Will Range Cubes Hurt Horses?

All natural range cubes can be fed to horses, and this is actually a somewhat routine practice in certain areas. Primarily, make sure that range cubes do not contain cattle additives that could be harmful to horses.

Can horses eat range meal?

However, horses should not be given grain-based feeds designed for cattle. Even a small amount of some additives in cattle feeds can be fatal to horses, while other ingredients may not kill the horse but most likely won’t do it much good either.

Are alfalfa cubes bad for horses?

The mixed grass or corn plant/alfalfa cubes are recommended if fed as the sole source of forage to adult maintenance horses. Straight alfalfa cubes will contain more protein and calcium than the normal adult horse needs, but will not harm the horse as long as its kidneys are functioning properly.

How often should you feed range cubes?

“They can go from feeding it daily to feeding it once a week and get the same response because protein in the ruminant recycles and requires them not to need it every day,” she says. PHOTO: Texas producers used range cubes to sustain their herds through the difficult drought of 2011-12.

Can horses colic on alfalfa cubes?

Alfalfa cubes and pellets can cause colic.
And pellets are concentrated in alfalfa hay, increasing the risk of colic. A horse will likely eat all the alfalfa cubes they have available, but when fed alfalfa hay, they are picky and often waste some.

Is all stock feed OK for horses?

Powell All-Stock can be fed to all species of animals (Horses, Cows, Goats, Sheep, Deer, Donkeys, Mules, etc). It still maintains proper amounts of protein, grain, vitamins, and minerals to maintain good health.

Is urea harmful to horses?

Urea usually is lethal to ruminants at 1-1.5g/kg of body weight. Approximately 4g/kg is lethal to horses. Urea is not very toxic to monogastic animals. Onset of clinical signs occurs rapidly, ranging from 10 minutes to four hours after consuming a toxic dose of urea.

What are 3 things horses should not eat?

Here are eight foods you should never feed your horse:

• Chocolate. ©russellstreet/Flickr CC.
• Persimmons.
• Avocado.
• Lawn clippings.
• Pitted fruits.
• Bread.
• Potatoes and other nightshades.
• Yogurt or other milk products.

What feed is toxic to horses?

Cattle feed usually contains additives that are toxic to horses. The most common and harmful additives are ionophores, commonly known as monensin sodium (Rumensin) and lasalocid (Bovatec), which are antibiotic-like medications.

Can alfalfa cubes cause laminitis?

Alfalfa hay can cause horses to founder and develop laminitis due to the excess nutrients provided by the high quality hay if too much is fed. If switching from grass hay to alfalfa, generally less alfalfa is required to provide the same nutrients present in the grass hay.

How many scoops of alfalfa cubes should I feed my horse?

So if you’re feeding nothing but alfalfa cubes, you should feed 1.5 to 2 percent of the horse’s body weight per day. If you’re giving it in addition to hay and/or grain, the total of everything should add up to 1.5 to 2 percent of the horse’s body weight.

Will alfalfa cubes put weight on a horse?

Alfalfa is higher in calories and protein than grass hays, which makes it an excellent choice to help to add weight to a thin horse. If your horse tends to be wasteful with his hay, he may eat more when offered alfalfa hay cubes or pellets.

What are range cubes good for?

Range Cubes

• High protein range cubes (38-41% natural protein) are designed to be fed to beef cattle on dry winter forages.
• Low protein formula feeds are likely mixtures of grains and protein concentrates.
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What are range cubes for?

A range cube is a hard, vitamin- and mineral-packed food nugget intended to be fed to cattle to supplement their diet and provide them with needed nutrients, especially if the forage they are consuming is spare or of poor quality. Think of a range cube as a multi-vitamin for livestock.

How many bales of hay do I need for 30 cows?

Using our earlier example of a 30-cow herd, we would need one 900-pound bale per day. So placing 10 bales in a paddock would supply about ten days’ worth of feed for a 30-cow herd, five days of feed for a 60-cow herd, and so on.

Can you give a horse too much alfalfa cubes?

Therefore, horse owners should provide alfalfa cubes in a controlled manner to prevent overconsumption of the feed, which can lead to serious digestive problems such as colic or problems associated with overweight horses.

Are cubes better than hay?

Because of how they’re processed and stored, cubes typically have less dust and lower propensity to mold. Transporting cubes is much easier than loading flakes of hay as well. As much as 20% of conventional baled hay may be wasted when fed1, while cubes have little waste.

Can I feed alfalfa cubes instead of hay?

Forage cubes can be fed just like hay, at a 1:1 ratio of the like hay type the horse currently consumes. For example, you would replace five pounds of alfalfa hay with five pounds of alfalfa cubes and adjust the amount if needed to maintain the animal’s proper weight.

How many bales of hay should a horse have a day?

A horse can eat anywhere from 15-25 pounds of hay a day, which generally equates to a half of a 45/50-pound square bale of hay per day (~15-30 bales per month).

What is the best thing to feed a horse?

Provide plenty of roughage
If hay isn’t enough, grain can be added, but the bulk of a horse’s calories should always come from roughage. Horses are meant to eat roughage, and their digestive system is designed to use the nutrition in grassy stalks.

What is the best feed for horses in the winter?

In all scenarios, in winter months horses should be given at least 1.5 to 3% of their body weight in some form of forage; it could be in the form of long stem hay, chopped hays, forage based cubes, or combinations thereof. They should also have access to salt at all times and unlimited ice free water.