Those of you that feed straw chop

I gave the Draft horse 2 x huge trugs (same size as our giant water trugs) every night in winter, along with her hay ration. As she lost weight/got used to ad-lib forage, I could decrease the amount and eventually could give her ad-lib hay. I didn't dampen it because it would have been counter-productive in such large amounts. I can recommend it as a weight loss/maintenance strategy though.
 
thanks PaS. I don't understand why damping it would be counterproductive though? Having seen a fair few straw impactions in my time I am always reluctant to feed too much of it but guess a chaff would be better than long straw for that. I am wondering if I could use it as a strategy to help keep weight down if needed in the future seeing as my hay is a bit too good (am soaking it right now).
 
I currently have NF on box rest. Having got Top Chop Zero in already, I thought it would be a good idea to let her have a good big scoop or 2 plus of it, thinking it could fill the gap between hay nets.
Unfortunately, being an ex feral native pony, she will plug away at anything till it's gone, no chance of browsing on it! I feed it damped, and just as a feed with a few soaked nuts poured on the top. Haynets (including soaked hay) are promptly demolished too. It's just how many natives are - when food comes - it needs to be eaten, now!
 
I feed topchop zero but I think my mare is related to TFF's one above - she hoovers it up.

I damp it down mixed with some salt and herbs for liver support and she devours it as if I'd fed her the tastiest competition mix. She also gets double netted soaked hay overnight.

I have fed it dry but it gets eaten at the same speed so I now damp it to avoid choke.
 
lol-yes, thats the problem TFF! although they tend to not love soaked hay as much as dry hay. In the barn they do have long straw to pick on once the hay is finished (they share the space) but due to ongoing battles with mites I am thinking of dropping the long straw as bedding *sobs*. just weighing up options.
 
MotherOfChickens said:
thanks PaS. I don't understand why damping it would be counterproductive though? Having seen a fair few straw impactions in my time I am always reluctant to feed too much of it but guess a chaff would be better than long straw for that. I am wondering if I could use it as a strategy to help keep weight down if needed in the future seeing as my hay is a bit too good (am soaking it right now).
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I didn't damp because the trugs were so big, I would have had to put a lot of water in to dampen the lot and I didn't want to encourage any mould growth/damp smell to put her off. She couldn't digest long straw (more than one impaction colic) but was fine with chopped straw.

I can't see the point of restricting chopped straw, it would be like restricting celery for me:D I adjusted the amount of hay instead.

When I got her she did think that her jaws had to be moving all the time, or they would seize up! When she got used to the idea that tasteless, or not, she had more than enough straw to last overnight, she settled down and gave her jaws a rest occasionally. I did split her hay ration. In the depths of winter, she came in at about 4.00pm to hay, had a top up around 7.00pm and again about 11.00pm (ours are at home), with straw chaff available all the time.

It took 3 years but I got her down to an acceptable weight (lost 200kg) and able to have ad lib hay available. I think her obesity and greed stemmed from the short-term home that I bought her from where she had been given a lot of cheap sugary coarse mix and restricted forage (!).

ETA, just read your last post, MoC, I had to take her off straw bedding (mites and colic) she did fine on a shavings bed.
 
I feed plain oat straw chaff slightly dampened in a small trug with a net of oat or barley straw also dampened. He gets a small net of soaked haylage for breakfast when he comes in. My horse used to be a very greedy 'got to devour everything in sight' until I started doing this now he nibbles, has a lie down, gets up, nibbles again etc. He doesn't even hoover the haylage any more!
 
I don't damp it. I fed it free access during the day to two horses in the barn and 24 hours a day to two mini Shetlands.
 
OldieButGoodie said:
I feed plain oat straw chaff slightly dampened in a small trug with a net of oat or barley straw also dampened. He gets a small net of soaked haylage for breakfast when he comes in. My horse used to be a very greedy 'got to devour everything in sight' until I started doing this now he nibbles, has a lie down, gets up, nibbles again etc. He doesn't even hoover the haylage any more!
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A classic description of a horse with insulin resistance cured by trickle feeding. Well done!
 
