Comparisons on alfa/chaff type feeds - the dengies, mollichaff etc

alsxx

alsxx

Well-Known Member
Joined
7 January 2006
Messages
3,235
Location
Moved to Devon!
Visit site
I've always used Dengie feeds but as the prices for these are going up and up (as in I'm now paying £13 for a bag of hi-fi, £15 for alfa-a etc), wondered what the other brands are and what they are like. I know of the mollichaff brand, but haven't ever used it....what others are out there and how do they all compare, and what weight are the bags and what prices are they?

My local shop only sells Dengie so cant really ask them for prices etc, but interested to hear people's thoughts on my lunchtime pondering!
 
D and H fibergy is a good chaff at a good price. More nutritionally valuable than mollichaff, which IMO is full of cheap heavy filers like mollasses and limestone flour. Fibergy can be used to replace Hi-fi original. A cheaper way to feed alfalfa is dengie alfalfa nuts, but you have to soak them before feeding as they swell up alot (despite dengie saying you dont need to soak!).
 
I didn't even know D&H did a chaff
blush.gif


Thats good to know though, I hand over my card each time and think to myself 'bl@@dy hell this is getitng expensive....really must look to see if there is anything else out there....' and then never do!
 
Wow, I paid £16 something for Alfa-A Oil......'tis the only shop around really so I guess they can get away with it.....there is another but its about 9 miles each way in the opposite direction so by the time I have gone there and back my petrol gage has dropped a chunk....making the savings not really worth it!!
 
I think Molichaff is ok, looks v sweet and sugary though.

We used bog standard Countrywide Alfalfa chaff at the yard, about half the price of Dengie and the quality doesn't seem any different. My horse eats it quiet happily anyway.
 
Well they are well OTT on their prices!! Hifi orig is £9.99 and alfa a orig £11.99!!! so seems very expensive to me!
Dodson and horrell make a lovely chaff called Fibergy, sells at around £9 per 20kg they also make an alfalfa chaff too.
be careful with the wieghts of bags - the mollichaff range is only 12.5kg's dengie is 20kg.
Topspec chaffs are 15kg bags and work out dearer than dengie.
 
[ QUOTE ]
mollichaff, which IMO is full of cheap heavy filers like mollasses and limestone flour.

[/ QUOTE ]

Both the Marksway Mollichaff Alfalfa Oil and Hi Fibre Alfalfa are molasses free not tried them myself though and not sure what they retail at.
I do use the Mollichaff herbal though as my very sugar sensitive TB is ok with the low sugar coating they use. I once used the cheap brand at my local shop which I call psycho chaff after the effect it had. When i checked on the label it was 24% sugar.
shocked.gif


I am currently trying the Top Chop Alfa as my local feed shop had run out of Alfa A Oil. Think it will work out a bit more expensive - £12 for 20kg compared to £10 for 15kg. but it's nice stuff and he's gone very shiny since he's been on it.

I think it works out a bit cheaper to buy a straight Alfalfa chop and a straw chaff separately and then I can adjust quantities according to weight and work to make my own hifi equivalent.
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
mollichaff, which IMO is full of cheap heavy filers like mollasses and limestone flour.

[/ QUOTE ]

Both the Marksway Mollichaff Alfalfa Oil and Hi Fibre Alfalfa are molasses free not tried them myself though and not sure what they retail at..

[/ QUOTE ]

I was paying £11.50 for alfa a oil, but I've moved my horse and one of the feed shops I've checked out sells if for £12.40 the mollichaff equivalents are about £1 less but the bags are 15kg so no more cost effective, the molassed chaffs are a lot cheaper but are high in sugar.
 
Depending on whats easier to get hold of I feed either Hifi at approx £10.50 per bag or Falcon Feeds Hi Fibre Alfalfa (which is basically the same as HiFi) at £6.65 ish per 15kg bale, (they are on Hifi at the mo) you're right -it pays to shop around! I saved a lot of money on my monthly feed bill this weekend just by going to a different shop, a pound or two extra per bag etc that some shops add on soon starts costing!
 
I either feed D&H Alfalfa or Dr Green, if I want an Alfalfa product. If push comes to shove I'll feed Dengie Alfa-A, but it seems a very short fibre and turns to mush easily. I discovered the D&H Fibergy earlier this year - lasts for AGES!
 
[ QUOTE ]
I either feed D&H Alfalfa or Dr Green, if I want an Alfalfa product. If push comes to shove I'll feed Dengie Alfa-A, but it seems a very short fibre and turns to mush easily. I discovered the D&H Fibergy earlier this year - lasts for AGES!

[/ QUOTE ]

Depending on where you are in the season alfa deteriorates in quality the later on on in the year you are. The nutritional values are still there but the chop is often shorter and so can get a little dusty. Just wanted to second the falcon fibres as they are much cheaper although in smaller bags. Dengi can be so expensive and is not always consistant.
 
Simple system chaffs all the way for me, no mollasses or preservatives added, and the fact that they are not mollassed means all the weight in the bag is actually chaff
wink.gif
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top