Will this be ok? Alfalfa

[Sillymoose]

My horse is getting on the truck tonight to travel back across the country but I totally forgot that I need to send him with a bale of hay. Our BO feeds from round bales so he doesn't have any that I could buy so I went to the feed store but they only had alfalfa. My gelding is on a grass/alfalfa mix but was also on about a scoop of alfalfa cubes (soaked) twice daily up until a little less than a week ago. So I went ahead and bought the bale but now I'm starting to question it. Will it be safe for him to go straight into eating this bale of alfalfa without a transition? Does it help that he's on an alfalfa mix and has been eating the alfalfa cubes? He did eat straight alfalfa at our previous barn and did fine with very little transition there. I'm still a newbie to feeding alfalfa so any advice would be great. Thanks.

[Painted Horse]

I suspect he will be fine. You are not changing his diet by 100%. Since he is already eating alfalfa in his current hay mix. He has the microbs in his gut to digest it.

He may be a little hotter fro the richer feed. he may get a loose stool from the richer feed. But I don't think he will colic and die.

I like to feed grass hay in the warmer months, But it's very hard to buy certified weed free grass hay, So when ever I go camping my horses get alfalfa. And so far they have done just fine with the changes of feed.

Every horse is different. so your results may vary. But since you are already giving him cubes and hay with alfalfa, your probably OK.

good luck

[Tangerine Farmer]

I buy alfalfa, but if the feed store has a nice batch of grassy alfalfa for less, I'll get that instead. I've never had problems switching back and forth. I would say that as long as it's something currently in their system it will be fine.

[dainty do]

I second painted horse. Some horses are sensitive to alfalfa, but most are not. It has more protein and carbs, and can make horses "hot". But it sounds like your horse isn't sensitive. Your horse will probably really enjoy his alfalfa. If you could have someone keep an eye on him during the transition, it wouldn't hurt though.