curious about beet pulp--how is it "packaged? How to feed it?

[greybeard]

This isn't beet country, but I found out today it is available somewhere in Livingston (about 40 miles north of me) and lots of people are using it to finish out show steers. I know nothing about it. Is is a sacked product or do you buy it in bulk? Do you feed it in addittion to hay and grain or is it a standalone protien and roughage product? Does it have a propensity to spoil? I understand you have to wet it somehow, but --well, just tell me how or why I would use this to feed out a couple of steers for next summer early?

 

[goodhors]

Beet Pulp is a by-product of the sugar beet industry. The beets are shredded and squeezed
with great pressure to remove the sugar. The fiber left is then dried by cooking the shreds
to make shredded beep pulp or cooked into larger pellets for pelleted beet pulp. Ours come
in 50 pound bags.

I strongly recommend feeding it wetted. The resulting beet pulp will GREATLY swell up
with the addition of water, to increase in bulk from 100% to 400% over the dried quantity. It
is AMAZING to come back and fine the WHOLE bucket full after just putting in a cup or so of the
dry product.

The shreds are usually more expensive, preferred because they are ready much faster, to
feed to the animals. Usual recommend with shreds is 1 to 1, equal amount of shreds and water,
for best results. Some folks like feeding a wetter product, so they may add more water. Like a
1 part shreds to 2 parts water. Usually 20 minutes is enough to be ready to serve to the animal.
Put your hand in the pulp, stir it around to feel for any dry or hard shreds not wet yet. Animals
get the benefit of more water to stay hydrated when eating the wetter mix. Hot water will speed
up the soaking absorbtion, animals like warm feed.

Pelleted beet pulp is at least 1 part beet pulp to 4 parts water, with more water often needed
depending on who is the maker of the pellets. You need to be able to put your hand into the
wet pulp, feel no lumps when it is ready to feed the animal. The pellets will need considerably
longer to soak to totally expand and get the lumps out. Hot water again will speed up the water
absorbtion rate, but you will probably still need a couple hours soaking to have the pulp ready to
feed the animals. Pellets are a bit more work on water ratio, since cooking them longer will dry
and harden them so they need more water to fully expand. You may have to experiment a bit
to get your timing and amount of water correct for your brand of pellets.

You can feed beet pulp alone, mixed with a bit of grain, or as a big portion of the "feed" for your animals.
I would not call it a protein product, since it is actually a forage food. It works well to balance
the calcium in alfalfa hay, since it contains phosphorus. For horses in the Midwest, this is quite
important with heavy alfalfa feeding so many use, prevents tendon problems and other issues.

Beet pulp will ferment in heat, so animal needs to eat it promptly. In cold weather that is not such
a problem. I remove it in summer after a few hours, so animals don't get sick. You can "tell by the smell"
when beet pulp is starting to go bad.

Now for some rumors. In the horse world you hear that feeding dry beet pulp will expand their
stomach to cause pain, by swelling inside the animal. I don't actually know anyone who had a
horse do this. Reading feed contents, shredded beet pulp is often a PORTION of prepared feeds.
So in SMALL amounts mixed with other things, beet shreds won't hurt the horse. I KNOW I would
be unwilling to chance my horse having stomach pains by feeding dry beet pulp pellets or shreds
alone, having it swell up inside. We PERSONALLY KNOW horses that HAVE CHOKED on dry
shreds fed alone. The shreds stick to esophogas when swallowed and then clump up thickly while
horse keeps trying to swallow until the BIG CLOT blocks the throat. Sometimes an
owner can break the clot with massage, but ususally the Vet has to come and treat the animal for choke which is
painful and messy. Often damages the throat in clearing the blockage, sometimes permanently.

There is a study done by a Vet who says the dry beet pulp feeding problem is all a big myth, since
none of her study horses had a problem. Glad she was so lucky. I see owners who get lazy, try
to feed the beet pulp dry, then have choke problems. They may get along for a WHILE feeding dry,
but then horse has issues. I am unwilling to take the chance of problems, so all our horses are
only fed wet beet pulp.

Locally the wet beet pulp is well known as a show steer "enhancement" in the diet. The steers have a
nice shine, flesh out well, seem to enjoy eating it. Even large quantities don't seem to make steer
gassy or wild. Since it is not a grain, we say there "are no brain bubbles from grain fermenting" to make
an animal stupid. Keeps both the steer and horse brains listening!

Our 4-H animals, calves, heifer, all enjoyed their wet beet pulp very much. Licked out the feed tubs.
I would recommend wet beet pulp as a feed for part of your show steer's diet. You may need to train him to
eat it, with wet texture, new flavor, not like anything he may have eaten before. Start with small
quantities, build him up to more slowly. You can probably feed the steer quite a bit with no problem,
either plain or mixed with grain or pellet feed. I am not a molasses feeder, our cattle liked this anyway.

There are both plain beet pulp products and molasses-added to beet pulp products. We have to look out
for unwanted molasses in our feed products, horses don't NEED sugar in feed, so we purchase the plain pellets.

