Grass chaff vs. grass pellets

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Which is best and how do they compare?

In winter, my cob gets ad lib hay, with two feeds a day of one Stubbs scoop grass chaff, 2/3 scoop wet speedibeet, linseed, pro balance, and a handful of nuts. Varied slightly according to workload, how much turnout he has had etc. Despite restricted turnout, he looks good on this and rides well. He is working barefoot, and can't have alfalfa or soya...

Could I use grass pellets to replace the grass chop? Same weight bags but a little cheaper and takes up a lot less space in the feed bins... Or does the chaff give them something to chew? What is the texture of the grass nuts like when soaked?

Sorry for the million questions! Any info welcomed :)
 
If you were replacing the chaff with nuts weight for weight, the nuts probably wouldn't last him very long. Grassnuts have to be soaked and mixed with chaff to prevent choke, ime. If he is doing well on his current diet, I wouldn't change it, tbh If I were changing anything, I would drop the handful of nuts, which are likely to contain sugar and soya. You could swap them for grassnuts.
 
My oldie Arab is also barefoot but drops weight so has grass nuts, multi vits, biotin and chaff and a handful of mix. The grass nuts are good for him as they go nice and mushy like sugar beet so easy for him to eat and help keep the weight on him. He is also barefoot. Coblet only gets damp chaff and mutli vits as he is prone to being a fatty and I do find grass nuts aid his weight gain. If he has done some serious work I do reward him with a little grass nuts mixed in the chaff and he loves it!
 
Grass nuts smell divine, and every horse I have ever met has gone nuts (pun intended) for them!

Other than that I have no advice, I have used them only briefly, and fed them well soaked, and mixed with chaff
 
kez81 said:
My oldie Arab is also barefoot but drops weight so has grass nuts, multi vits, biotin and chaff and a handful of mix. The grass nuts are good for him as they go nice and mushy like sugar beet so easy for him to eat and help keep the weight on him. He is also barefoot. Coblet only gets damp chaff and mutli vits as he is prone to being a fatty and I do find grass nuts aid his weight gain. If he has done some serious work I do reward him with a little grass nuts mixed in the chaff and he loves it!
Click to expand...

Oh and coblet is also barefoot and kids pony is too and gets same diet as him as he is also a fatty! Old boy is retired from ridden work but stioll working inhand.
 
To get back to the OPs question weight for weight they are the same nutritionally . Nuts are slightly cheaper as they are more dense so bagging and transport costs are less
 
Thanks for the replies so far - think I may try a bag of the grass nuts... Fortunately for a cob he isn't too much of a good doer, so can actually feed him without him ballooning.

What he's on works well - but despite having large feed bins, can only fit a bit over 1/3 bag grass in one, so end up with it hanging around somewhere. Fine when I had my own lockup, but feedroom space a bit more limited at current yard...

How long do people soak the nuts for? Generally soak the beet and leave it in a bucket for the yard to add before feeding and it seems to last fine in the winter - would this work for the grass nuts?
 
I use Graze On Grass nuts and soak then for around an hour and a half whilst I ride. This is with cold water on a cold day, in summer they soak much quicker and if you use warm water they take around 5 mins. They do expand but nothing like the sugar beet nuts!
 
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