Talk to me about chaff. . .

TarrSteps

TarrSteps

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I come fron a land without chaff and have only used it here as a fibre source for bulking up meals, giving a few handfuls before riding, that sort of thing, rather than as a main nutritional source. But what are the options? Are there chaffs that function as hard/complete feeds? Conditioners? Am I missing a trick?
 
If a chaff is a mix of chopped oat straw and alfalfa (and horse is ok with alfalfa), and has added vits and mins, then if fed in big enough quantities (buckets full) it can be an ok complete diet.

Chopped straw chaff by itself would not be suitable as straw (eg oat straw which is normally used) is low in protein and very low in certain minerals. The alfalfa is a good balance to it as it is higher in the things the straw lacks.

Conditioning chaffs would normally be chaffs with an addition of oil. But for extra condition it might be more effective to add micronised linseed as that is similar nutrient make up to good grass, which is best for gradual conditioning in a safe way.
 
I don't really 'get' chaff either.... always fed loads of hay, so chaff has always seemed a bit pointless. Perhaps I'M also missing a trick...

ETS It is my understanding that chaff can be used to 'slow down' horses that scarf down their food... as PF is the slowest eater in the world, and LC only has a tiny amount of hard feed as a treat (in any case there IS no chaff in Argentina) I'm not really qualified to give an opinion... ;)
 
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I think most of us give it just for the sake of bulk. My horse has two handfuls of linseed and a spoonful of magnesium, that would be a bit of a pathetic paste if I wetted it on its own so I put chaff in. She would definitely not die if I didn't feed her at the mo or probably even all winter as she has loads of grass still, but I guess I like feeding her a little something just for fun, sad I know!
 
Personally I am a fan of alfalfa (lucerne over here or peavine hay chaff is another good option) it adds protein and vits and calories to a diet and I balance grain and min and vits off that.

It is also good for preventing ulcers and encourages horses to chew their food more which = better ulitisation of feed, generates saliva which buffers stomach acid.

Meadow hay / straw chaff can be useful for upping fibre content during grass flushes as it soaks up sugars when you may not be feeding out hay.

Feed before riding helps prevent so much stomach acid splashing around in the stomach.

Basically the more fibre you can get in the better.

I used to work for a chaff company LOL.
 
TarrSteps said:
I come from a land without chaff
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:) at that sentence.

I can't see that you missed much, the subject came up in conversation once, the chap couldn't get his head around it and just kept saying "but why?"

In the days of proper working horses gorse was commonly cut into chaff, fresh greens and flowers all year round.

I can remember as a child at a local riding school feeding hay and straw through a chaff cutter and taking turns to turn the handle, how we managed to keep all our fingers is a minor miracle :eek: The ponies had chaff and oats at either end of the working day.
 
i used to feed 2 scoops of alfa a with oil and 2 scoops of sugarbeet + bluechip original twice a day to my old tb he used to have fab topline and its a good conditioning feed and he was very level headed to ride, he never had hardfeed
 
mandwhy said:
I think most of us give it just for the sake of bulk. My horse has two handfuls of linseed and a spoonful of magnesium, that would be a bit of a pathetic paste if I wetted it on its own so I put chaff in. She would definitely not die if I didn't feed her at the mo or probably even all winter as she has loads of grass still, but I guess I like feeding her a little something just for fun, sad I know!
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I feed for bulk too, just a handful with fast fibre. One livery at a yard I used to be on never fed chaff, just sugar beet with supplements, and the shock this caused to some other liveries was hilarious, almost as if she was mistreating her horse! I think some people (myself included) just feed chaff as its what we've always done!
 
I come from a land without chaff, too, but seem to have adapted somewhat :)
I feed freeze dried grass chaff (or is it UHT dried?), which is essentially preserved forage, high(ish) in calories, cereal free and in theory, if you added water, you would have return to fresh grass... well, maybe not quite, but close enough :D
 
I don't bother with it any more. Ian not paying £10 for a bag of straw when for an extra fiver I can have a round bale... Maybe I'm just stingy but my horse seems to have survived, touch wood.
 
I never came across it as a kid in Devon, I think I hit the inbetween time when chaff cutters had died out a bit but not yet been replaced with bagged chaff and feed was supposed to DO something not just add bulk or be a filler.

The ponies at the riding stables lived out and only got a feed if they came in and worked (oats and bran). Same with the heavy horses that pulled the traps.

Liveries sometimes got a bit fancy and might add pony nuts to this but again only fed when they came in and worked.

In the winter anything that lived in and needed weight you added sugarbeet, linseed or flaked maize.

These days I use unmollassed sugarbeet as a base feed for a tb and a selle francais but might use plain straw chaff for a good doer if I needed a carrier for supplements.
 
bubbilygum said:
I feed for bulk too, just a handful with fast fibre. One livery at a yard I used to be on never fed chaff, just sugar beet with supplements, and the shock this caused to some other liveries was hilarious, almost as if she was mistreating her horse! I think some people (myself included) just feed chaff as its what we've always done!
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Teeehee typical horse person response! 'but I have never seen that before.... Yes it makes sense as sugarbeet is basically just fibre too.... But it doesn't look the same! It's WRONG'

I'm not sure if I get fast fibre either, but I kind of want to buy some... So like you it would be a feed of fibre and er, fibre...

I am gradually being sucked into the web of feed companies once again...
 
TarrSteps said:
I come fron a land without chaff and have only used it here as a fibre source for bulking up meals, giving a few handfuls before riding, that sort of thing, rather than as a main nutritional source. But what are the options? Are there chaffs that function as hard/complete feeds? Conditioners? Am I missing a trick?
Click to expand...

I too come from a land without chaff ;)

I use it in a bucket purely to slow down and create more chewing so the hardfeed (grain) doesn't get bolted down. Also psychologically, my horse "needs" something in a bucket form even if he's a good do-er. So a tiny handful in the summer keeps him from weaving at feed times when others are getting fed. Moistened chaff also is a good way to get powdered supplements in.

You can buy chaffs which are billed as "complete" feeds with little pellets in them (spillers happy hoof for example). But I prefer to create my own mix as required.
 
I use it as the base of my feed then just add to it. For example my Welsh Cob who is in Medium work gets 1/2 scoop of Dengie Hi-Fi Molasses Free, then a mug of Micronized Linseed, mug of Topspec Turbo Flakes and then his supplements of 365 Complete, Garlic and Riaflex Complete.
 
I no longer feed chaff either, not a fan! I have an ex eventer who cribbed when he came to me as always stabled without a view/no turnout etc etc. 3 years later (2005) he suffered a terrible case of twisted gut, they operated, removed a considerably large amount of intestine and said his likelihood of survival was minimal and the amount of chaff building up in there was quite substantial (apparently it doesn't just flow out of them it sticks to the intestine linings). It was Professor Barrie Edwards of Leahurst who operated on my gelding. I was lucky enough to meet him and he suggested removing the chaff from his diet. He now has topline cubes and calm and condition soaked in alot of water and he has made a full recovery. The only thing is i have to ensure he has alot of water in it, you don't realise how much cubes swell! I have 5 horses and since the change in feed for them all not one case of colic in 7 years (touch wood!!!) All horses weights and general well being increased considerably also. Obviously this could be a coincidence and I would never push others to do this as it is not gospel and different things work for different people :) I just don't think chaff is a necessity but agree its just something everyone feeds. :rolleyes: I was guilty enough of this!
 
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