confused - feed

[welshies]

I need to take the alfalfa out of my horses ration, what would you recommed? He is a nearly 2 year old shire. He is on seaweed, rosehips and spearmint, plus brewers yeast and biotin, and ad lib hay. I basically want a high fibre carrier for the above but one that is a higher end of the energy scale? My section D and dartmoor seem OK on the alfalfa but could they have the same as shire or are grass chaffs too high energy. I know mollichaff is free but has seen lots of reports to suggest high sugar.

 

[monkeybum13]

Right if I'm reading this right you want a chaff with more energy?
I would suggest something like mollichaff hoofkind which is low in sugar but provides more energy (it is designed as a complete feed)

 

[NeverSayNever]

its difficult to find a chaff that is high in energy without it containing high levels of sugar or alf alf alfa.... without these it is basically just chopped straw/hay...

ive been in the situation though where my mare wouldnt tolerate alfalfa and so i used dodson and horrel safe and sound - which is a complete feed if fed in high enough quantity - but i used as a chaff to mix. again, its not v high calorie though, so you might be best looking at upping it with something like speedibeet or fibre cubes maybe?

 

[Ali2]

I'd use speedibeet as a base for all of them. I don't rate Mollichaff as most of their range is pretty high in sugar, their hoofkind has got alfalfa in it anyway. If I feed Alfalfa I feed it as pellets as these are just Alfalfa with no added mould inhibiting chemicals etc. Not sure what alfalfa you are currently feeding but Speedibeet is about on a par with Alfa A Oil energy wise (12.4 MJ/kg and 12.5 MJ/kg respectively) and higher than Alfalfa chaff (10 MJ/kg for Dengies Alfa A)

 

[Dolcé]

Have a look at the winergy equilibrium range if you want a 'proper' feed, expensive for more than one but we had a lot of success with our section A youngsters on it.