Re: Beet Pulp Pellets????

[jcheard <jcheard@wizzards.net>]

Speaking of piglets.... My 41 1/2 year old shetland
eats about 5 gallons per day (soaked) of 1/2 pelleted grain & 1/2 beet
pulp.  The vet said it wouldn't do any good to float his teeth anymore
as there aren't any molars left to float, but he can certainly put away
the 'mush'.  Since I wasn't certain how much to feed, I just gradually
increased until he held his weight and didn't act like he was starving. 
He is constantly on good pasture also.  As long as the grass is soft
he seems to be able to eat it (plus the dog food and anything else he can
get into),
carol

Susan Garlinghouse wrote:

I'm not keeping official records or anything, but I think the record so far
for engulfing beet pulp is held by my four year old Karahty young'un Dakota.
He went this past summer to Karen Chaton's for conditioning and I breezily
told her she could feed him about all the beet pulp he wanted---never
expecting that overgrown piglet to stuff in more than maybe eight pounds
dryweight.  It turns out he is perfectly happy snorkeling his way through
fifteen pounds a day (yes, it was weighed) dryweight and then well-soaked,
plus plenty of hay and a bit of LMF, and looking for more of everything.
Before then, his mom held the record at twelve pounds a day, but she had to
be at peak lactation to do it.

Oh, well.  I've always thought a good endurance horse should eat like
there's no tomorrow, and if that's a predictor of future success, there
should be no beating this orangutang.  At least if we can drag him away from
his bucket long enough to agree to trot down the trail now and again. <g>

BTW, just as trivia, well-soaked beet pulp is one of the prescribed diets
for horses recovering from colic surgery at the CSU vet hospital.  Over on
the small animal side, they're also using it as a recovery diet for dogs
whose intestinal mucosa have been wiped out by parvo virus.  Handy stuff.

susan g