Alfa-A No Molasses feed advice

[golddustsara]

Anyone use this to good effect?

I have a rising 5yo connie who lacks a bit of sparkle despite being fittened up (lots of hills round here!) and professionally schooled reguarly. He's on Hi-Fi and Spillers H&P cubes, but was previously on Alfa-A oil before I bought him.

His weight is fine, he is looking a little weedy but is still growing and work will sort that out.

I wanted to give him more energy, without too much sugar or starch as he is a native type. Would Alfa-A No Molasses give him that little bit more energy (It's 11.5MJ of energy rather than Hi-Fi's 7), without pumping him full of sugar?

 

[Shipley]

I have fed it, my horse goes a bit fizzy on molasses its a good feed but i dont think it will be much different i would ring dengie they are fantastic at giving help.

 

[PennyJ]

Can I be helpful and point out to you that Alfa A Oil is unmolassed too. I feed it to mine (NF Ponies), and have never felt the need to change to the newer product.

 

[horseyman]

In measuring energy or calories (MJ/KG) you should split it into two parts, slow release energy and quick release energy. Fibrous materials, hay, haylage, chaffs & alfalfa based chaffs (the dengie range) are all slow release energy, where they are digested in the hindgut, so may not necessarily give you that extra 'sparkle' that you require. Most compound feeds that are cereal based will be quick release energy and are digested in the foregut, and therefore may help in achieving that extra sparkle that you desire.

I would be a little concerned with your ponies diet in two cases. First, the level of protein that your pony is getting, and secondly the mineral levels.
With a youngster you are quite right to give a feed with a low energy value, we wouldn't want them becoming to excitable! But then you tend to sacrifice the protein levels by doing so, and if you don't feed the required amount of your compound feed (H&P cubes in this case) then your pony will not be getting the required mineral levels. Most feeds (unless a balancer of some sort or form) will require you to feed around 1-2kg per day for a pony of your size.

Depending on the size of your pony, but for his age you would want him to be getting around 800g of protein per day to support musculo-skeletal development, and the correct balance of minerals. You can work out the rough grams fed per day, just let me know about your forage type and quantities, and the amount of compound feed you feed.

I wouldn't worry about the sugar & starch element at all, as long as you manage his diet accordingly. What forage is he on and how much?

I would recommend two simple easy diets:

An Alfalfa Chaff (Dengie Alfa-A Original) - For the protein
A highly concentrated competition feed, for the 'sparkle' and the mins and vits.

Or

An Alfalfa Chaff - For the protein
A quick release energy or competition feed fed in small quantities to provide your sparkle that you require
A feed balancer or powder for the minerals and vitamins.

With a native, let the forage do most of the work, in terms of calorie consumption and then just let your hard feed complement it.

Hope that helps

 

[Tr0uble]

I feed my two on Alfa A Molasses free, they were previously on Alfa A Oil.

I changed because he molasses free has the oil, and also fenugreek seeds and mint, whch are exv=cellent support for condition and digestion.

This also has some of the Alfalfa in pellet form so there is some added crunch, which the boys like and previously didnt get.

They both look very well on it, and from my supplier the molasses free is cheaper than the original range, and a bag lasts my 2 for 4-5 days longer as I need to feed less of it.