Alfa A- alternatives?

diggerbez

diggerbez

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after reading on another post that alfa a sends some horses loopy thought it might be worth swapping what my horse has. i actually think its nothing to do with feeding and more to do with boredom and being too fit... what laternatives can i try? he has bailey's lo cal so just needs some chop to bulk his feed out a bit.... :)
 
If all you want is a chaff then Good Doer is an excellent alternative. If you are feeding the alfa a for the alfalfa content(as I do) then either another alfa chop brand, or, as I'm considering, alfa nuts which I'll soak.:)
 
sleepingdragon10 said:
If all you want is a chaff then Good Doer is an excellent alternative. If you are feeding the alfa a for the alfalfa content(as I do) then either another alfa chop brand, or, as I'm considering, alfa nuts which I'll soak.:)
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i don't know why i feed it.... thats really bad isn't it :o when the bailey's rep sorted my feed out for me she said to mix the lo cal with some chop... what benefit does alfalfa have?
 
diggerbez said:
i don't know why i feed it.... thats really bad isn't it :o when the bailey's rep sorted my feed out for me she said to mix the lo cal with some chop... what benefit does alfalfa have?
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As I understand it:

IMVVVVVVHO Alfalfa is like chaff in terms of roughage/bulking up feed but it is good for hooves and if you want to condition Alfa A oil is better than molichaff or similar as it has less sugar content and therefore imho less likely to send horses loopy. It is also a good source of protein and a better calcium:phosphorous ratio. :)

Feel free to call me on this anyone, but this is what I have been told by v knowledgable people and wouldn't go back to chaff. I mean no offence by this but why do you want to swap just because you've heard it sends some horses loopy - if your horse is happy on it why change?? :confused:
 
MerryMAL said:
As I understand it:

IMVVVVVVHO Alfalfa is like chaff in terms of roughage/bulking up feed but it is good for hooves and if you want to condition Alfa A oil is better than molichaff or similar as it has less sugar content and therefore imho less likely to send horses loopy. It is also a good source of protein and a better calcium:phosphorous ratio. :)

Feel free to call me on this anyone, but this is what I have been told by v knowledgable people and wouldn't go back to chaff. I mean no offence by this but why do you want to swap just because you've heard it sends some horses loopy - if your horse is happy on it why change?? :confused:
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well because he is quite loopy and thought it might be worth trying something else! will ring the feed people and ask them :)
 
Have you tried alfa-a molasses free? That may be worth a try... If not, my lad does v well on hi fi original (have just bought a bag of molasses free and have been v impressed with the quality, it seems far nicer than standard hi fi IMO). If you want no sugar at all then hi fi lite could be an option, although they've just started to add a vanilla type smell which may put some fussy eaters off.
 
I have my mare on Dodson and Horrel Just Grass. It's an excellent chaff, very palatable. not at all dusty, no added sugar just a simple straight forward blend of a few varieties of grass. Also only £8.79 per bag and a bag lasts us over a month with her having 2½ scoops a day of it. I switched her from Alfa A last Summer as her skin flares up with alfa a.
 
I currently feed top spec top chop lite, instead of high-fi etc. Both seem to really like it, and one wouldn't touch the high-fi lite alternative. Would definitely recommend getting nutritional advice from the feed companies, they can recommend what might be best for you.
 
I can't feed Chrissey Alfa A she goes nuts on it, gets strong and stressy (yep chriss stressy!!)..so she gets a bog standard chaff (and not a lot), its cheap as chips.. gets everything else she needs from the hard feed Mix,nuts ect...
 
LEC said:
I love this stuff.
http://www.horsehage.co.uk/MC-ShowShine.html

I gave up with Alfa A as thought it was too expensive and some bags were good and some very average in quality. I just wanted to feed as much fibre as I could and the horses all look great on it.
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Me too!

I used to use Alfa A but I spoke with the staff at a molichaff stand at Badminton a few years ago and got a load of samples to try. I have never turned back. It does work out cheaper aswell if that is a factor.
 
charliesarmy said:
I can't feed Chrissey Alfa A she goes nuts on it, gets strong and stressy (yep chriss stressy!!)..so she gets a bog standard chaff (and not a lot), its cheap as chips.. gets everything else she needs from the hard feed Mix,nuts ect...
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well technically he should be getting everything from the lo cal shouldn't he- thats why they said to give him that in the first place. have half a bag of alfa a left- will just get some chaff next time and see what happens :)
 
Top spec is good I have the one with soya oil and mint very pakatable and big thick stalks.

I also have used mollichaff hi fibre alfalfa again it has mint in it and the guys loved it.

I mix this with normal mollichop alphalfa nuts and pony nuts as one of my guys is cereal intolerant (only two types of cubes he can have) and hes kept the weight on brilliant this year, he normally a hat rack and hes 20 so even better.
 