Most folks soak their pellets over the day or over the night, so they are ready for morning or night feeding.
I feed the pellets because they are usually cheaper for the same 50 pounds, easier to store. Mice here don't seem
to bother the bags like they do sacks of grain, so buying in bulk could be a money saver. Locally, shredded
beet pulp is often unavailable when Fair season is on, all bought up for the show steers. Something to consider
if you find you prefer to use shreds over pellets. Shreds are quicker to fix, bulkier to store. May be easier to
feed with shorter soak time and local heat conditons, before fermenting starts.

 

[greybeard]

THANK YOU Goodhors for that reply!! You did something I rarely see on the internet anymore and it's one of my pet peeves on discussion boards--you answered every specific question I asked, then offered other observations and experiences. All too often, I see responders say something like "Oh--you need to look into or do this instead of that" and never answer the questions asked.

I'm going to give beet pulp a try if the cost is comparable to conventional feeds. I may have to build a new feeder for it to handle wet substances tho--I don't much like the idea of it soaking into the 2x12s of the wooden troughs I use--perhaps attracting bacteria to the residue during the heat of the day--and flies. I'll get a plastic trough from the farm supply here--that should work ok.

I understand all too well about getting animals accustomed to new tastes and even textures of feed. I bought some medicated pellets not last week for some yearlings and they ate it the first 2 days and then turned up their noses at it, while the other cattle eat them just fine. I now just mix a lttle of it in with the normal rations to get them accustomed to it. If they have it, I'll get some of both shredded pulp and pellets and see which works best for me.

No horses or mules right now, so that isn't an issue.

The swelling up part sounds a lot like some of my dog food that I use--if it happens to rain, a couple of cups of it expands 3X in volume in their food bowls. I'll have to experiment with beet pulp to "get my feet wet" with it.
Again, thanks for the detailed reply!!

 

[77Herford]

Yes, that was one of the best answers I have yet to read on this forum.

 

[Royd Wood]

Just to add that beet pulp is ok to use if your an organic operation

 

[Queen Mum]

Wow, great answer...

 

[dwbonfire]

great answers!

i also feed beet pulp to my horses and have for years. i prefer the pellets because its less money and easier to store, and i feel you get more for your money. i never thought much to feed it to my calf, but after reading this i think i will start adding some to her feed. i get a bag of timothy/alfalfa pellets and beet pulp pellets and mix them together dry and then soak overnight to feed for the morning. my horses love it. we lack pasture here so i feel that it gives them a little more green to thier diets especially since hay is not always great quality this time of year.

i mix one quart dry pellets, with probably 4-5 quarts of water (i eyeball it now) and let it sit overnight so its ready for the morning. like goodhors says, run your hands through it and feel for hard lumps, there shouldnt be any. there have been mornings i havent got to feed it out, and i will use it that night without trouble this time of year. i would possibly use it even the next morning but it depends how it looked and smelled. during the summer i feed it out when i plan to and dont let it sit because it starts to smell sour, you will definetly notice it.

heres a quick question to add - where i mix my beet pulp with timothy/alfalfa pellets, it wont bother my calf would it? and can i feed this to my sheep and goat too?

 

[Queen Mum]

I asked the same question after reading this thread...
This is the answer I got.

It wasn't as comprehensive and clear as the one above, but it did help give me some info about feeding pellets to goats. It seems goat people feed beet pulp pellets dry. I think I would soak mine.

 

[Annamarierw]

I asked the same question after reading this thread...
This is the answer I got.

It wasn't as comprehensive and clear as the one above, but it did help give me some info about feeding pellets to goats. It seems goat people feed beet pulp pellets dry. I think I would soak mine.

I have used beet pulp for years! for my horses and goats...
I soak mine. They get used to the texture after a while. plus the goats love the warm feed. I also add just a bit of molasses to the prego and nursing does mix but NOT horses. It seems to give a little boost to struggling mothers who have had everything drained by kidding.
Also we have very little pasture and the Alfalfa is really rich here, makes them very gassy... the beet pulp seems to calm down the Alfalfa in their stomach.

 

[kelsey2017]

I agree that was a nice response from someone who knows what they are talking about! Thanks for putting that out there. I am a fan of the beet pulp too. I bought my horse about 200 pounds underweight and fed wet beet pulp shreds, a weight supplement and a drizzle of molasses to him over the winter and he gained nicely. My gelding also has stomach ulcers so I can't feed much sweet feed, but a little mixed in a big tub with the beet shreds he thought he was getting a feast! I bet it would work great for other animals. It is a nice feed, it is so dry it is hard to spoil if kept properly and I don't think it really 'expires' so you can stock up. I used both shreds and pellets. I did not like how long the pellets took to get the lumps out and having seen what choke was like on a friend of mines horse, I only used one bag before I decided to stick with shreds.

Just to add that beet pulp is ok to use if your an organic operation

Is that still true if it is Monsanto round up ready sugar beet? I know they were using that seed here in MN. It is genetically modified to with stand spraying so I would doubt it is organic.