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    Re: [RC] Brrrrr in sunny(?) Florida - Heidi Smith


    >  Heidi,
    >
    > we are all also concerned about the other dangers of feeding too much
    > alfalfa,
    > (high incidence of calclium and magnesium), but what is you feeling about
    > really
    > stepping up the feeding of alfalfa in the winter,...and backing off rest
    of
    > year?
    > Do you think this will allow enteroliths to get a start?  Or will I be
    okay?
    > Purina makes
    > a pelleted feed called Strategy....you can get either a formula designed
    to
    > be fed with
    > grass hay ,or alfalfa.  I wonder if the alfalfa formula is trying to
    > compensate for these
    > out of whack cal/phos levels in the alfalfa.
    >
    > Anyway, since i have a huge stack of alfalfa, and dwindling stacks of
    grass
    > and oat
    > hay, would be better for me if I could feed more alfalfa!
    > Karen
    
    Enteroliths seem to be such a local phenomenon--although they are not
    unheard of in other areas, they seem to mainly come from southern CA
    alfalfa.  (In veterinary school at Washington State, we just read about
    them, and looked at the one in the vet school's museum--never saw a single
    one in 2 decades of practice, with LOTS of alfalfa feeding, but I understand
    that SoCal equine vets see them pretty routinely.)  It is all a matter of
    relative amounts of things in the diet.  I'd sure hate to feed straight
    SoCal alfalfa, but I know a lot of folks down that way who seem to have no
    problems whatsoever using alfalfa as only a portion of the diet.  Up here,
    our alfalfa is not as rich, and we don't have the magnesium problems, and we
    can safely free-feed first or second cuttings in winter.  Combined with oat
    hay, you shouldn't have any problem with leveling out the calcium and
    magnesium levels.  Susan G might be able to add more details here.
    
    Heidi
    
    
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    Replies
    Re: [RC] Brrrrr in sunny(?) Florida, sharp penny
    Re: [RC] Brrrrr in sunny(?) Florida, Heidi Smith
    Re: [RC] Brrrrr in sunny(?) Florida, Sullivan