I have looked into this in great detail as my mare was really hyper on alfalfa. I needed to source an alfalfa free chaff which is quite difficult! Alfalfa isn't a grass it's a member of the bean family so is actually a pulse. I have since found out that some horses that were taken off alfalfa no longer suffered from mud fever! I tried Badminton Easy Rider but she wouldn't eat it. She is now on Dodson & Horrell Safe & Sound. No alfalfa in it and less spooky stressy mare:)
 
Do you need condition from your chaff, or are you just feeding it as roughage with the rest of the feed?

If you are after condition then I would go for alpha a oil (no molasses, but long fibre with the addition of oil). If you don't need condition then I would go for a no molasses, very lightly oiled chaff - topspec top chop lite / hifi molasses free / badmington alpha lite. They all have some mint in too which seems to make it v tasty! Though if your horse is used to a molassed feed then they might turn their nose up for a couple of days at the new 'health feed'!! Persevere and I'm sure they'll eat up asap. Mine is a fussy thing and loves these lite chaffs (and she had a v sweet tooth thanks to biscuits as treats from last owner!!).

Either way I would avoid the molassed chaffs - you are not giving your horse anything helpful in the additional sugar, and a horse sensitive to it will show though behaviour and a reduction in hoof quality (amongst other things!). For that reason I wouldn't touch mollichaff with a 10ft barge pole!!! Energy (if needed either for working or maintaining weight) from oil tends to avoid silly behaviour and doesn't have the side affects artificial sugar does.
 
ThePony said:
Either way I would avoid the molassed chaffs - you are not giving your horse anything helpful in the additional sugar, and a horse sensitive to it will show though behaviour and a reduction in hoof quality (amongst other things!). For that reason I wouldn't touch mollichaff with a 10ft barge pole!!! Energy (if needed either for working or maintaining weight) from oil tends to avoid silly behaviour and doesn't have the side affects artificial sugar does.
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MolliCHAFF and MoliCHOP are two entirely different brands of feed, one of which has mollases (molichop) and one of which does not and is extremely good for horses you do not wish to feed mollases to (mollichaff).

Molichop: http://www.youngsanimalfeeds.co.uk/index.php?content=sm_original

Mollichaff: http://www.horsehage.co.uk/MC-Original.html

The mollichaff high fibre alfalfa is particularly good as totally unmollased - identical to topchop lite but about £2 a bag cheaper.
 
SpottedCat said:
MolliCHAFF and MoliCHOP are two entirely different brands of feed, one of which has mollases (molichop) and one of which does not and is extremely good for horses you do not wish to feed mollases to (mollichaff).

Molichop: http://www.youngsanimalfeeds.co.uk/index.php?content=sm_original

Mollichaff: http://www.horsehage.co.uk/MC-Original.html

The mollichaff high fibre alfalfa is particularly good as totally unmollased - identical to topchop lite but about £2 a bag cheaper.
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You're right, I did mean mollichop! Though all the mollichaff chaffs contain varying amounts of molasses apart from the high fibre alfafa. Calling it a 'low sugar dressing' doesn't change what it is!
Thanks for the heads up about the £ of it - my mare is a mentalist on additional sugars so am always on the look out for diff options!
 
I had to change Madam from Alfa A as she was a fruit loop on it. She is on Molichaff Calmer now, as it's complete, and high oil/fibre. She seems to quite like it, and although crazy, isn't QUITE as crazy as she was... Winergy Low suited her the best of every feed, but was very ££ :(
 
Kat have you had a look at Pure Feed company? I changed both mine over to Pure Easy about a month ago, and think it is a super feed. I did it as topspec+speedibeet+mollichaff high fibre = £££.

The Pure Feed company stuff has balancer in it, and I am feeding it at slightly below recommended rates, and so far it's been super.
 
Another one here for dodson and horrell Just Grass. My horse is alfa a intolerant(makes him come out in hives) he loves the Just grass and it has kept his condition on nicely and the big bag lasts ages ! Also tried fast fibre by Allen & page but he wasn't keen on it so have changed him to soft n soak fibre mash which he also loves.
 
Diggerbez I feed lo-cal too, it does contain everything they need so chaff is added just to slow them from gobbling it up in one mouthful! I mix it up with a bit of HIFI, veg oil and salt. The HiFi is less sugar then some other traditional straw and molasses blends and it's just a basic chaff to bulk out the ration, yes it has Alfa in it but hardly any! Not in any amounts to make any difference, especially if you are just using a couple handfuls.
I swapped mine from his winter chaff of Alfa A to HIFI a few weeks ago as the spring grass is about to hit and he doesn't need the Alfa. He's fine on it as I expected he would be :)
 
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