Top Chop Zero

H

Horsegirl25

Well-Known Member
Joined
1 February 2022
Messages
418
Location
Scotland
Visit site
Does anyone feed top chop zero without dampening it first? I feed 2 scoops a night for when my horses finish their net they can pick at that, sometimes they eat it sometimes they don't but I am finding the amount of wastage very high! I dampen it slightly (as per the bag) but then I don't feel comfortable feeding that the following night so chuck it and start fresh.
Just wondering if it would be fine to feed without dampening so I don't have to chuck it away every morning!
 
I might get yelled at for this - I don't dampen it - just lob a few scoops into a tubtrug for each of them and dish it up x

My lads don't bolt their feed, their main feed is nice and sloppy, I provide several buckets of water and a separate tubtrug with some top chop zero to tie them over if they need it xx That way you don't have to worry about the chaff being wasted :)
 
AppyLover1996 said:
I might get yelled at for this - I don't dampen it - just lob a few scoops into a tubtrug for each of them and dish it up x

My lads don't bolt their feed, their main feed is nice and sloppy, I provide several buckets of water and a separate tubtrug with some top chop zero to tie them over if they need it xx That way you don't have to worry about the chaff being wasted :)
Click to expand...
Thank you! Mine do not fire into the top chop either they eat it with disgust when the haylage runs out but I am flying through bags throwing a bucket full away a day!
Thanks again 🙏
 
Never had an issue feeding it dry as a forage replacement/backup. If yours aren't greedy hoovers, and will only reluctantly pick at it as a last resort, then it should be fine. I had one I knew not to bother feeding it dry to as she took any scrap of food as a challenge and had choked herself more than once 🤦‍♀️
 
I leave mine dry (I feed sections of straw too for the one that can't have chop). Mine hate it, it is really last resort - some days they don't touch it at all (that's how I know how much grass is growing).

I feed it for my peace of mind - they are never "without forage" it is just some of the forage they hate so much they refuse to eat it - that is their choice. They are all good doers who I struggle to keep weight off.

I would feel differently if they tucked into it like a hard feed.
 
I use dengie meadow lite for the same reason. They don’t love it, but they will tuck in after their hay and eat some/most of it. I found plain chopped straw they just discarded in temper and never ate any of it. They’d then be hungry and angry!
I have a spray bottle and give it a quick spritz of water.
 
Not TCZ, but I give mine a mix of Honeychop Oat Straw and Honeychop Lite & Healthy in a medium tub trug, with the ratio between them depending on how hungry they are, how much grass is out, what the weather is like, how generous I'm feeling etc! It's for them to pick at once they've finished/got bored of their hay, rather than as a 'feed'.

They tend to pick the L&H bits first, and usually there is an inch or two of the plain oat straw at the bottom. If I'm refilling the trug and feeding straight away as a second helping, I'll leave the bits in, but if it's for the next day, or it's only the big coarse straw leftover, I'll chuck it.

I'd love to give just the L&H, but as I give it fairly ad lib during the stabled summer daytimes I'm worried about overall calorie/sugar intake vs the plain oat straw, which I think has negligible nutritional value. Both ponies have EMS, one has had lami.

Always fed dry, sometimes with a couple of fibre nuggets buried in.
 
Peglo said:
I use the honeychop oat straw and I feed it dry too as even my little hoover will only pick at it when desperate.
It does occasionally get swept into her bed when she has a tantrum with it and kicks her bucket over 😂
Click to expand...
Same here when mine was stabled, he had a trug of dry Honeychop plain oat straw chaff to pick at once he’d finished his hay. If they are not starving they will eat it steadily and not bolt it down.
 
Surprised to hear this stuff is so unpalatable! Horses usually love oat straw, sometimes devour the bed in preference to their rations.
Why don’t you put in a couple of cakes of wheat straw, instead?
 
Exasperated said:
Surprised to hear this stuff is so unpalatable! Horses usually love oat straw, sometimes devour the bed in preference to their rations.
Why don’t you put in a couple of cakes of wheat straw, instead?
Click to expand...

Wheat straw is the type of straw that is most likely to cause a colic.
Barley straw for feeding fatties.
Oat straw can be as calorific as hay.

To start I mix barley straw and hay, they eat the hay and when hungry pick at the straw. Most of mine have happily chowed down on barley straw which is fed from a ring feeder 24/7 with hay given twice daily.

To start they can be fussy but soon learn what is on offer.
 
rabatsa said:
Wheat straw is the type of straw that is most likely to cause a colic.
Barley straw for feeding fatties.
Oat straw can be as calorific as hay.

To start I mix barley straw and hay, they eat the hay and when hungry pick at the straw. Most of mine have happily chowed down on barley straw which is fed from a ring feeder 24/7 with hay given twice daily.

To start they can be fussy but soon learn what is on offer.
Click to expand...
Barley straw we also feed to cattle because it is so good for adding weight, and far cheaper than cake or (weight for weight) silage.
Barley straw can make horses cough because of the barley tares, altho horses eat it readily.
Oat straw seems to be the base for the (up thread) chop horses are rejecting - surprising since all the heavy horse people give it to keep theirs full and bulked up. Once used oat straw as bedding at an overnight event - nets full and floors bare!
Wheat straw could lead to impaction if horses gobble lots of it without drinking much water, but it’s far less tasty, and couple of leaves from a bale of straw isn’t a big risk, would give them something to pick at and mess around with when the hay / haylage have run out.
This winter, a lot of animals are going to have to learn to be a lot less fussy!
 
I agree that all my horses would happily eat straw but TCZ is unpalatable and honeychop oat straw is obviously the work of the devil.

I give at least half a tug a night, often eaten, sometimes not, occasionally chucked over the door complete with bucket. I've never dampened, I wouldn't want to chuck it out if it wasn't eaten.
 
Thanks guys, gave them both it dry over the weekend and no issues and a hell of a lot less waste (they really do only nibble on it as a last resort)
As others mentioned above, it is a good peace of mind that when the haylage runs out they will always have food left (and even better peace of mind that I am not flying through bags chucking out half a bucket each day!)
 
For mine it is a really helpful indicator of how much grass they are eating - in the really dry spell they would get through a stubbs scope in 5-6 hours (under duress)
Now we've had some rain - it is back to being fully ignored.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tda
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top