Chaff

[Loopy_Laura]

Which one gets your vote?

This is for a 15.2 idx mare who is going in to spring on the fat side.
Have cut out all concentrates and she currently gets half a scoop of alfa a, plus a top spec vit and min supplement.
Something low in molasses as she can be on the exitable side!

Thank!
:)

[puzzles]

ooh, v interesting!
Dengie - and all of them!
i would use no other, thought they're all much more than a chaff of course.

[sheryl]

I use Graze-On. It is just pure dried grass, and no mollasses at all;)

[alwaysfallingof]

If you're feeding only alfa-a and vits, why do you need a chaff? Is it to just bulk it out a bit?
You could switch your alfa-a to alfa-a lite?

[Loopy_Laura]

Sorry alwaysfallingoff, what i mean is that she is currently on alfa-a, but im looking to switch her onto a different chaff with less calories for the spring.
The reason she has it is to put supplements in, and so she feels like shes had tea, even if its only a very little one!

[iluvpin]

hey

how about changing from the alfa - a original to the alfa a lite or even high fi light, as these both have fewer calories.

hope this helps

lozzie an pinxx

[eventerbabe]

i'd try hi-fi lite if i were you, non-mollassed and perfect for good doers. there is an oat straw chaff by honeychop that may also be worth trying
http://www.honeychop.com/htm/chopped_oat_straw.htm

[puzzles]

ditto, and it is approved by the Laminitis Trust. it's a fab, nutritious feed.
x

[fatponee]

I've used Dodson & Horrell Fibergy for years. Great stuff!

[puzzles]

isn't fibergy molassed, or isn't it?

[martini55]

Another vote for hi-fi lite

[fatponee]

Nope Fibergy isn't molassed and it's approved by the Laminitis Trust too!

[eventerbabe]

just to go a little O/T here, but i feel it's relevant. Approval by the laminitis trust really does mean nothing. Happy Hoof is approved by the laminitis trust but i'd never in a million years feed it to a laminitic because of it's shockingly high sugar content. Best thing to do is read the bags for yourself. If you are looking for less energy, look for a chaff with a low sugar/no coating and one that's a mix of alfalfa and oat straw, as hi-fi is and also fibergy (web site states it's an alfalfa/oat straw mix with lo sugar coating). Hope you find something to suit your mare :)

[coss]

i have used happy hoof in the past but it was out of stock last time i went so bought hi fi lite. it doesn't soak up water like the happy hoof (i like it to but thats personal preference) but the horses seem happy enough eating it.

[Bebe]

Echo Eventerbabe on the laminitis trust approval, it means diddly squat as far as I can work out and is just a nice marketing tool.

If you're looking purely for low calories, the two lowest energy chaffs I've found are Spillers Happy Dieter (molassed but not heavily) and Dengie Good Doer (has molasses extract) at 7mj/kg. Simple Systems have a grass chaff called Ruffstuff that is 7.5mj/kg that doesn't contain any additives but my mare won't eat it.

My mare is a good doer and I've recently switched her back to Graze On (Just Grass and Readigrass as pretty similar, I just use whichever I can get at the feed shop. None are molassed). Whilst they are relatively high energy they are also very, very light and an entire scoop weighs very little so when compared scoop for scoop with the molassed chaffs you actually feed less, so fewer calories. The dried grass products also swell up hugely when damped with water so my mares double handful (I have tiny hands!) becomes a bucketful after a couple of hours soaking, so she thinks she's getting more.

[michelle c]

i use dengie hi-fi light, and economy cubes for my mare all year round and in winter add a vitamin and mineral suplament as she lives out!!:)

[alwaysfallingof]

Sorry alwaysfallingoff, what i mean is that she is currently on alfa-a, but im looking to switch her onto a different chaff with less calories for the spring.
The reason she has it is to put supplements in, and so she feels like shes had tea, even if its only a very little one!

:o Got you, sorry:o

Maxi liked his alfa-a lite, but if hifi lite has a lower alfalfa content then it probably has even fewer calories.