Dusty alfalfa pellets?

[MB]

We have been getting the brand that TSC carries and it always contains a good amount of dust. The goats don't eat it, it makes them sneeze and it makes it hard for me to add anything to it that I expect them to eat like their AC. Had the hubby pick up a bag at our local feed store. These pellets are quite a bit bigger AND dusty. I guess they are really meant for horses. And of course are being rejected by the goats.
I guess my question is: Should I expect this out of all alfalfa pellets and just deal with it?
Thanks,
MB

[susanne]

when i started with alfa pellets i had the brand from TSC too. very dusty all the time. went to the feed store and bought surpreme green alfa pellets. at times it was okay and sometimes a lot of dust too. we started to use a colander to get the dust out. not only was this expensive but also very time consuming. i used the meal for the veggie garden and when we had all the ice two weeks ago, used it to make paths for the girls.
now i buy a brand in a different feed store that has almost no dust, $3 less per bag and easy to feed.
you might want to look around and try differend brands.

[ONThorsegirl]

I bought my first bag of Alfalfa pellets, and they aren't dusty at all but I noticed that the pellets are as big as beet pulp pellets...is this the norm for Alfalfa Pellets. I had thought I got it before and it was small tiny round pellets.

Melissa

[Alice In TX/MO]

I've been trying different brands and different feed stores. Some are pretty bad, and the goats don't like them.

Keep looking till you find the one in your area that has a tolerable amount of dust.

[Oldntimes]

I also have had bad luck with the Producers Pride from TSC My Goats will eat them but like the White and greem bag from Western Reserve better.

Also the TSC ones here are only 15% protien were as the ones in the White and Green bag are 17%. The ones I Like better from WW. usually are not dusty but sometimes I do get a bag that is.

Yes Most bronds are the larger pellet but there are also a couple brands out there that are small like the pelleted feed.

[southerngurl]

I was feeding one brand of alfalfa pellets that was somewhat dusty. The goats seemed to love them, just left dust in the bottom of the bucket that built up over time, and I would dump this to the horses when it was getting too full.

Then I had to get a different brand at a different feed store, and they loved these more and then didn't really want to eat the original ones after that. Funny thing is, they will even eat the DUST of these new pellets and putting them on top of the old dust left from the other brand, they have eaten all that dust too, so they've cleaned the buckets up. They eat this brand like candy.

The bags are just plain brown and say ARCO on them.

[Oldntimes]

Ya my local feed store switched from the Green and White bag to the Brown bag. I can't believe there are so many different ones....

[hoofinitnorth]

If you can't get pellets that aren't dusty and IF the dust is just ground up pellets and NOT something foreign, you can try feeding them in a mash (slightly wet if it's warm in your area, only as much as they will consume in short order else it will ferment or mold). If it's cold in your area, feed them as a hot mash with more water but again, only as much as they will eat before they freeze. You could also try adding a little vegie/corn/wheat germ oil to the pellets just to get the dust to bind better.

[DixyDoodle]

Are you in Canada? Our TSC doesn't carry alfalfa pellets, but if they were dusty, I would look for another brand. That is just me, though.

Are you close to a Country Depot (Co-Op)? They sell pellets that aren't too bad, but be careful of anything packaged by Richie's Feed (not sure if they distribute widely). Richie's is notorious for selling highly dusty feed, it's a waste of money unless you like bags of dust, and I would stay away from that brand as much as possible.

[oberhaslikid]

Yes ,I have tried differnt brands and they all have some dust.Really bad at the bottom of the batch meaning some bags are worse then others.Ive had them where 1/3 of the bag was dust I just feed to my chickens.