mule feed

[papa]

Just wondering what all of you muleskinners feed when mules are working hard and when they are just standing around.

[pegleg]

i thought it was the proverbial pound of flesh

[Big Mike]

Mules keep just fine on straight grass even with when your hunting. I like a grass/alfalfa mix is the best.

I feed straight alfalfa in the winter when im riding alot. If I feed straight alfalfa when im not hunting or riding they start to get a little groofy with too much energy. You will just have to judge on how your mules act. I dont grain unless im going to be riding the same mule for multiple days in a row.

When im not hunting or using them I keep keep a big round bale of grass so they can eat all they want keeps them looking good and dont get too goofy

[Machias]

Mine get straight grass no alfalfa at all. They get a carrot or two most every day or a half an apple but that is it. Mules do not do well on prosperity. Too much energy and you start to have behavior issues, kind of like the perverbial hyper active kid on sugar.

[lmorgan]

I feed mine two coffee cans of sweet feed a day (the cheapest I can find) and all the briars and weeds he can eat. He stays just fine that way.

[Benny G]

Mine get all the open pasture they can stand, and when I am riding them they get mediocre alfalfa (and not much of that). Nothing else ever, except for the occational horse candy treat just so they know I care!

[Cowboyvon]

They eat the same as my horses which is alfalfa.. not as much but still pretty good quality. I wish I could feed more grass hay but its just not available down here.. When I'm hunting and putting the miles on them I always give them oats..... now thats my mules of the horses I ride all are individuals and require different feed.. some I have to grain and and some if they even walked by a can a grain you spent more time trying to ride them down then training or using them... just like dogs some are easy keepers...

[Arkansas Frog]

we [me aND MY BROTHER] had team roping horses[Joe Reed,Hancook] and we didn't feed them to much Alfalfa because we were afraid it would burn their kidneys,

We found a mill that made a steer mix and we gave them a few ozs of Linseed meal to slick them out in the spring. if you fed that Joe Reed Bred horse steer mix and didn't work him every day or night he would do a little dance every morning.

[catdogs]

Mine eat grass all year. No sweet feeds or alfalfa for my stock (unless its the cubes, when I am running pack trips). Horses and mules cannot process sugar, so sweet feeds are a waste of money and most horses don't work hard enough to warrant anything over 15% protein. In the winter, I kick my heard out. If we have a bad winter, I'll bring a few of the horses in about February and feed them grass hay til Spring. The mules and the rest of my horses live on snowballs and rabbit tracks an do just fine all winter long.

[Brady Davis]