Chaff

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GreyConnemara

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Never venture in here, so hello to those that don't know me!
I was just wondering, most people I know add chaff in their horses' feeds, but I don't, should I (I know it has no significant nutritional value)? Pony is currently being fed around 1 scoop of Badminton All in One Muesli Mix and some chopped up carrots. He is only fed after being worked, this being between 1-2 times a week in winter, and between 2-4 times a week in summer.
So should I feed chaff as well? If so, how much?
 
chaff's just chopped hay and straw, sometimes with molasses added in. It's fed to bulk out feed, oor to stop a horse bolting their feed. Like anything, why feed it if you don't need it?
 
Only if you feel you want to bulk the feed up a bit, if he eats it quiclky or looks at you as if to say "is that it" I would pop some in as it can slow them down but other than that if he is fine as he is then I wouldnt bother.
 
I feed chaff as my boy was very slow eating his nuts and tended to just leave lots, but as soon as I added some chaff he loved it and ate it all up. So chaff at £5 a bag is a cheap daily treat =)
 
The nutritive value of chaff depends on the type of chaff being fed......I consider all short chop fibre feeds as being chaffs. I feed my youngster an alfalfa based chaff as a nutritional addition to his bucket feed, and my welshie a chaff due to it's high oil content. I wouldn't feed something that neither of then needed.
 
It does have a purpose; by adding fibre to the feed, it slows your horse down chewing, and then speeds up digestion.
The old BHS books always claimed that chaff slowed down digestive transit, but when they did a proper trial, it speeded it up (as you would perhaps expect from fibre
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So if you want your horse to digest his food better, adding some chaff is a good idea.
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Shilasdair, are you sure about your last sentance?

I thought if the digestion is sped up by adding fibre then you wouldn't absorb as much as it passes quicker through the gut.

-Just thinking about humans & eating, say sweetcorn.

PS I am pro chaff, but only as a bulking agent.
 
Thanks for your replies everyone, I really appreciate it and it's given me something to think about!
Pony doesn't bolt his feed, I think the carrots help slow him down lol but I seem to have started an interesting debate!
Look forward to reading more replies!
 
Only to bulk out a feed - my veteran has sugarbeet/alfabeet instead - it doesn't "feel" right to me not to add some sort of fibre - only because that's what I've always done, no other reason! Though if I was feeding Hi-fibre cubes I wouldn't bother adding chaff.
 
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