Alphalpha Pellets - They like em! Hey Mikey!

LFRJ · #1 01/20/11, 05:19 AM

At first they turned their noses up, but I managed to fool the kids into thinking they are a major treat now! Perfect for keeping them occupied while mom is being milked. Now, even mom is crunching them up like candy. (Not that they don't have high quality, free choice alphalpha 24/7).

Sooo, my question - is there anything I should know now that they are getting a big bowl full nightly? Are they fortified in someway that might be beneficial? or are they more like junk food? Would they cause any gastro problems if fed too much?

Thanks

Backfourty,MI. · #2 01/20/11, 07:07 AM

I sure wish I could find alfafa pellets my goats would eat. Tried alot of different brands just to drag them out in the woods for the deer!

Minelson · #3 01/20/11, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Backfourty,MI.

I sure wish I could find alfafa pellets my goats would eat. Tried alot of different brands just to drag them out in the woods for the deer!

Maybe you should put some in your pocket and they will think they are a treat

Oat Bucket Farm · #4 01/20/11, 11:53 AM

Alfalfa pellets are considered food not a treat (unless you are trying to trick them into eating them because they refuse,lol) Quite a few people (me included) feed grass hay and alfalfa pellets free choice.

LoneStrChic23 · #5 01/20/11, 01:34 PM

I've tried 3 different brands of Alfalfa pellets and the only brand my girls like is the Standlee brand from TSC...They smell amazing, very bright green and no dust. The others they turned their noses up at... I was leaving pellets free choice, but now that I have the buck twins out there, they sleep in the pellet feeder and ruin the pellets. So I feed pellets in the morning when they get their grain. The munchkins take some out after school and I give them pellets at night, and they get free choice coastal hay. Once the buck twins go to freezer camp I'll go back to feeding the pellets free choice. In the begining the girls thought the pellets were candy and inhaled them...after 2 days of free choice they treated the pellets like good hay...nibbled here and there, but didn't go crazy over them.

wintrrwolf · #6 01/20/11, 03:13 PM

I don't get it!! I never have had a problem with my goats not eating what ever I put out...they are more concerned that someone else might get more then them so all is gobbled down, the alfalfa and beet pellet mix I put out. Even Pawnee who is a little persnickety when it comes to something new got with the program real quick. I switched to beet pellets for 2 reasons, 1 the horses and goats share the same mix, and 2 I THOUGHT the larger beet pellets would slow them down(not much).
yeah Lonestr I love that standlee brand too, think maybe the brighter green might just be color additive but I like that when I open the bag I don't get a dust cloud rising out of it.

LoneStrChic23 · #7 01/20/11, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wintrrwolf

yeah Lonestr I love that standlee brand too, think maybe the brighter green might just be color additive but I like that when I open the bag I don't get a dust cloud rising out of it.

Probably so, but they look pretty

lol

I've tried 2 other brands and they were so full of dust.......one had a huge puff of dust pop out as soon as I opened the bag and neither smelled as nice as the Standlee brand. I ended up having to mix the other brands 1 part "other" to 3 parts Standlee pellets and the girls will pick out the Standlee pellets 1st and then nibble on the others until the feeder is empty.

berrley · #8 01/20/11, 06:34 PM

I've heard a lot of talk about Standlee being the only brand without tons of dust, but I bought the Merry Mixer and didn't notice any dust at all. Anyone have a lot of dust with the Merry Mixer?

Backfourty,MI. · #9 01/20/11, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oat Bucket Farm

Alfalfa pellets are considered food not a treat (unless you are trying to trick them into eating them because they refuse,lol) Quite a few people (me included) feed grass hay and alfalfa pellets free choice.

I have bought different brands from different stores & end up dragging them to the woods for the deer & wild critters.

I am going to have to look for the Standlee brand at our TSC & see if they carry them. If they do I'll give them another shot!

Cheribelle · #10 01/21/11, 11:59 AM

Standlee is the only kind I can find here, but mine LOVE it, so it's not an issue I guess

LFRJ · #11 01/21/11, 01:41 PM

Yep. Strandlee is what it says on our bag alright!

Pony · #12 02/09/11, 03:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by berrley

I've heard a lot of talk about Standlee being the only brand without tons of dust, but I bought the Merry Mixer and didn't notice any dust at all. Anyone have a lot of dust with the Merry Mixer?

I get the Merry Mixer here in MO, and it does get dusty when I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel. I've learned (here!) to mix the dust with the chickens' feed (I add something wet to it so that it sticks to the rest of the feed), and the birds all like it.

The Standlee disappears here! Heck, it looks and smells so good, I'd eat it if I were hungry enough. Okay, if I were hungry enough and it had ranch dressing on it.

southerngurl · #13 02/09/11, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Backfourty,MI.

I sure wish I could find alfafa pellets my goats would eat. Tried alot of different brands just to drag them out in the woods for the deer!

Do you feed a sweet feed? It seems like sometimes when people feed sweet feed their goats don't like alfalfa pellets.

Pony · #14 02/09/11, 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by southerngurl

Do you feed a sweet feed? It seems like sometimes when people feed sweet feed their goats don't like alfalfa pellets.

I feed all-stock, and the goats STILL love their alfalfa pellets. And their hay, too.

southerngurl · #15 02/09/11, 06:12 PM

Well I should say it seems when goats don't like alfalfa pellets, they are getting sweet feed, not the other way around

. I mean I've noticed it a couple times so wondering if that's the case- if it's a pattern.

Pony · #16 02/09/11, 06:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by southerngurl

Well I should say it seems when goats don't like alfalfa pellets, they are getting sweet feed, not the other way around

. I mean I've noticed it a couple times so wondering if that's the case- if it's a pattern.

My goats do have a tendency to inhale their food first, ask questions second.

They DON'T like the "bread" and such I make from the alfalfa fines, though. No problem. Someone suggested feeding those to the poultry: Works great!

I also think that different goats have different dietary needs through the seasons. Maybe that's why there are times they'll eat everything that's not nailed down, and the other times when they look at you like you've brought them The Cheap Junk.

Backfourty,MI. · #17 02/09/11, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by southerngurl

Do you feed a sweet feed? It seems like sometimes when people feed sweet feed their goats don't like alfalfa pellets.

No sweet feed here, it's a grain mix that I've been mixing myself for a couple years now. Rolled oats, rolled barley, sunflower seeds, & rabbit pellets since they would not eat any of the alfafa pellets I bought so I substituted rabbit pellets since they are so high in alfafa.

Backfourty,MI. · #18 02/09/11, 08:09 PM

I did get the Standlee pellets at TSC, my girls Love them & am on our 2nd bag already. They inhaled the first bag in a week & only 5 does'. Hope they slow down a bit since there $9.99 a bag and if they continue a bag a week that's another $40.00 a month.