Do you feed chaff with your pre mix feed?

[TheFarmIsFull]

I go through so much chaff it’s insane and I’m wondering if it’s worth it.
The nutritional value of chaff is essentially the same as hay/ silage depending on what type of chaff you feed.
I use lucerne chaff to bulk out the horses feeds. They get their recommended kilos of pre mix feed and I fill the rest of their buckets up with chaff. I feed so much quality grass silage like a giant double arm full I can barely carry per horse, I feed meadow hay and they are on pasture 24/7 not the highest quality grass but still good. They essentially never want for hay/ silage and grass.
I’m thinking of stopping with the chaff and just offering the pre mix alone. Yes their feeds will be half the size (the recommended kilos is only 1-3kg per feed depending on the horse) but I would presume that won’t matter as long as they are offered their silage/ hay. Iv always been told feeding chaff with feed is necessary to prevent ulcers but that was more to do with grains like oats, maize or barley. Surely feeding a pre mix that’s mostly pelleted will be fine?
Does anyone else not add chaff to their feeds?

 

[Pinkvboots]

There is a choke aspect feeding a bucket feed without chaff as some horses eat it quickly and don't chew it properly, although it's more common if you feed a mash without chaff.

When you say mix is it like nuts or a proper mix type feed?

Do you dampen the feed at all?

Maybe try them without the chaff and see how they get on.

I didn't think you could feed silage to horses.

 

[jnb]

I wouldn't be feeding silage to horses!! Danger of botulism /salmonella isn't it?

I don't feed chaff at all as my cob can choke on it, rather i use a soaked fibre feed - Fast Fibre - to slow him down.

 

[Widgeon]

I always have, but I don't add as much as you're describing - just one or two double handfuls to bulk it out and stop them gobbling. I wouldn't fill the bucket with it. If it's really dry chaff I add a bit of water too and mix it up, I have no good scientific reason for that except that it seems a bit more palatable and stops it blowing out of the trug and around the field!

 

[TheFarmIsFull]

The silage is safe, just grass silage made at home. Not sure what it’s called in the UK. Baleage or haylage.
They don’t rush their feed, the mix is kind of a pellet mix with crushed grains and the slightest bit of chaff in there and molassed with minerals etc. It’s a targeted feed for condition. I do tend to use a lot of chaff but my thought process has always been more feed is best and I have never really thought about the fact the chaff is basically nutritionally useless when I’m feeding so much other fibre/ forage.

 

[Widgeon]

If you're already feeding plenty of good quality forage I wouldn't be spending money on that much chaff (unless you make it yourself, in which case I wouldn't be expending the effort!). Reducing it might be a good way to make life easier / cheaper for yourself.

 

[HashRouge]

That's probably haylage for us OP. Here silage is only for cows.

I'm not sure if you mean you really do "fill up" their buckets with chaff, or if that's just a figure of speech. If you actually are filling up their buckets then that sounds like an awful lot! When I did feed chaff I just used to add a double handful to bulk out the rest of their feed. Now I don't feed chaff at all as my old mare has diastema and it gets stuck in the gaps between her teeth. I just feed a soakable mash type feed instead. It sounds like you feed your horses a lot and I can't see why your horses would need all that chaff. I'd probably still add a bit for bulk, but would reduce what you feed quite considerably.

 

[milliepops]

I don't feed much chaff at all. the ones in the field just get nuts in a bucket if i feed them. My stabled horses have never been particularly prone to bolting feed, so i generally only put chaff in if i want them to take longer to eat (e.g. if i'm mucking out around them) or adding supplements etc that need more bulk.

 

[jnb]

The silage is safe, just grass silage made at home. Not sure what it’s called in the UK. Baleage or haylage.
They don’t rush their feed, the mix is kind of a pellet mix with crushed grains and the slightest bit of chaff in there and molassed with minerals etc. It’s a targeted feed for condition. I do tend to use a lot of chaff but my thought process has always been more feed is best and I have never really thought about the fact the chaff is basically nutritionally useless when I’m feeding so much other fibre/ forage.

