Where to find Alfa-A in bulk?

Jesster

Jesster

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I am looking to feed a yard of forty horses and looking around at the best prices....this forum is a very useful source of info.

The cheapest price I have found for a single bag of Alfa A original is around eleven pounds; has anyone found a better price than this?

Thanks in advance!
 
Thanks for the info. There's not a lot of difference in the feed values; how much cheaper is just grass?
 
Bear in mind that Just Grass is not suitable for laminitics due to the high sugar content.
The other snag is that there is none left in the whole of the country, due to last year's rubbish summer. (My friend got this info straight from the company).
 
Jesster said:
I am looking to feed a yard of forty horses and looking around at the best prices....this forum is a very useful source of info.

The cheapest price I have found for a single bag of Alfa A original is around eleven pounds; has anyone found a better price than this?

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

found these chaps the other day, they may be able to help

www.hay-net.com
 
Jesster said:
I am looking to feed a yard of forty horses and looking around at the best prices....this forum is a very useful source of info.

The cheapest price I have found for a single bag of Alfa A original is around eleven pounds; has anyone found a better price than this?

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Are you particularly interested in feeding lucerne? does it have to be Dengie?
Practically every bigger agri merchant will have their own brand of lucerne chaff, much cheaper than Alfa-a.
Are the horses liveries? Lucerne intolerance is fairly common, so I would be wary of just ordering enough for the whole yard. I would look at grass chaffs instead if you want high calorific value, for ''light'' versions I would look at grass/straw mix.
OR you could consider Pure Feeds - no need for chaff, they have extensive range, deliver to your door and have decent quantity discounts if you have the storage available.
 
Have you considered Dengie Alfalfa Pellets instead of Alfa-A?
When prices leapt a few years ago I rang Dengie for an alternative to their own Alfa A. They suggested the pellets, which contain the same ingredients but cheaper to make and transport. Cost £8-9 bag retail for 20kg. Big bonus is that they take up half the space those wretched compressed bale-bags do! We add some cold water to feed 10 mins before feeding to minimise risk of choke, but then I prefer dampened feeds anyway. Horses love it, much easier feed to store and measure out and I wouldn't go back.
 
The dengie pellets are lower Mj/kg than AA chaff, also they need soaked for 2hrs in cold water before feeding (45mins in hot water IIRC).
 
OP, what about contacting a company like Halleys? They supply Simple Systems with some of their chop and offer a full range of AA, grass chop, hay chop and straw (i.e. Good-doer mix) chop.

You can buy direct so they may negotiate on price if you buy in bulk. If gives you an option if AA isn't suitable for all.
 
According to Dengie website, the pellets contain 10 mj digestible energy "as fed". Same as Alfa A original. Although there is no molasses in the pellets.
Dengie's advice to me was 10 mins soak (minimum) in cold water and never had a problem in the years I've fed them using this advice. Not sure when the advice changed??
 
Bags have pellets at 9mj/kg (although I was feeding oil version chaff at 13.5 and SB at 11 IIRC) and soaking advice is on bag. Was in email contact with Dengie in Feb discussing feeds after mine went off AA oil and SB for a spell. I was surprised that the pellets were lower mj/kg than Speedibeet
 
Yes on Dengie website pellets are 10 mj/de "as fed" but officially 9 on their statutory statement. Never mattered to me, they do the job and are great value and as they usually only get half a kilo each per day the energy difference is negligible! I feed it with kwikbeet and a balancer and the whole lot soaks together in 10 mins to a safe consistency. I know how much water to use from practice.
I'm not sure without checking how much difference the DE is iin speedibeet/kwikbeet compared to the alfalfa, I guess the "as fed" value on the beet will vary more as so much water is added before feeding?
 
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