Feeding oat chaff alongside hay

[Bertolie]

My mare needs to lose weight. She is stabled at night all year round and turned out for around 8 hours a day. She currently gets 6kg of 6-8 hour soaked hay in a small holed haynet. This probably doesn't last her very long at all! She is bedded on barley straw so can nibble at this but I worry she doesn't have enough to last all night. I have been reading about people feeding plain oat chaff alongside hay but have a few numpty questions!

1. How much would I give her a night? She is a 15.2 7 year old Traditional cob x Clydesdale

2. Do you feed dry or damp it down?

3. What's the best oat chaff to feed?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Leo Walker]

I gave one of those water bucket sized tub trugs filled with plain oat chaff and one half filled with Top Chop Zero. I wasnt keen on that one but he liked it more. The other one was only eaten if he really had to! I fed it dry.

 

[tallyho!]

I don't know if many people know of this study: https://www.horsetalk.co.nz/2014/11/28/soaking-hay-dramatic-rise-bacteria-research/

I don't soak hay anymore because bacteria is still growing as the horse eats it and we noticed in our yard that coughing stopped when we stopped feeding soaked hay. None of us soak hay anymore but we do mix with straws. Dry is best. Horses are well suited to digesting the dry matter and in certain countries they only have straw.

 

[buddylove]

I use honeychop oat straw chaff to feed alongside hay so they have something to chew on once the hay ration is finished. I just feed it in the extra large black rubber tubtrugs.