I have been feeding a complete horse pellet. Recently I came across a feed
that is a complete horse pellet and also extruded. Is there a benefit to
feeding an extruded feed. It cost half again as much as the non-extruded
feed. I would appreciate you opinion on this one.
Mike & Bonnie
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> From: Susan Evans Garlinghouse <suendavid@worldnet.att.net>
> To: ridecamp@endurance.net
> Subject: beet pulp safety warning
> Date: Saturday, November 15, 1997 6:21 PM
>
> Well, I knew there had to be a downside to beep pulp, and thought it
> only fair that I pass it on...
>
> This afternoon I decided to bring some beet pulp pellets into the house
> to soak, because I wanted to get an idea of the % volume they expanded
> during soaking. Researchers are like that, pathetically easy to amuse
> and desperately in need of professional help. So I trundled in a
> bucket, about three pounds of beet pulp, added in the water and set it
> in the living room to do its thing. No problem. Science in the making.
>
> Well, one thing I don't think I've mentioned before is that in my
> ongoing Quest to turn this house into Noah's Ark, we have not only four
> horses, two dogs, three house cats plus Squeaky the barn cat, a
> sulfur-crested cockatoo, a cockatiel and assorted toads, we also have
> William, a fox squirrel who absent-mindedly fell out of his tree as a
> baby a year or so ago, and got handed off by my vet to the only person
> he knew silly enough to traipse around with a baby squirrel and a bottle
> of Esbilac in her bookbag. Being no dummy, William knew a sucker when
> he saw one and has happily been an Urban Squirrel ever since. And for
> those of you that think A Squirrel's Place is In The Wild, don't think
> we didn't try that...last year at Christmas, we thought we'd give him
> his first lesson in Being a Wild Squirrel by letting him play in the
> undecorated Christmas tree, and his reaction was to shriek in horror,
> scutter frantically across the floor and go try to hide underneath the
> nearest border collie. Since then, the only way he will allow himself
> to be taken outside is hiding inside Mummy's shirt and peering
> suspiciously out at the sinister world. So much for the re-make of Born
> Free in San Dimas.
>
> Anyway, when I set out the bucket of beet pulp, I may have
> underestimated the lengths that a young and enthusiastic squirrel will
> go to to stash all available food items in new and unusual hiding
> spots. I thought letting William out of his cage as usual and giving
> him a handful of almonds to go cram under cushions and into sleeping
> dog's ears was sufficent entertainment for the afternoon. After all,
> when I left, he was gleefully chortling and gloating over his pile of
> treasure, making sure the cockatoo saw them so he could tell her I Have
> Almonds And You Don't. Sigh. So much for blind optimism.
>
> Well, apparently when the almond supply ran out, beet pulp pellets
> became fair game and I can only imagine the little rat finding that
> great big bucket and swooning with the possibilities of being able to
> hide away All That Food. The problem isn't quite so much that I now
> have three pounds of beet pulp pellets cleverly tucked away in every
> corner of my house, it's that as far as I can tell, the
> soaking-expanding-and-falling-apart process seems to be kinda like
> nuclear meltdown. Once the reaction gets started, no force on earth is
> going to stop it. So when I happily came back from the grocery store,
> not only do I find an exhausted but incredibly Fulfilled squirrel
> sprawled out snoozing happily up on the cat tree, I find that my house
> smells like a feed mill and virtually every orifice is crammed full of
> beet pulp. This includes the bathroom sink, the fish tank filter, in my
> undie drawer, in the kitty box (much to their horror) and ALL the
> pockets of my bookbag. I simply can't WAIT to turn on the furnace and
> find out what toasting beet pulp smells like.
>
> The good news is that in case of siege, I have enough carbohydrates
> hidden in my walls and under the furniture to survive for years. The
> bad news is that as soon as I try to remove any of the Stash, I get a
> hysterical squirrel clinging to my pant leg, tearfully shrieking that
> I'm ruining all his hard work and now he's going to starve this winter.
> (This is despite the fact that William is spoiled utterly rotten, knows
> how to open the macademia nut can all by himself and has enough of a
> tummy to have earned him the unfortunate nickname Buddha Belly.)
>
> So in case anyone was losing sleep wondering just how much final product
> you get after soaking three pounds of beet pulp, the answer is a living
> room full. I'd write this New Data up and submit it as a case study
> paper to the nutrition and physiology society, but I suspect the
> practical applications may be limited.
>
> Off to go empty the Shop-Vac. Again.
>
> Susan Garlinghouse
>