Happy Hoof

This is taken from the Thunderbrooks website. They tend to be very pro organic and a bit OTT generally but its a good explanation of the ingredients if you ignore the slightly hysterical tone.

Wheatfeed Wheatfeed is not ground up whole wheat or wheat bran. This is the major milling waste by-product of flour production, and the main bulking agent in horse feeds. Wheatfeed consists principally of fragments of the outer skins and particles of the grain, course middlings and fine middlings, the outer husk and hull. It is processed (usually pelleted) to bind the fine particles together, using chemicals such as lignosulphonate.

In addition to seed treatment and ammonium nitrate fertilisers, wheat grown in the UK receives on average 3 treatments of fungicides, 3 herbicides, 2 growth regulators and 1 insecticide. The grain may then be dusted, sprayed or gassed with pesticides in farm grain stores, followed by another possible dust, gas or spray of pesticides in commercial grain storage. The fabric of the stores may also be sprayed with pesticides. Wheatfeed is primarily the outer parts of the wheat grain that have been in direct contact with these various treatments, and contain dust, dirt, mould spores and mycotoxins concentrated during the milling process, plus weedkiller from desiccation treatments. The legislation governing safe levels of mycotoxins in human food is not applicable for animal feeds – only recommended levels are made and not enforced.

Wheatfeed is high fibre but very poor in essential nutrients. Why feed wheatfeed when good quality and cheaper high fibre is in your haynet? Do we really know what all these chemical residues are doing to the good bacteria in your horse’s gut?Oatfeed Oatfeed is not ground up whole oats. Oatfeed is a waste by-product from the milling industry. It is composed of 4:1 oat hulls (the very outer part of the grain) and the dust mainly consisting of oat hairs lying between the grain and the hull. Oat hull has a digestibility little better than that of oat straw. It has to be processed to bind the hulls and the dust together into pellets, ie pelleted using binding agents such as lignosulphonate or molasses or starches.

In addition to seed treatment (to prevent bird, slug damage, etc) and ammonium nitrate fertilisers, oats grown in the UK receive on average 2 treatments of herbicide, 2 treatments of fungicide, 1 growth regulator and 1 insecticide spray. The grain may then be dusted with a pesticide in farm grain stores, followed by another possible spraying of pesticide in the commercial grain store. The fabric of stores is also sprayed with pesticides.

Oatfeed is primarily the outer hull of the oat grain which has been in direct contact with these various treatments, and contains dust, dirt and mould spores. During the milling of oats to produce ‘porridge oats’ for human consumption, the naturally occurring mycotoxins present in the outer parts of the oat grain are concentrated into the waste by-product, which in the past was composted and returned to the ground as fertiliser.

Nowadays, this waste by-product is termed Oatfeed and can contain mycotoxins at levels up to 500 times greater than our ‘porridge oats’. The legislation governing safe levels of mycotoxins in human food is not applicable for animal feeds. Oatfeed is high fibre but again very poor in essential nutrients. Why feed oatfeed when good quality and cheaper high fibre is in your haynet?

Nutritionally Improved Straw Sounds good but what exactly is this? Straw treated with sodium hydroxide to break down the structural fibre (lignins) and increase its digestibility. Sodium hydroxide is otherwise known as caustic soda. It is principally used in the paper making industry, manufacturing of soaps, detergents and as a drain cleaner. It is the most common ingredient in oven cleaners. Straw treated with sodium hydroxide is very often then pelleted using lignosulphonate or other binding agents. Pesticide usage on the crop (from which the straw is harvested) as above depending on if it is wheat, oat or barley straw.

Straw may have high levels of weedkiller residue if it has been sourced from a desiccated crop. Do we really know what chemical reactions are taking place on the straw with all the pesticides, weedkillers, chemical treatments to make these processed straw pellets, and what effect do these chemicals have on the gut bacteria? We don’t know as no research has been done as yet
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Its probably akin to one of those horrible weight watchers ready meals. You arent going to die from eating it, but its not got a lot of true nutritional value.
 
My fresh air eating beastie has a token & I MEAN token feed of Speedibeet with a handful of HH molasses free when in at winter, a bag of each does us all winter. He gets a bigger feed if it's frosty to discourage scoffing stressed grass. He was fine last winter.
 
Dave's Mam said:
I think the "Hysterical" bit is one of Thunderbrooks selling points.

They are pricey.
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I'm very careful what I say. He took a proper vendetta out on me a couple of years ago, and I really cant be bothered with all that drama again! But I was too lazy to go searching and just used the top google hit :lol:
 
I switched from Agrobs Aspero to Honeychop Oat Straw Chaff for a few months, but have now switched back, since the Aspero works out more economical overall due to the amount per bale and postage rates. Local feed store doesn't stock anything suitable whatsoever and isn't interested in doing so either, so online shopping it is!
 
Any food that is plant based, unless it is certified organic, will have been exposed to weed killers and fertilisers during growing.
 
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chaps89 said:
I'm using countrywide natural fibres chaff at the moment - mix of grass, straw and a little bit of dried mint. More palatable than the honeychop plain straw chaff for mine
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I've got the drama diva Cushings' mare on this atm, after she turned her nose up at the plain oat straw chaff too. It smells really fresh, nice and appealing and I can get it in store. I need something to get her meds and supplements in. The dustbin mare is still on the oat straw chaff...
 
http://www.honeychop.com/our-horse-feed/honeychop-lite-healthy/

I've been using this for a year or so. My lads love it. I'ts timothy grass and sun dried oat straw plus various herbs. I like it because it's molasses and alfalfa free but still smells and looks appetizing. I have also used Honeychop oatstraw chaff which is very economical, but the light and healthy seems to go down a lot better.
 
my lot also refused the plain Honeychop and the Exmoors (!?!) didnt like the Thunderbrooks chaff (the Exmoors will eat my hair if I stand still long enough ;) ). Mine only get token feeds certain times of year so I use Agrobs cobs-although I have fed the aspero and the muesli and rate it.
 
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