From: Renee
Hi. I just subscribed and have this question:
" How many hay cubes can you safely feed a horse at one time? Someone just told me that one cube equals one whole bale of hay! Is this true?
They said that it expands in the horses stomach. I believe that it may expand....but I have a hard time believing that it could expand that much!
Please advise. "
Thank you.
Renee
Hi Renee! Don't worry, one cube does NOT equal a bale of hay. And it won't expand to bale-size in the horse's stomach, either. If you're worried, take a hay cube, put it in a bowl, cover it with water, and come back in a few hours: you'll see a soggy hay cube, and if you stir it around, you'll get a sort of hay-slurry or hay-soup. That's what it will do inside your horse, too. Hay doesn't expand.
Your friend may have been thinking of beet pulp! Beet pulp, another form of roughage, DOES expand in liquid, which is why pelleted beet pulp should always be soaked and expanded BEFORE it's fed to the horse.
If you'll look at the back of the hay cubes bag, you should find information about the recommended feeding protocol. Hay cubes are just another form of hay, and they're frequently used by people who run out of hay, or who run out of good-quality hay, or whose horses are no longer able to digest long stemmy hay. Hay cubes are convenient and tidy to store in small quantities -- but they usually make up for the convenience by being expensive.
If you're in any doubt about how much to feed, talk to your veterinarian. He must have had some reason for recommending that you shift from hay to hay cubes in the first place. Be aware of your horse's actual nutritional requirements, and of how the hay cubes fit into your feeding program. You don't want to deprive your horse of needed roughage, so you must feed enough hay in SOME form -- but if your horse was previously getting grass hay and is now getting alfalfa cubes, there's been a significant change in the diet (total protein, and mineral balance). You'll want to be sure that all of this is fine with your vet -- and good for your horse. So the answer, really, is that you can feed your horse as many hay cubes as needed to provide the correct amount of hay for your horse... and your vet can help you figure out exactly what that amount will be.
BTW, hay cubes DO make ideal "hay bales" for Breyers and other model horses, because the size and appearance are just right. ;-)
Jessica
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