Beet pulp pellets?

[hihobaron]

the pre-soaking comes from feeding beet pulp to horses. If you go ahead and pre-soak a handfull of pulp in a bucket you can observe how much volume it gathers from soaking.

This isn't that much alarming in ruminants as their stomachs are larger than that of a horse. In a horse this can be a death sentence.

BUT if your goat is a greedy eater, it's possible that it won't chew the pulp well enough and the pellets get stuck in the oesophagus and soak = expand there. That isn't fun for the goat, for you because you have to get a vet out and can also threaten the live of the goat because the rumen gases can't be expelled = rumen expands, presses on the diaphragm and heart, in severe cases suffocation the goat from within.

Hello All
#1 There are lot of misconceptions about beet pulp in any form around including old wives tales that are considered Gospel.
I will go into this based on my experience over several years using BP in horses.
Old Days: It was considered as a warm mash for colicky horses  or for use after colic surgery to keep moisture and fluid's in the gut.
Was though to be a "Bulking" feed with little nutritional value.
It was considered deadly to feed dry because it would pull all the water from the gut and cause colic.
There are more and some I have even had vet support to old wives tales.
Sanhester: IT Will bloat them up is one of old wives tails and rupture a gut.  They will go for water and get the runs to blow it out the other end before pressure will cause a gut rupture.
Moving on:
Look up BP on line and the verified research on it.
You will find the following and more, I am just hitting the high points here.
Fed dry it can cause digestive problems, IF the animal dose not have good water supply. As long as animal has access to good water supply the animal supplements itself with the water there will be no problem. Shreds can irritate mucous membranes when fed dry. YES
Along this line I firmly believe in BP Shreds and use them every day in a mash configuration, They only take 10-15 minutes to soak up the water needed to hydrate them. I use DE in my feed  2X daily the BP mash keeps the dust hazard down with out having any molasses in the other feed components. As to BP pellets they need to be soaked over night They are a more compact way to carry BP but I will not feed them dry. Sanhestar has the Choke situation 100% right there and to expand on Choke. Horses and Goats will do the same thing when fed any kind Pelleted Feed. 
There is actually feed value in BP especially for ruminate animals because of the efficiency of the way they digest "Cellulose" that is most of BP.
BP can be used as a hay supplement at up to 65% of the animals diet ( In times of hay Shortage for example)
I used to never think about BP as a valuable feed in horses or goats.
After working with Arabian horses in Endurance Racing, (Were I learned most of the advantages of BP) then in Afghanistan and ever since then BP (Shreds) are / will as a mash be in my animals diets.  I feed the "Unsweetened" variety of shreds and I have not had a colic case in 10 years even in times of extreme stress.
My 2 goats are constantly in the feed pans stealing from the horses BP soaked mash .  
They get their own feed before I feed horses and still want the BP mash from the horses pans. 
MY 2 cents worth YES feed BP "Shreds" wet,  Never feed BP "Pellets" dry Put them on to soak the night before feed in morning then refresh add water let soak all day them feed as a mash with any other feed components you want.
For all of you Cold Wet weather people up in the North West a "Warm BP MASH " will help your outside goats endure wet cold weather.
Even if you don't feed BP ,keep some around for making a mash (warm) in cold weather for that goat that is "A little" off.
In the above case I would use the "Sweet" type it is still a very dry product mix with warm water and some normal feed it will perk up your animal, make them feel better , OR tell you have a Major problem.


Happy Trails
hihobaron