Unmolassed, alfalfa and soya oil free chaff? Thunderbrooks or..?

[xch4r]

I've had some samples of thunderbrooks healthy chaff and loved it but it is pretty pricey. Has anyone found something similar? Must have no molasses, soya or alfalfa... I may be asking the impossible!

Have you ever thought of making your own with a grass chop, cammomile plants, lemon balm leave etc..?

 

[TPO]

Halleys do a chop with nothing added - Timothy Chop or Grass Chop
Graze On have a pure Grass Chop
Red Rufus sell the Agrobs (sp?) chop that has no additives

I know of people who've purchased a chaff cutter and made their own chaff by chopping hay (I find it easier just to buy a pre chopped bag!) but I don't know about adding in the plants you've mentioned.

 

[dianchi]

Honeychop do a straw chaff

 

[MotherOfChickens]

my lot stopped eating the Honeychop plain chaff, I have just started with some Thunderbrooks and it is nice stuff. It will last me ages as don't feed much or anything. I will try Halleys timothy chop next (they do a straw & alfalfa one but I prefer to avoid alfalfa) as their stuff is good quality going from their fibre blox.

as for adding my own herbs-nah, way too busy to be arsed doing that but fair play to the people that want to!

 

[ester]

I use D+H just grass.

 

[Annagain]

I've used Readigrass in the past. One loved it (luckily the one who needed a sugar free diet) the other was ok if he had molassed sugarbeet with it but not without. It was reasonably priced and lasted ages though, they pack a lot in those bags!

 

[Follysmum]

I use Halleys oat straw to bulk out the feed for my good doers. Fab company free delivery

 

[MissJessica]

I use simple systems.

 

[sychnant]

Isn't Simple Systems alfalfa?

 

[Scarlett]

Isn't Simple Systems alfalfa?

Some of their stuff is but they also do a range of grass nuts and a timothy chop which are all alfalfa free.

 

[CBFan]

Graze on

 

[Archie73]

Hay so soft. Do a hay chop or an oat straw chop. Nothing in it and cheap as you like.

 

[AngelitoCaz]

Try talking to your local feed shops mine do their own chaff unmollassed and no alfafa it's very cheap too

 

[jm2k]

Simple systems is mainly based on alfalfa (lucerne) or grass nuts. plus postage on top.

Dengie alfalfa nuts (£11 for 25kg) , friendship estates/badminton feeds do grass nuts (£7 for 25kg) or emerald feeds so grass nuts and alfalfa nuts, all bought much cheaper and in local agri shops without postage
Countrywide do unmollased beet and also alfalfa oil in their own branding.

Massive savings can be made on postage, branding etc

 

[dollyanna]

Agrobs from Red Rufus - lovely chaff, a choice of 3 depending what you want and reasonably priced.

 

[fornema]

We use Just Grass which the horses love.

 

[Darkwater]

Simple systems is mainly based on alfalfa (lucerne) or grass nuts. plus postage on top.

They also make a range of grass chops and if you buy from a shop that stocks it you don't have to pay postage. My ponies really like their Timothy chop and their Blue bag grass nuts - they much prefer it to both of the Graze On grass products.

 

[supsup]

What do you want the plain chaff for? In my experience, the very plain chaffs (just hay/grass/oats, no herbs) are often not palatable enough by themselves to be used as carriers for other feeds/supplements. And by themselves, they are no more nutritious than plain hay (which is so much cheaper). They might be fine for bulking out another feed though.
If you want a carrier for your supplements, I'd stick with something that is truly tasty (and pay for the extra herbs or whatever is included for palatability), or at least do a taste test first on one of the plainer chaffs, or else you might end up with your horse turning up his nose.

I've had more success using either plain (grass, alfalfa) nuts as a carrier (when soaked it's easy to add supplements), or using a small amount of non-plain feed (such as high fibre nuts) as a more palatable option. In the end, plain chaffs are really just chopped forage in a bag, and can be quite expensive for what they are.

 

[Meowy Catkin]

As someone who feeds plain straw chaff as part of their hard feed, i hope that I can answer that.

I have one horse that cannot eat alfalfa as it really affects his skin. They are all barefoot, so molasses is out too. They all eat up well, although they don't have the chaff on it's own (speedibeet, micronised linseed and a few oats). In the summer they have a teeny feed, really just enough to put their vit&min supplement in. I find this diet more economical, even in winter and their horn quality is so much better.

 

[xch4r]

Thanks everyone!

I like to use chaff to bulk their feed a bit and prevent them bolting it. they all get either buts or mix as well as soaked sugarbeet. Mainly looking for a way to cut down their sugar intake a bit. can't use speedibeet either as that sends her loopy too. No idea why though. -_- she is a right pain.

 

[ester]

I just finished my bag of just grass.... 3.5 months! Bless him I've worked out that is 127 g per day - which is why I don't worry about the slightly higher energy content .

 

[Under-the-radar]

I use Halleys Timothy hay chop for my girl who can't tolerate molasses or alfalfa.

Her and the porky pony have this while my older girl (in real work) has other feed. They both eat it up plenty well on it's own

There are other unmolassed beets you can use - including some long soak unmolassed beet (much more economical than speedibeet). Could also use Fastfibre - I found I didn't actually finish using a bag of this though as my girls decided they no longer liked it and seem to eat their chaff better without (i just wet it well with water)

 

[criso]

can't use speedibeet either as that sends her loopy too. No idea why though. -_- she is a right pain.

I had one that went loopy on all brands of unmolassed beet but only at one yard was fine at another. I suspect (that was the one place I didn't get a forage analysis) that the calcium levels were very high. Sugarbeet being relatively rich in calcium (as it alfalfa) tipped him over the edge. There were only moderately high at yard 2 and by then I was adding magnesium so he was fine.

These days I do forage analyses and only feed beet or alfalfa if the calcium levels are in a reasonable range.

 

[stimpy]

I have a similar requirement (no alfalfa, no molasses) and after years of searching I have settled on Thunderbrooks chaff which my lot love. I use it as a chaff filler for my TB's pony nuts and as the only vehicle for supplements for 3 ponies. I use 4-6 big handfuls each day and so although it seems expensive I do find that a bag lasts a couple of months.

I have also got bags of the Honeychop oat straw chaff, and Halleys hay chaff and my experience is that they are not tasty enough to hide supplements in, so I use a combination of those two chaffs as a hay-replacer for a laminitic when she is spending 12 hours off the grass each day. Everyone hoovers up the Thunderbrook grass chaff in their bucket feed though (and the TB is super-fussy); I think it's great stuff and worth the price tag.

 

[laura_nash]

I used Halleys Timothy chop really successfully and they are a great company to deal with. I also got their blox so could order enough for free postage. Their plain oat straw chaff was a bit too plain for my greedy cob though, it was one of the few things he has ever refused to eat (maybe I got a bad bag as he usually eats straw very happily).

 

[Milkmaid]

The Agrobs Aspero is lush and cheaper per kg than the Thunderbrooks. £13.75 for 20kgs i think.
Made up of over 50 herbs & grasses from the foothills of the Alps, and it's organic, pesticide and additive free. My ponies love it! The Musli (cereal free!) is also gorgeous!

 

[Darcydoo]

Agrobs Aspero get my vote for my Barefoot,ulcer mare

 

[Ali2]

Just Chop