# Dengie Alfalfa Pellets, feeding unsoaked question



## Perissa (21 October 2009)

I have been feeding my boy about half a scoop of dry alfalfa pellets in a nut ball along with a couple of diced carrots.  Imagine my horror when I bought another sack today and actually read the back which says that they must be soaked for 15 mins prior to feeding!!!

My horse is wheat and maize intollerant and finding a nut was proving impossible until I found these alfalfa pellets. Nowhere does it say on the website that they must be soaked in fact it says.....

Alfalfa is naturally low in sugar (water soluble carbohydrates) and Dengie Alfalfa Pellets, unlike many other cubes or mixes, are also unmolassed. In fact, they contain nothing but alfalfa which makes them ideal for horses and ponies that require a low sugar diet. They are ideal for feeding outdoors and are particularly beneficial for breeding stock as they supply highly bio-available calcium and good quality protein.

See the bit that says 'ideal for feeding outdoors' - it this that made me think they were perfect for a nutball.

I don't know what to do now, carry on as I have been for the past month, or stop immediatley.

Does anyone else feed them?  What do you do?

I shall phone Dengie tomorrow.

http://www.dengie.com/pages/products/additional-products/alfalfa-pellets.php


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## Mrs_Wishkabibble (21 October 2009)

I feed them as I used to have them on the Simple Systems Lucie Nuts which are the same.
I have always soaked them but I do remember reading somewhere that a handful unsoaked in a feeder ball was ok.
They are really good at keeping weight on my 19 year old TB and still being sane


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## TGM (21 October 2009)

They should be fine for feeding in a ball unsoaked.  I suspect the soaking warning is for when they are fed in significant quantities from a bucket, where a greedy feeder runs the risk of choke, which is the same for all unsoaked cubes of any description.  Because the ball lets them only eat a few cubes at a time, the risk of choke is insignificant.


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## maggiesmum (21 October 2009)

I phoned Dengie about tis a few years ago and strangely the answer I got was that it was an old batch of bags and that it would change soon - seriously that was about 4 years ago! I tend to soak them but the same as everyone else I've used them in a feed ball unsoaked with no problems.


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## star (21 October 2009)

i always soaked them - they swell up nearly as much as dry sugarbeet so would never feed them dry no matter what Dengie say.


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## teddyt (21 October 2009)

[ QUOTE ]
i always soaked them - they swell up nearly as much as dry sugarbeet so would never feed them dry no matter what Dengie say. 

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree. They swell up alot and i would never feed them dry.


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## criso (22 October 2009)

Contacted Dengie a while back when i was looking for something to feed in a treat ball that wasn't sugar based.

They recommended the Alfalfa Pellets and told me they were fine to feed unsoaked.
I have been feeding them for about 6 months now though not much he is a little overweight.


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## Perissa (22 October 2009)

I've been trying to call them all morning and just keep getting an answer machine.


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## criso (22 October 2009)

I usually email and they respond quite quickly.

Here's what they said to me 

Dear Cristina

Thank you for your e-mail.  There are a couple of options from our range that would be ideal for your horse to put in his feed ball.

The Alfalfa Pellets would be ideal to use in his feed ball to keep him occupied, although as he is a good do-er I would keep an eye on how much you are feeding him and if he starts to put on weight, remove them from his diet or reduce the amounts of haylage, Alfa-A Lite or Mollichaff Herbal accordingly.

Another useful product for you would be our new Hi-Fi Balancer as currently your horse isn't getting a constant vitamin and mineral supply in his diet and so may not be getting all the essential nutrients he requires.  Hi-Fi Balancer is an extruded vitamin and mineral nugget based on alfalfa, linseed and rice with rosemary and thyme for palatability and their anitoxidant properties.  Hi-Fi Balancer also contains chelated trace minerals for easy absorption.  Due to the size of the nugget you could use this in conjunction with the Alfalfa Pellets in his feed ball to keep him occupied and ensure he is getting a balanced diet.

Amounts wise of the Hi-Fi Balancer, the recommended feeding rate is 100g/100kg bodyweight so an approximate amount for your horse would be 500g.  i will pop some samples of Alfalfa Pellets and Hi-Fi Balancer in the post for your horse to try.  Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any further queries or just to let me know how you get on with the samples.


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## lucemoose (22 October 2009)

I always, always soaked them as I was using them in significant quantities with soaked oats. However I put a handful in the treat ball..


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## Enfys (22 October 2009)

A dry handful in a ball should be fine I imagine, but I have always soaked 'grass nuts' of whatever brand, I can't see why anyone should feed them dry, they swell  as dramatically as sugar beet does, so what is the difference (other than feed value)?

I can't get the pellets here, mine come in whopping great 1" chunks. 2 dry scoops take 10l of water before they are crumbly enough to feed, I feed a lot of this in winter. They are often fed dry here with reportedly few choke incidences (says my Vet, but he thinks anyone who feeds dry cubes are stupid) no way could I bring myself to do it. These are the pure alfalfa cubes, I also get alfa/timothy,  used a lot as grass replacer in winter when there is no grass whatsoever.


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