A hard feed should not be larger than half a black water bucket (the 3 gallon / 15 litre ones) as a horse's stomach is the size of a Rugby ball - anything bigger than that is waste of food/pushing undigested food through the stomach tbh.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

A hard feed should not be larger than half a black water bucket (the 3 gallon / 15 litre ones) as a horse's stomach is the size of a Rugby ball - anything bigger than that is waste of food/pushing undigested food through the stomach tbh.

But the added chaff, in quantities that OP is describing, would be eaten and digested as forage with the mix being trickled through the system.

 

[planete]

I do not feed chaff. I only use forage based feed anyway and pre soak it. Chaff aggravates dental and gum problems (diastema) and was used to slow ingestion of straight cereals once upon a time. The habit seems to have stuck and to be an excuse for charging ten times the value of hay or straw.

 

[TheFarmIsFull]

Thanks all. I have always been taught to use chaff as a bulk feed to not necessarily make the horse eat slower but for the feeding time to last longer like “grazing” and as a buffer with grain and a way to get forage into them. I’m very aware of the nutritional values of feed as animal nutrition is a big part of my job but because I am feeding so much through hay and silage I started to think maybe I was wasting my time. I ran out of chaff yesterday and was going to get some today but maybe I just won’t bother and give feeding the pre mix a go. They will be finished eating in 1/2 the time but I need to remember that doesn’t mean they are going to go hungry. I think it’s a bit of a mental thing “Big meal = filling” but they can go back to eat grass and hay if they are hungry.
I did used to feed a wet chaff called fibre pro which I found nutritionally beneficial but the feeding levels and cost were not worth it, it’s essentially silage/ haylage in a fancy bag which we have our own big bales to feed. I did also feed sugarbeet soaked but have had a few colic cases when I have fed that so I avoid mash feeds now.

 

[PoniesRock]

I’ve got one horse I feed chaff purely to give something to chew so she doesn’t scoff her nuts and choke on them. My other won’t eat chaff, so she has a mash instead. Like you say, if they have access to forage they can fill up on that, I don’t think you need to fill the bucket to fill their tummy’s.

 

[TheFarmIsFull]

I’ve got one horse I feed chaff purely to give something to chew so she doesn’t scoff her nuts and choke on them. My other won’t eat chaff, so she has a mash instead. Like you say, if they have access to forage they can fill up on that, I don’t think you need to fill the bucket to fill their tummy’s.

I will trial the non chaff feeding starting today, I’m thinking the feed is quiet a nice mix and not as harsh as grains so the ulcer risk should be nil especially with the rest of their grazing options. If I can get away with it that will save me like $45 a week. I have one poor doer, well he’s not exactly a poor doer just a giant thoroughbred with a massive rib cage which makes him look lean so he is my biggest worry. The rest are just fat and get food for electrolytes and “shine”.

 

[GreyDot]

Thanks all. I have always been taught to use chaff as a bulk feed to not necessarily make the horse eat slower but for the feeding time to last longer like “grazing” and as a buffer with grain and a way to get forage into them. I’m very aware of the nutritional values of feed as animal nutrition is a big part of my job but because I am feeding so much through hay and silage I started to think maybe I was wasting my time. I ran out of chaff yesterday and was going to get some today but maybe I just won’t bother and give feeding the pre mix a go. They will be finished eating in 1/2 the time but I need to remember that doesn’t mean they are going to go hungry. I think it’s a bit of a mental thing “Big meal = filling” but they can go back to eat grass and hay if they are hungry.
I did used to feed a wet chaff called fibre pro which I found nutritionally beneficial but the feeding levels and cost were not worth it, it’s essentially silage/ haylage in a fancy bag which we have our own big bales to feed. I did also feed sugarbeet soaked but have had a few colic cases when I have fed that so I avoid mash feeds now.

I'm surprised to read that as my vet suggested sugarbeet to a horse which had colicked in the past as it (when properly prepared) holds 5x as much water, which aids digestion.

As for the removing chaff, maybe try feeding your mix in a bucket of your haylage, just sprinkled through, so the horse has to look for the mix between the hay. It will take longer.