Crushing alfalfa pellets to make crumbles

[Stacie]

Anybody done this? What was the easiest way.
Barley mills for brewing look interesting....

[Scaramouch]

I've never heard of this. Why would you want/need to crush them? I soak mine until they've pretty much fallen apart, anyway...

[tarynls]

I add water and within 5 minutes or so, the pellets have soaked up the water and are nice & fluffy. Maybe that's an option for you?

[Stacie]

I want to make crumbles to mix with some oil and powdered stuff. The pellets are too big and smooth.

[DMK]

you might want to see if they carry more than one brand of alfalfa pellet - the brand I use is normal pellet sized (I mostly feed it because it's a good "soaker" for oil)

[Stacie]

These are 1/4 inch by about an inch. Not too big, but definitely not the same size as pelleted feed.
I considered using rabbit sized alfalfa pellets but I'm concerned about the quality.
I really like the pellets that I use (alfa-green)

[tarynls]

In that case, I think I'd put the pellets in a heavy-duty freezer Ziploc bag or construction trash bag (depending on the amount you wanted to crush at one time) and have at it with a sledgehammer (or maybe a rubber mallet would be strong enough?).

You'd have to replace the bags periodically as they will get pretty beat up...but your pellets will be crushed!

[fourmares]

Food processer ought to do the trick. Personally I'd add the oil, powdery stuff and some water to the pellets and let it soak about 15 minutes, give it a stir (or not) and serve... this time of year I'd use hot water.

[M. O'Connor]

I can't think of any method to crush them efficiently and quickly. Pellets are pressure treated, and hard to crack. If they weren't, they'd fall apart and be dusty long before they ever reached the warehouse.

I'm not wild about giving horses 'crumbles' unless they are on top of something they will stick to...to many horses leave them in the bottom of the tub, or, one sneeze, and the stuff is GONE without being eaten.

Soak them is a better way to go. Hot water will work more quickly--depending on how much oil you are using, that counts as 'soaking' liquid.