Feed TopChop Zero dry. Pony has a medium tubtrug full daily. He blimming loves it and will eat it over grass (well unless I move the electric fence)
 
I also feed TopChop Zero dry. Mine get a measured net of timothy haylage then have ad lib Zero. I do add loose salt to feed which helps ensure adequate water consumption. I also get teeth checked more frequently than I would if I weren't feeding straw. I'm being a little over cautious I suspect, but overall I am delighted with the results.
 
Topchop zero is delicious and mine used to hoover it up. Honey chop was only for genuine hunger though. Fed damp mine could binge, dry it took longer to eat. He had a huge tub trug full.

Have a look at Hay plays though. They may suit you a lot better. I still use mine now ever though Leo needs calories. He loves it and will play with it over the loose haylage.
 
Well I got some Top Chop Zero at the feed store this morning when picking up bedding. I've fed Honeychop before (as a feed) and they stopped eating it-I also can't even order it in locally.

The hay plays are a good idea-there are also some that double as pole blocks which appeals to me lol. what I find with natives ponies though is that these things just don't last them long.
 
About 4 hours with mine. It also keeps them moving as well. Mine is genuinely the best horsey product I've bought. It doesnt work for everyone and in every circumstance though.
 
Mine just have a huge tubtrug in the corner that I keep filled. Some days they hardly touch it, on others they might eat more than half. Rarely much more though.
 
I’ve replaced half the boy’s chaff with it, he hated it at first, so I mix in loads of water, sugar free polos and a sprinkling of nuts. He only gets hardfeed for his supplements/Danilon.
 
I have just started my pony on it.

Top Spec gave me following advice - introduce it slowly and add 350mils of water per scoop. They said he could have up to 5 scoops per day. This is for a 13.3 NF on a diet.
 
well, mine both think its the equivalent of crack coccaine. they were also both lunatics last night-which is probably grass related.or the 'zero' chop :D or the Equimmins. Probably grass though..
 
an update for anyone interested 3 or so weeks on-they've now stopped just roughing it down in one go. they dip in and out of it when having hay. I still don't feed it dry but its only very lightly damped and has salt and the equimins in. they also have soaked hay in trugs and a greedy feeder net for the mealie with a mix of long straw and hay in (he tends to not eat the long straw but it does slow him down). In during the day and out at night.
 
MotherOfChickens said:
well, mine both think its the equivalent of crack coccaine. they were also both lunatics last night-which is probably grass related.or the 'zero' chop :D or the Equimmins. Probably grass though..
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I’ve just started mine on top chop zero as a partial hay replacer and he loves it and seems to prefer it to the expensive Thunderbrooks chaff - result!
 
I have stopped feeding it very greedy guts new forest decided it was not worth eating...obviously not that hungry then.
 
Mine loves TopChop Zero - he wouln't touch it in the winter but as he's now on restricted turnout, in a muzzle, and only getting small soaked haynets, he will devour a whole trug in about an hour. HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?! It's costing a fortune the rate he gets through it.
I'm going to ask my local feed merchant if they do a plain oat straw chaff, he doesn't need it to be any more appetising with apple/mint flavour... The idea was that he'd eat it if he was starving, I wasn't really expecting him to touch it but it would make me feel better about leaving him overnight with only a small haynet.... but the git is scoffing the lot! Can't win with this horse...
 
Honeychop do an oat straw chaff that has no additives at all, merely somewhat dust extracted. It's a brill product but a little harder to source.
 
Baroque said:
Honeychop do an oat straw chaff that has no additives at all, merely somewhat dust extracted. It's a brill product but a little harder to source.
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I tend to buy mine online, use it for all of mine as a partial hay/haylage replacer and for the fatties in their dry lot, great stuff.
 
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