# Alfalfa pellets?



## Pygmygoatluver (Feb 26, 2013)

What do alfalfa pellets do? Is it kind of like calf manna? Does it help with growing kids? Thanks


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Alfalfa pellets provide an easily digested source of protein and calcium... I tend to not give my kids these as I have had them choke on them.


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## janeen128 (Dec 31, 2012)

liz said:


> Alfalfa pellets provide an easily digested source of protein and calcium... I tend to not give my kids these as I have had them choke on them.


So alfalfa pellets does have calcium in it? I was trying to figure that out, but it just said protein. I am giving my clan some spent brewery grain, so I needed something with calcium in it too. Yeah, so that is a huge plus I soak the pellets for the little ones


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## Scottyhorse (Feb 11, 2013)

You shouldn't need to feel alfalfa pellets if you feed alfalfa hay, right?


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## janeen128 (Dec 31, 2012)

Scottyhorse said:


> You shouldn't need to feel alfalfa pellets if you feed alfalfa hay, right?


That is correct.


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## MsScamp (Feb 1, 2010)

janeen128 said:


> So alfalfa pellets does have calcium in it?


Alfalfa pellets are alfalfa hay in pellet form.


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

Alfalfa pellets cannot take the place of hay though.


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## janeen128 (Dec 31, 2012)

Oh, mine get hay too, at least in the fall & winter months, but since I'm giving the spent brewery grain, I needed something with calcium in it


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

Trickyroo said:


> Alfalfa pellets cannot take the place of hay though.


Actually they can. Mine have been fully pellet fed at different times over the years. They still get the 3/4 inch fiber they need to rumenate and still fill their rumens, chew their cuds. etc. They did great on them. 
Before Purina bought Honor feeds and ruined them, the goat food was a pelleted complete feed. That was great stuff, had everything they needed in one bag. All my goats looked great on it.


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

Really ? That must have been awesome ! No waste , no mess 
And , a fully complete meal to boot . Man, would that save money , time and effort !


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

Jill , I giggle everytime I see your avatar , its priceless ! lol


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

You would have been giggling even harder if you'd have seen me crawling up on my hands and knees to get the picture...


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

Oh I meant to add that with the Kats EZ grain mix
I feed alfalfa 
Haven't read your last post yet Jill. .
Wanna put everyone in for the night so I can sit and relax and hang out here


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

I posted this on the wrong thread , lolol !
Ok , it just doesn't seem right to me that alfalfa pellets can take the place of hay :scratch: I would think hay can only give them necessary roughage that the alfalfa pellets can't :shrug:


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## SilverStarRanch (Oct 20, 2013)

how much is alfalfa in your area are alfalfa is $16.00 a bail


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

We pay $40 a bale for western alfalfa. It weighs about 80+ pounds.


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## J.O.Y. Farm (Jan 10, 2012)

Trickyroo said:


> We pay $40 a bale for western alfalfa. It weighs about 80+ pounds.


*drops dead* how long does one bale last you?? This is the reason I feed grass hay and alfalfa pellets! Lol!


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

Uh huh, at that price my goats would never see baled alfalfa again...


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

That bale can least us up to two weeks if we are careful giving it out and not being overgenerous . I know , its a lot , believe me , I know.
But , with the other hay , there is a lot of waste and i feel we throw out more of it then they eat. So with the alfalfa there is less waste and they benefit from it so much more. We feel its worth it , for now anyways , lol.


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

Maybe it lasts longer , I can't think right now , need sleep , lol.


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

And , this past summer we couldn't get quality hay and the crap we were offered was so bad , I wouldn't use it for bedding no less feed it to my girls ! So , hence why we feed alfalfa .


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Alfalfa around me goes for about $6 per 50 lb bale.

I ended up some beautiful grass hay with a little alfalfa and clover for $3.75 a bale and they are 50 lb bales.


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

ksalvagno said:


> Alfalfa around me goes for about $6 per 50 lb bale.
> 
> I ended up some beautiful grass hay with a little alfalfa and clover for $3.75 a bale and they are 50 lb bales.


I hate you  ( kidding )


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Believe me, I am so thankful for our hay prices after hearing of prices around the country. I do have to buy all my hay at once for the year. The farmers sell their hay fast and don't store any for anyone. So you have to be prepared for large hay storage.


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

Yeah , I hear ya ! We can't store a lot of hay just yet , so we buy ours a couple times a month. Things are very expensive out here


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## J.O.Y. Farm (Jan 10, 2012)

Trickyroo said:


> Yeah , I hear ya ! We can't store a lot of hay just yet , so we buy ours a couple times a month. Things are very expensive out here


Are they ever... We can store about 150 bales.. But that doesn't go very far.. I feed about 2 bales or so a week.. Sometimes more depending on the bale.. And at $5-6 a bale..  
I know that isn't bad.. And it's a very nice hay and my guys love it! But it's crazy spending so much and getting so little...


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## SilverStarRanch (Oct 20, 2013)

I feed local hay now I got for $3 a bail there only like 30-40 lbs. but I want to feed more nutrition goats are looking skinny some these days. Don't really want to pay farmer store prices.. I went to a local store there trying to sell ivermec 500ml for $199.00 is there a whole sale place you guys use?


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## Scottyhorse (Feb 11, 2013)

Our alfalfa is about $8 a bale... $200 a ton usually. The quality of it varies a lot, though.


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## SilverStarRanch (Oct 20, 2013)

Scottyhorse said:


> Our alfalfa is about $8 a bale... $200 a ton usually. The quality of it varies a lot, though.


you located in WA?


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## Scottyhorse (Feb 11, 2013)

SilverStarRanch said:


> you located in WA?


Yeah, we're in eastern wa. Some of the growers have NICE hay, but my parents only buy from one guy, so I am thinking of switching over to all alfalfa pellets instead of the hay..


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

Valley hay leaves much to be desired. There is a major lack of vitamins in most of it.


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## Scottyhorse (Feb 11, 2013)

Um, so like, most of this area. Great. :lol:


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

Ha, actually I was talking about west valley hay. We pay premiums for eastern Oregon/Washington hay.


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