Chaff to feed for weight gain - Dengie Vs Spillers?

SWE

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One of mine is fairly new to me and needs gain a bit of weight/condition. He is on calm and condition - what chaff would you recommend to go along side that?

I was thinking either Dengie Alfa-A Oil or Spillers Alfalfa-Pro Fibre? Any experiences/recommendations of either?
 

Shay

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I've fed dengie for years - alongside A&P feeds for the last 10. But I have recently switched to Spillers. You have to balance the amount of sugar with the conditioning value of the feed. So Alpha A and Spillers conditioning fiber have the same calorific value. But the Alpha A as 10% sugar and the Spillers only 5%. (Conditioning fibre is also not an alfafa feed). It really depends on your horse and how much you are worried about sugar in feeds rather than protein.
 

TGM

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In calorie terms both the chaffs you are proposing are equal - both have digestible energy content of 12.5 MJ/kg. They also have the same sugar content of 4.5% (I think the poster above must be referring to a different product in the Alfa A range). So which one would be best for your horse is probably down to palatability.

Some people prefer not to feed alfalfa feeling it makes them fizzy or causing foot problems. If that is an issue you could look at the various grass chaffs available just as Just Grass, Readigrass, Graze On etc. They are slightly lower in calories - usually DE is 10 MJ/kg - but still more conditioning than standard chaffs. Some horses find grass chaffs more palatable than alfalfa chaffs too as alfalfa can be slightly bitter.
 

ycbm

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One of mine is fairly new to me and needs gain a bit of weight/condition. He is on calm and condition - what chaff would you recommend to go along side that?

I was thinking either Dengie Alfa-A Oil or Spillers Alfalfa-Pro Fibre? Any experiences/recommendations of either?

The trouble with chaff is, is that it's not very dense and it increases the volume. So unless you want that, or are looking to slow the horse's eating down, I would add some Tesco rapeseed oil instead.
 

Skewbaldbow

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Mine lost weight over the summer (special pony... field full of grass but mares next door more interesting...) and I started adding the Alfa-A oil to his feed and the weight came back and his condition improved with a week or two.
 

SWE

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To be honest no it doesn't need to be chaff I've just always fed chaff with a feed... Any other tips for non fizzy weight gain are more than welcome!!
 

Ben2684

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Micronised linseed every time, half a mug for condition/shine in each feed. Full mug for weight gain. Works out really cheap too. Charnwood is around 22/23 pounds a bag and I only go through two over winter :) doesn’t fizz up my rather hot headed horse either
 

Mike007

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Dengie crop dryers as they used to be known as ,have a long track record of producing quality dried grass and Lucerne. They know their business. Back in the 1970 s (when I used to buy from them )the price of oil went through the roof and most crop dryers went bust. Dengie however realised the niche market for quality chaff and did not go bust as a result. I consider the modern (and enlightened) trend towards feeding fibre is due to a great part to Dengie. Spillers are also a good reputable company and I used to buy from their old silvertown works out in the east end of London. Spillers tradition is that of a feed compounder and they simply dont have the experience that Dengie do.Market forces now demand chaff.As a result Spillers may sell chaff but I would bet that they dont grow the crops.
 

windand rain

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Emerald green feeds do alfalfa chaff which is just that grass chaff that is just grass and both in pelleted form again pure grass or alfalfa not as expensive as dengie all grown within walking distance of the driers and in sunny lincolnshire. sugars are below 10% for grass and lower for alfalfa. I use the chaffs with linseed for weight management and for growing youngsters. Mind you mine are mostly good doers now
 

Mike007

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Lincolnshire is never sunny , I did my RAF training there , Its flat all the way to SIBERIA , Its cold ,its wet , its muddy (except whgn its frozen) .Windand Rain your mere name gives the lie to your statement about "sunny Lincolnshire",Its hell on earth but I had the best time of my life there.
 

windand rain

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Lincolnshire is never sunny , I did my RAF training there , Its flat all the way to SIBERIA , Its cold ,its wet , its muddy (except whgn its frozen) .Windand Rain your mere name gives the lie to your statement about "sunny Lincolnshire",Its hell on earth but I had the best time of my life there.
Has lower rainfall than North Africa and I live in a beautiful hilly part although I will admit the south of the county is bleak in winter and very flat We have no mud at all even in this exceptionally wet weather. It is probably the one county where you get all lanscapes in one Did you ever get to Binbrook. I love it this end but not so keen on the fens not quite as bad as cambridgeshire though
 

fredflop

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Lincolnshire is never sunny , I did my RAF training there , Its flat all the way to SIBERIA , Its cold ,its wet , its muddy (except whgn its frozen) .Windand Rain your mere name gives the lie to your statement about "sunny Lincolnshire",Its hell on earth but I had the best time of my life there.

Swinderby by any chance?
 

Shay

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Sorry to hark back but just picked up this thread again. AlfaA original does have 10% sugar. Nutritional analysis here https://www.dengie.com/horse-feeds/alfa-a-range/alfa-a-original/ The Emerald green referred to above is 8 - 10% depending on which you choose. But you do have to balance that with the fact most grass based bagged products are 10 -11% sugar which broadly reflects the sugars naturally found in grass. But conditioning does not necessarily equal sugar - and certainly not a molassed chaff like alfa A (and I love Dengie and hate to have had to switch!). OP - you might consider a lower calorie chaff for bulk and then linseed for condition?
 
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