# can goats eat alfalfa cubes?



## MamaDee (May 10, 2006)

Hi!

Alfalfa pellets are really expensive here--$13 for 50 pounds. Cubes are $9. Can goats eat these o.k.? Do you have to soak them?

It sure would be nice to save some money on alfalfa but I've never looked into cubes before.

Dee


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## southerngurl (May 11, 2003)

I wouldn't feed them without soaking, because they are way too big and the goats try to eat them all at once. Mine eat them whole sometimes straight out of the bag when we go through the feed area, but I wouldn't let them eat them that way unattended. But yes, they can eat them if you add a little water. They soften very quickly and you don't have to add a ton of water, you don't want them soupy.

If you want quite a job, you can sit there and break off the little layers in them and then they can eat them without soaking then. I wish they would sell them that way.


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## gryndlgoat (May 27, 2005)

We can't find pellets around here, so we feed cubes. It takes me maybe five minutes to break up enough for a meal for six goaties- I use a small hatchet. Sometimes I will just set aside half an hour and go through the whole bag, and then store the bits in a big Rubbermaid container for easy feeding.

No one has ever choked on one, not even the four month old doelings who are eating them now too (knock wood).


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## hoofinitnorth (Oct 18, 2006)

If you soak - DO NOT let the mixture "turn" (as in ferment). In other words, it's best NOT to soak it for too long before you feed it.


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## oberhaslikid (May 13, 2002)

I use a small concrete hammer to break them into smaller pieces.In the winter months I use hot water to soak them.In the summer they will mold fast in the summer heat if you soak them.


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## Jim S. (Apr 22, 2004)

I reckon you are talking about range cubes, and I have fed them straight out as treats for years.

If you want to break a lot of them up at once, maybe you can put a tarp on the driveway and put the cubes on it, then run over them with your truck. Might work.


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## southerngurl (May 11, 2003)

Hmm, what we always called range cubes were something different. They were like huge grain pellets, we fed them to the cows.

Alfalfa cubes are just plain alfalfa, they are made for horses.


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