Pelleted alfalfa vs hay -substitution - fiber size - ruminants ?
I would like to hear different experiences about feeding the dairy sheep, goats, cows with pelleted alfalfa and it's proportion in daily diet and their impact on milk quality and quantity.
Can the pellet substitute the hay completely? If yes, which category of animals can be fed just with alfalfa pellet? Are they fed ad libitum,
or the pellets are fed twice per day? Or ?
What is the maximum quantity of pellet that are advised to be fed
to dairy sheep, goat, cow in different phases (lactation, gestation).
Which ratio is acceptable for ruminants physiology (hay-pellet : 10-90, 20-80, 30-70...?). If pelleted cereals (corn) are also fed, can the pelleted cereals and pelleted alfalfa make the only diet?
What is the fiber length in alfalfa pellet? Can it be increased, if needed for ruminants, or it can not be because of the technological process of the pellet production?
What about pellet's textural characteristics, palatability and it's digestibility in ruminants? Do the animals experience any problem while eating (chewing) pellets? What is the impact of alfalfa pellet on % of milk fat?
What about water consumption while eating pellets? Is it increased?
All kind of answers, experiences, are welcome, as well as links on articles, studies, projects ....
Thank you.
Hi Tomislav,
I don't have many answers for you but just to let you know that alfalfa pellets have been used quite extensively here in Ireland this winter. We had a very wet summer and now have a fodder shortage, including cereal straw which is usually fed as a source of long fibre. Alfalfa is being used as a grass silage replacement and also a source of fibre to replace straw. It is being fed at up to 2-3kg/cow/day to dairy cows.
Generally, probably because the inclusion rate is not very high, there has been no change in milk production and/or constituent quality. Interestingly though, when it has replaced cereal straw, there has been no rise in SARA or clinical acidosis.
Sorry about all of this being anecdotal with no numbers but alfalfa is proving a suitable replacement for (grass) silage at up to 10-15% of DMI here.
Alfalfa can be fed as grazed forage, dry hay, ensiled haylage, dry cubes or dry pellets. The chemical composition of these different forms is not different, when converted to a dry matter basis. The main difference that one might observe is in the “effective fiber” of the various forms. Pellets are processed to a point that effective fiber is lower than the other forms. Cubes would be somewhat lower than grazed alfalfa, hay or haylage. The hay has to be ground or refined to a very small size to be pelleted effectively, and that reduces its ability to form a mat in the rumen. If you are using pellets, my recommendation would be to add straw from wheat, barley or oats to the diet to add some effective fiber. In milk cows, adding 1 to 2 kg per cow per day would be beneficial. This is experience from the USA in our dairy farms.
I am totally agree with the answer of Dr. Jack. Alfalfa is grazed forage. But you can used as fiber source. In sole pellet the effective fiber length may be 2 inches or sometime bit more for effective rumen fermentation by the microbes. Alfalfa with 30 concentrate pellet may be more suitable for small ruminants and for dairy cows not more than 2-3 kg per cow per day.
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