Would anyone out there interested in feeding hay cubes to your horses ILO hay? We are looking at getting a 40' container shipped up from Washington state filled with GREAT quality alfalfa hay cubes from Eckenberg Farms ... but would like to get an idea or feeling from people to see if they would feed their horses cubes BEFORE we spend the money and have something like this shipped up. The cubes will be bagged individually, and each bag weighs 66 lbs. You could buy as many or as little as you wanted. Haven't exactly come up w/ a figure yet as to what would be looking at selling them for - but they would definently be reasonable for what you are getting. There's a few pictures below of the cube product and a pallet of bags. These are not your typical hay cubes that are hard as a rock ... these are beautiful green color, SOFT (you can break them apart w/ your bare hands), these are REALLY nice quality cubes and I've had my horses on them for YEARS and they do GREAT. I've included some additional information about the Eckenberg Farms and the # 1 cube product that we would be purchasing and importing into Alaska as well as some information regarding cubes in general, feeding, and pro/cons of feeding hay cubes. Please email me and let me know if you would be interested in something like this. We'd be looking at our first shippment to arrive in Alaska towards the middle to end of August. INFORMATION ABOUT ECKENBERG FARMS: Website is www.eckenbergfarms.com Eckenberg Farms is one of world's largest producers of hay cubes. We supply premium quality hay cubes, compressed hay bales and a wide range of other premium forage products to customers around the world. We welcome the opportunity to tell you about our company, its history, its products and its dedicated employees who have made the name Eckenberg synonymous with quality for over 38 years. Quality is number 1 at Eckenberg Farms. From the farm to the final product, Eckenberg Farms' rigid quality control ensures consistently high quality and high standards of safety. Metal detectors and magnets are strategically located at every step of our production to ensure only pure, high-grade product is delivered to our customers. Eckenberg Farms specializes in the production of alfalfa, timothy, and mixed grass hay cubes. Our production facilities produce over 100,00 metric tons of hay cubes per year. This year, 2001, we have installed a state-of-the-art hay compressor with the capability to produce 20 metric tons of export bales per hour. Farming is the foundation Eckenberg Farms' success. Starting on 150 acres in 1963, we now farm over 3,000 acres (1,214 hectares) of prime alfalfa and timothy land in the Columbia River basin, east of the Cascade Mountains range in Washington state. We also source hay from a stable group of dedicated growers located in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana, farming over 15,000 acres (6,070 hectares). The mutual respect and cooperation between our suppliers and Eckenberg Farms is key to delivering consistent quality to our customers. We work closely with our farmers to grow clean, high quality alfalfa and other forages that meet our customer's exacting requirements. INFORMATION ABOUT THE No.1 CUBE PRODUCT BEING SHIPPED IN: Eckenberg hay cubes have set the industry standard for quality and consistency for decades. Few competitors are able to duplicate our No.1 grade hay cubes that contain no fillers or additives whatsoever. Eckenberg No.1’s are pure alfalfa ensuring the highest standard of relative food value, fiber and protein. We also make a No.1-A that has a harder jacket and is suitable for grinding, producing uniform flakes for mixing with oats and other forage materials. Identical to our No.1 in all other respects, the Eckenberg No.1-A contains approximately 3% bentonite to achieve the hardness desired by these kinds of users. Eckenberg makes a variety of other specialty cubes that maintain our high quality standards. The Eckenberg #1 cube sets the standard for quality in the industry. This is our premium cube made of pure alfalfa with no binders whatsoever. The Eckenberg #1 is green, soft and high in fiber and nutrients. Fractured field cube-type jacket, Generous fiber length, Average over 18% in protein . INFORMATION ABOUT FEEDING HORSE HAY CUBES: Hay alternatives include, clockwise from left, chaf, cubes, chopped, pellets. Horse hay cubes are actually made of horse hay that’s been cut into small pieces then compressed. Anything added, such as molasses or oil, will appear on the label. Some people are afraid if they use horse hay cubes they won’t be able to see what’s in them, but horse hay cubes aren’t like pellets. The horse hay isn’t finely ground like it is for pellets, it’s only cut/chopped so you see what’s in there. Evaluate the quality of horse hay cubes in much the same way you do hays. They should have a nice green color and a fresh, appealing aroma. Some horse hay cubes are harder and more densely packed than others, so you may need to check the products of different manufacturers to find one your horse accepts well. The cubes manufacturers will also be able to provide you with average analysis figures on their cubes, information like protein, digestible energy (calories) and important minerals. When substituting cubes for hay, start by feeding 75 to 80% as much cubes as you were hay, by weight. Adjust up or down depending on the horse’s body condition. As with any feed change, make the substitution gradually. Use cubes to replace part of all of a poor-quality hay, or to stretch a limited supply of good hay. Cubes are much simpler to use away from home, but if you plan to do this, make sure the horse has been getting at least 25% of his forage ration as cubes before you leave, to avoid digestive upset. Hay cubes have advantages: • Nutritional value: Quality cubes are made from hays cut at their peak feeding value. • Hypoallergenic: Cubes are much lower in dust and mold spores than baled hays. • Shelf life: Because of their low moisture content, low mold content and that they’re bagged, cubes hold nutritional value longer. • Storage: Cubes take up much less space than baled hay and are easier to travel with. • Chewing problems: Horses that can’t effectively chew long-stem hay may do just fine with cubes, and cubes can easily be soaked to a mash for horses that have trouble with them dry. • Digestibility: For hays to be effectively fermented by the organisms in the hind gut, they have to be present in short pieces, which provide more surface area for the organisms to "attack." Starting with the short pieces already in the cubes gives you a jump start on digestibility. Cubes may also be lower in nondigestible fibers. • Less waste: Horses fed loose hay free choice will waste anywhere from 10 to 25% of it under foot. • Consistency: The bag-to-bag consistency of hay cubes are usually superior to load-to-load consistency from a hay dealer. This is because hay appropriate for cubing is usually cut at the same growth stage each time, and manufacturers either maintain their own fields or buy from the same sources. This can be important for horses prone to gut upset with diet changes. Disadvantages include: • Chew time: Some horses become bored when fed only cubes and will take to wood chewing to amuse themselves. To minimize this in these problem horses, provide some hay between cube feedings. Even if the horse can’t chew well, he’ll keep himself occupied trying to do so. • Choke: Choke is usually more of a problem with pelleted hays, which can be bolted down with next to no chewing at all. Older horses that don’t chew thoroughly, aren’t producing a normal amount of saliva, or have swallowing problems or abnormal motility in their esophagus could have problems with cubes but would also have problems with loose hay. Soaking the forage is a good idea for any horse with a history of choke, whether feeding cubes or loose hay. Location: Big Lake/Willow it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests alaska