AlfaAlfa vs Chaff

[myhorseisginger]

Can you feed Alfa Alfa as an alternative forage to chaff?

Is there any benefits / disadvantages?

Thanks :D

[eventerbabe]

alfalfa IS chaff! a product such as dengie alfa-a is alfalfa based, hifi is part alfalfa part oat straw. Baileys do an alfalfa blend and a separate oat straw blend. D&H fibergy is also alfalfa based with some other bits and bobs in there. The mollichaffs are all blends of straws and alfalfa.

I stick with an alfalfa blend/all oat straw as i've had problems with alfalfa (alfa-a to be exact) hotting mine up. Was like rocket fuel to my pony :rolleyes: You can use a product such as hifi lite as a hay replacer

Hi-Fi LITE can also be fed as a hay replacer. Naturally lower in sugar than hay, Hi-Fi LITE can be fed, on a weight for weight basis, as a low sugar alternative to hay or haylage.

[MelanieD]

There's varying amount of alfalfa/straw/chopped hay in chaffs. Some are all alfalfa but you can also get some with no alfalfa in. Alfalfa chaffs have more protein and are better for keeping weight on but some horses can be sensitive to alfalfa either getting silly on it or having hoof problems. I have two of those so make a point of always buying chaffs with no alfalfa in at all but a lot of horses do really well on alfalfa so it can be good stuff.

[myhorseisginger]

Hiya thanks for the answers, sorry i did know that Alfa is a type of chaff (didn't word it very well!)

Currently using chaff but with a handful or Alfa too (it's the Dengie one) but was thinking about upping the alfa ration as she needs to put on some condition before winter.

Thanks for the info tho! She's had a bit of Alfa in her feed for a while now so dont think it'll affect her fizzy levels!

x

[Konch]

Try some FibreBeet. Its great for adding condition over the winter months :D

[myhorseisginger]

She currently has:

1 soaked scoop of Calm and Condition
3 Cups of Saracan Bio Life 2000 (For conditioning - this will go down to 1-2 cups in a couple of weeks)
1 scoop normal chaff
1 Scoop of sugar beet
Glug of vegetable oil
Joint Supplement
+ carrots / Apples / Parsnips or whatever!

This Saracen biolife is split over a couple of feeds (Usually has 1.5 cups in the morning with a bit of chaff and then a bigger feed in the evening)

She was very skinny when I got her 6 weeks ago but is putting it on slowly now which is good -the weigh tape is showing that we're getting results! X

[MelanieD]

Most normal chaffs are pretty low energy and mostly added to feeds to increase chewing and stop them slurping it all down quickly. So you could easily change the plain chaff for an alfalfa chaff if you want more weight gain. It'd still work as a chaff to chew on but would have higher protein and be better for weight gain than normal chaff.

[myhorseisginger]

Most normal chaffs are pretty low energy and mostly added to feeds to increase chewing and stop them slurping it all down quickly. So you could easily change the plain chaff for an alfalfa chaff if you want more weight gain. It'd still work as a chaff to chew on but would have higher protein and be better for weight gain than normal chaff.

Thanks Melanie - that is exactly what I wanted to hear!

Cheers all x

[Joyscarer]

If you have a look on the dendie site there is a page you can go on to decide what chaff is best for your horse.

I have Joy on Hi Fi Lite at the mo but would move down to the Good Doer stuff if she was too fat or up to Hi Fi Original or Alpha A Lite if I needed to. All done gradually of course :)

[hackedoff]

@OP- I no longer feed Alfalfa to my gelding as it made him agressive, poss due to being high protein...? Anyway, that was the disadvantage to me!