Fantastyk Voyage: alfalfa: hay vs. pellets

I've been watching my hay stack go down this winter quicker than normal. I never did get enough hay this fall to last out the winter. The last few winters I have been feeding grass or grass mix hay to my horses on my vet's recommendation but last year I switched back to mostly alfalfa because it is so hard to keep weight on them.

If I had a truck that ran, I could buy more hay. Of course, it would be at premium prices since we had the drought and hay shortage last summer. Or I could try and hijack one of the many semi hay trucks that I pass on the freeway every day. However, they wouldn't be able to deliver it to my barn because of the snow and mud that I still have. And they are carrying the giant bales that need a forklift to move. But still, it would be nice to have four or five of those in my barn right now.

As a solution to my hay shortage, I have been feeding alfalfa pellets in the mornings and alfalfa hay at night, to the horses. I worried about Nadia having trouble chewing because she is so old (almost 29) but she seems to be doing all right.

I am still feeding the grass hay to the alpacas because everyone recommends it and not the alfalfa, but whenever they are loose in the barn, they bee-line it straight to the alfalfa. I guess everyone likes what's not so good for them, huh?

I'm hoping this will stretch the hay I still have until I can get some more this spring. Actually, there is less wastage with the pellets and the horses seem to be chewing the pellets okay. The biggest drawback is that it is costing me $11 for 50 pounds and that is just about a two day supply when I only feed it in the mornings. And every few days I need to tote bags out to the barn. Again, IF my truck were running AND I could get to the barn, I could buy a full pallet (at a discount) and drive right into the barn to stack it. Top of my to do list- fix my truck, right?

I've been feeding two large (2+ lb) coffee tins of alfalfa pellets and a large can of grain each to Yalla!, Nadia, and Annie. Scout gets a smaller (2lb) can of grain with his two large cans of pellets. So far, they seem to be doing fine. Hopefully, they won't lose weight because I really can't afford to give them more, although every other day or so, I've been giving each of the girls an extra can of pellets at a feeding.

I used to board years ago and that's what they fed, although they were called horse cubes- one inch squares of a pelleted, complete feed. I remember the standard feeding amount was two scoops which is pretty much what I'm feeding. I haven't found them in the feed stores though. Nowadays, it's little, compressed cubes of alfalfa hay, like mini bales, or the fat, alfalfa pellets. Complete feeds are a smaller pellet than the alfalfa pellets.

Here's Scout eating a combination of the mini bales, alfalfa pellets, and grain.

Does anyone else feed alfalfa pellets? How much do you feed? Do you still prefer hay?