are phosphorus based. High protein foods (goat feed, legume hay,etc) do increase the phosphorus levels in a goats system. In some goats alfalfa hay can cause UC but it's due to the increased protein and not the calcium.

Donna


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## Straw Hat Kikos (Aug 23, 2012)

Very interesting! I did not know that. I was told that it is the high levels of Ca. So if something is too high in P that is what causes UC in goats? Is that right?


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## SheepGirl (Aug 23, 2012)

SHK - yep and it causes UC in sheep too.


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## 20kidsonhill (Aug 23, 2012)

I don't have a lot of experience feeding alfalfa pellets, but i did try it a couple times, and I had problems with the younger goats and younger does eating the grain around them and leaving the alfalfa pellets. They are larger than the pellets of grain. Now the older does thought they were fantastic. The main reason I stopped feeding them was cost, they are more expensive that alfalfa hay for us and more expensive than pelleted grain. If they were more affordable I would for sure use them with pelleted feed when my does are nursing.


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## Catahoula (Aug 23, 2012)

For us, the alfalfa hay price is so high, couple of my goat buddies are considering supplementing their diary goats with the alfalfa pellets. One small bale of alfalfa hay here is $15-16.5 and a 40lbs bag of alfalfa pellets is $12. It is one thing to pay high price, it is also hard to get here too...at least the small bales. None of them has the space or equipment to handle the big huge round or rectangular bales.


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## willowgem (Aug 23, 2012)

My two boys love their alfalfa pellets!
They get a 50/50 mix of Noble Goat and alfalfa pellets, along with free choice grass hay.

The breeder I bought my boys from, like Southern by choice's "vet", said absolutely NO alfalfa...but I've learned better since joining this forum.


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## 20kidsonhill (Aug 23, 2012)

Catahoula said:
			
		

> For us, the alfalfa hay price is so high, couple of my goat buddies are considering supplementing their diary goats with the alfalfa pellets. One small bale of alfalfa hay here is $15-16.5 and a 40lbs bag of alfalfa pellets is $12. It is one thing to pay high price, it is also hard to get here too...at least the small bales. None of them has the space or equipment to handle the big huge round or rectangular bales.


40lb bag of alfalfa pellets was $16.00 the last time I priced it, and our alfalfa hay is around $5.50 to 6.50 for a 45 lb bale.  Clearly what where  you are will dictate what you choose to feed. Our grain is running about $11.00 a 50lb bag right now. I just got pretty nice orchard alfalfa mixed bales for $5.25, they have about 50% alfalfa in them.


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## Catahoula (Aug 23, 2012)

20kidsonhill said:
			
		

> Clearly where  you are will dictate what you choose to feed. Our grain is running about $11.00 a 50lb bag right now.


X2... The grower grains I feed is $20+ a 50 lbs bag. At least I am new to buying hay so however cheap it was...I never knew. As long as they don't keep going up up and up.... One of my goat buddies said alfalfa hay a couple years back was about $6-7/bale...in Colorado. 
We must do what we must to keep the kids or other livestock happy!


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## redtailgal (Aug 23, 2012)

I WISH I could find some alfalfa hay, lol.  I wouldnt feed it exclusively, but would like to have it occasionally.

Hubby brought home a bag of alfalfa pellets the day I started this post.

They wouldnt eat it very well, so I thought I'd give them a couple days to get used to it.  I've been mixing it in with their grain.  The babies eat around it, as do the does, leaving the alfalfa in the feeders when they walk away.  Plato tried to eat it but choked on it.

Socrates.....he wont even eat the grain that has touched the alfalfa.  He was a trooper and did taste ONE pellet....and audibly wretched, yaked it out, backed up and commenced to snorting at me.    (guess there was little doubt what he thinks of alfalfa).

Sooooooo, now I have almost 50 pounds of alfalfa pellets.  The iguana can eat some of them soaked, but it would take him about 600 years to eat the whole bag.  I guess I'll use part of the bag to feed my roses, and then give the rest to the bulls this winter.

Thanks for the information.  Believe it or not, your opinions are just as valid as Socrates.

I'll just grow these two wethers out on grain.


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## Catahoula (Aug 23, 2012)

Actually it took over a week before my kids would nibble on the alfalfa pellets. I just toss a handful of alfalfa pellets into their grains. They pick out the grains and left the green pellets. I didn't care and one day, they finally started to eat it and I increased the alfalfa pellets. It was the same with BOSS. I was amazed how well they could pick out tiny grain pellets and leave the BOSS. After about a week+...again, they start to eat it too. So if you really want to supplement pellets, don't give up so soon yet. True, they may not ever eat it, but I'd keep mixing it with their grain for longer. 
Good Luck.


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