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Author
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Topic: Switching From Alfalfa To Timothy
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AshsStorm
Junior Member
Member # 1406
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posted May 08, 2004 06:53 PM
I was wondering.. would it hurt your horse if you switched over from alfalfa directly to timothy? I have heard several different things and would like to know the truth..
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I Love Stormy!!!
Posts: 12 | From: North Carolina | Registered: Jan 2004
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Dawn
Member
Member # 14
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posted May 08, 2004 06:58 PM
It is never a good idea to change a horse's diet suddenly. You and your horse would be best off doing a gradual change over.
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Heard in the midst of a handwriting exam ~ "And to think, we could've been bio-chem majors."
Posts: 6885 | From: Tennessee | Registered: Nov 2002
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ejforrest
Member
Member # 1414
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posted May 10, 2004 03:52 AM
Any feed changes should always been done gradually. The only exception is when you want to stop feeding a certain foods like grains. They can be stopped quickly with no problem. The "adding" can be the problem to the digestive system.
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ej
Posts: 278 | From: michigan | Registered: Jan 2004
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harli36
Member
Member # 1587
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posted May 10, 2004 09:31 AM
Think of a horses hindgut like it's own little eco-system. For example if you throw a bobcat into an eco-system that is not used to supporting a bobcat it will take time for that ecosystem to support bobcats. So going back to the horse if you put a new food source into the hindgut the different microbs in the hindgut need to adjust themselves to be able to best digest the new feed. It can take over 6 weeks for the hindgut to adjust to the new feed accordingly.
Posts: 613 | From: northeastern Pa | Registered: Feb 2004
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tn walker
Member
Member # 1338
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posted May 10, 2004 12:50 PM
lol harli! ![[Hah]](graemlins/hah.gif) bobcats! As the others have said, it is essential to change your horse's diet gradually. It will not hurt your horse to switch from alfalfa to timothy in general. Just introduce it to him gradually.
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"Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." -Confucius
~*Friends are quiet angles who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly*~
And on the 8th day, God said "Thou shalt not trot!". And the good horses listened.
Posts: 923 | From: NC | Registered: Jan 2004
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Blistering Winds
Member
Member # 843
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posted May 10, 2004 01:02 PM
I LOVE that analogy. Can I use it? PLEASE????
My teacher used a Goth and throw them into a mix of cowboy/girls. Takes LOTS of time for them to adjust...and the others.
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Horses should not be treated as people. They should be respected for who they are and what they are capable of doing!
Born Free Now Expensive
Posts: 4337 | From: Texas | Registered: Oct 2003
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harli36
Member
Member # 1587
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posted May 11, 2004 05:53 AM
LOL Of course you can use the analogy. I said bobcats because the govt. just reintroduced them into my area a few years ago. The farmers are a little peeved with it. Can't really blam them. LOL
Posts: 613 | From: northeastern Pa | Registered: Feb 2004
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