# Weight gain- grain or beet pulp



## Breezy-Trail (Sep 16, 2011)

We go to a local mill 1 or 2 times a month that is about 1 hr from us.

They sell some good 16% S&G feed and a 40 pound bag of beet pulp.

They do take card but I cant go this time. So will send some money with my mom to get one or the other, when she goes early tomorrow. I want to get both, but will have to wait 2 weeks to get the other one. I also cant get to the bank...

Can beet pulp be fed without grain? Or hows it work..

The doe I have is just shy of 50 pounds born 4/12 and is a boer cross. I want to breed her late Dec. or as soon as shes up to weight. so I need to do something to get her weight up.

The doe (Coco) has only had about a half a cup a dairy goat once in a great while (when the milk does didnt finish their grain..in heat) so basically has never been fed grain, just as a treat.


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## GotmygoatMTJ (Apr 25, 2009)

There is really not much nutritional value in beet pulp. It adds weight (IMO it adds fake weight) but shouldn't be fed as the main source of feed.


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## Randi (Apr 22, 2011)

Lots of hay. :thumb:


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## freedomstarfarm (Mar 25, 2011)

If one or the other I would do the grain.


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## Itchysmom (Apr 3, 2010)

I feed BP to the horses in the winter as a hay extender. It helps keep the weight on and I have not seen any adverse effect. My hay lasts longer too! I also have an older horse who loses weight in the winter because of a lack of teeth. Eating hay is hard for her. She does really well on the addition of soaked BP. I am going to try this with the goats this winter and see what happens. Of course as their pregnancies enter the last few months, I plan on adding some grain also. I do not feel that BP is just a "filler". It does have some nutritional value. Here is something I found that explains, altho it was written with horses in mind!

*"Tho this was written for Horses it would apply to other animals.

http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department ... ll/hrs3243 
Myth: "Beet pulp is a just a filler." 
Most old-timers will tell you beet pulp has no nutrition, "it's just a filler." Again, science has proved otherwise. Beet pulp is the fibrous material left over after the sugar is extracted from sugar beets. It's an excellent source of digestible fibre for the horse and can be fed in addition to, or instead of, hay. Recent research has shown that the fibre in beet pulp is easier to digest than the fibre in hays. In fact, horses may derive as much energy from beet pulp as they do from oats (Table 4). In other words, a pound of (dry) beet pulp has almost the same amount of calories as a pound of oats. Because beet pulp provides these calories as fibre (as opposed to the starch in grains), it can be safely fed in larger amounts without the risk of colic or laminitis associated with feeding a large amount of grain. Furthermore, the protein content of beet pulp (averaging 8 to 12%) is comparable to most grains and good-quality grass hays (Table 4). And, beet pulp also provides a reasonable source of calcium, intermediate between the high calcium in alfalfa and the lower calcium content of grass hays, but much higher than grains (Table 4). 
Whether used as a source of forage or as a replacement for oats, beet pulp is a useful addition to the diet of many types of horses. Beet pulp has been successfully fed at levels up to 50% of the horse's total ration (approximately 10 lbs for a 1000 lb horse). More commonly, owners choose to feed 2 to 5 lbs of beet pulp per day. The high digestibility of beet pulp makes it a good choice for horses that are "hard keepers" (it's very good for encouraging weight gain), as well as horses with dental problems, or older horses who have trouble chewing or digesting other types of forage. Beet pulp is also used as a grain replacement in the diets of horses that suffer from tying up (providing calories as fibre rather than starch). And the low potassium content of beet pulp makes it an ideal forage replacement for horses with HYPP. Finally, endurance riders favour beet pulp because its high water holding capacity provides the horse with a larger reservoir of fluid in the digestive tract that can be used to help prevent dehydration. 
Table 4: Comparison of the nutrients in beet pulp with the nutrients in other common feeds.* 
Feed: Fiber( Energy(MCal/kg) Protein( Calcium( 
Beet Pulp 20 3.15 10-12 0.70 
Oats 11 3.30 12 0.09 
Barley 6 3.70 13 0.05 
Alfalfa Hay 28 2.30 15-18 1.30 
Timothy Hay 35 1.95 6-9 0.35 
*Please note these are average nutrient values and are presented on a 100% dry matter basis. 
Myth: "Beet pulp must be soaked before you feed it." 
"If you don't soak beet pulp before feeding it, it'll swell up and rupture the horse's stomach." "Beet pulp will swell up in your horse's esophagus and cause choke if you don't soak it first." These are just a couple of the diabolical warnings surrounding the feeding of beet pulp. Because beet pulp seems to "grow" when water is added, somebody surmised that it could be a hazard if fed dry because it would absorb saliva and gastric juices, swell up, and block the esophagus or cause the stomach to burst. Although inaccurate, these evil predictions deter many horse owners from even trying beet pulp. 
Beet pulp may soak up water like a sponge, but it cannot soak up saliva quickly enough to expand in the esophagus and cause choke. Instead, choke associated with beet pulp (particularly the pelleted form) is often in response to the particle size and the horse's aggressive feeding behaviour, rather than the actual feed itself. Horses that bolt their feed without sufficient chewing, or do not have adequate access to water, are far more likely to choke, regardless of the type of feed, compared to horses that eat at a more leisurely rate. "*

Many years ago, when I was much much younger :greengrin: , Horse people would feed a product called A&M to put weight on their horses. This is a molasses/alf mix. Now that was to me a fake weight feed as the molasses made the horse drink more water, horse put on weight, then sweated it off when ridden. I have researched several feeds and to me BP is the best I found as far as maintaining weight without a bunch of grain. I do not grain my horses at all! The first winter I was here, first for the horse in a cold snowy climate, I supplimented BP to extend their hay...worked great! So, I will experiment with BP on the goats this winter and make up my own mind on the value it contains for them as a suppliment!


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