Alfa chaff alternatives

Jessey

Jessey

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Dec 20, 2004
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Suffolk, UK
Jess has always had Alfa but I took her off it this spring as I wondered if it was contributing to her foot issues.
Initially she was loving the Agrobs weisencobs but since the addition of ProHoof I am really struggling to get it down her, the last 5 days I have switched back to Alfa-A molasses free as I still had some and she eats the lot, but this week I have noticed a little footyness, though this could be from the 2 rides last week on roads without boots, the slightly different trim I did last Monday or my getting tied up in conversation with my neightbour meaning they got 35 mins on grass in stead of thei normal 10 one night, non the less I'd like to cut the alfa out again but what other options are there? She really isn't keen on straw chaff or dried grass type things either and she's turned her nose up at grass nuts and beet with ProHoof in too :rolleyes: and I don't like to feed cereals and she certainly doesn't need them :p
 
Have you tried the Lucie cobs? Or do you fear lucerne will be as bad for her feet as alfalfa? Ziggy loves them, the only reason I don't feed them is that our nearest supplier is more than 10 miles away
 
carthorse said:
Can you try adding some dried herbs or other flavouring to the beet?
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I tried mint (dried, essence and fresh), none of which encouraged her, I also tried combos of the feeds, I even added a cup of pony nuts but she just fished those out and left the important bit :rolleyes:
 
Soak the pony nuts? I daresay you already read feed bag labels, but some high fibre cubes aren't too bad for sugar & starch levels & while the do include things like oatfeed they don't have whole cereals. Or if you can get it have a look at Saracen ReLeve, I haven't used it for a long time & so can't remember if it contains alfalfa but it's a cereal free mix that's low sugar & starch.
 
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carthorse said:
Soak the pony nuts? I daresay you already read feed bag labels, but some high fibre cubes aren't too bad for sugar & starch levels & while the do include things like oatfeed they don't have whole cereals. Or if you can get it have a look at Saracen ReLeve, I haven't used it for a long time & so can't remember if it contains alfalfa but it's a cereal free mix that's low sugar & starch.
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Yep tried soaked, part soaked, warm, cold :p I will have a look at the Re-Leve though thanks, and also the Halleys feeds thanks @popularfurball :)
 
Readigrass or various brands of dried grass? Halleys Timothy chop? Fibergy? Only things really I can think off that don't contain alfalfa :)
 
Re-Leve has leucerne pellets in and molasses but does look a better option that most but won't be my first choice purely for the molasses (shame because it looked great before I ready the ingredients :(

MrC said:
Readigrass or various brands of dried grass? Halleys Timothy chop? Fibergy? Only things really I can think off that don't contain alfalfa :)
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She won't eat readigrass or similar if its damp and the prohoof powder needs something damp to stick to :( Fibergy is an alfa mix, I might try the timothy chop, I really don't hold out much hope that will be any better than readigrass though
 
Would she eat grated carrot? I know some people dont like feeding carrot but they arent that evil,higer water content tha some people realise.Grating it up and mixing the powder in would be my try, only way Neala would eat her gut restore.
 
Does it have to be chaff?? Would something like speedibeet or the Agrobs muesli (which I find more chaff than anything) soaked work??
 
Over here Lucerne has a number of "bagged" forage types. I try to stay away from alfalfa in any form as much as I can
but sometimes there is some in the hay but generally not heavy on alfalfa.
I can get Lucerne" Totally Timothy" here.
Tripple crown brand has a "Grass forage"
For some reason people are very BIG on alfalfa here. Most any feed store you can always get straight
Alfalfa pellets etc and most places never have as a stock item Timothy Pellets or grass forages Its a special order ugh.
Tractor Supply does stock "Stanlee" products and they carry Timothy pellets and Orchard grass Pellets.
I really don't know what the big attraction is to such heavy concentrations of Alfalfa that people want??
There are a lot of TB around here - maybe cause they are harder KEEPERS?????????????
 
MrC said:
Does it have to be chaff?? Would something like speedibeet or the Agrobs muesli (which I find more chaff than anything) soaked work??
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I have already tried beet and agrobs weisencobs, I am debating trying the muesli but trying to weight all my options before buying another bag of something she won't eat, I have about 6 half bags of things sat around at the minute :rolleyes:

I will try a carrot, but its quite a lot of course powder so I doubt one carrot would be enough to stick it to without the flavor still being overpwering
 
horseandgoatmom said:
Over here Lucerne has a number of "bagged" forage types. I try to stay away from alfalfa in any form as much as I can
but sometimes there is some in the hay but generally not heavy on alfalfa.
I can get Lucerne" Totally Timothy" here.
Tripple crown brand has a "Grass forage"
For some reason people are very BIG on alfalfa here. Most any feed store you can always get straight
Alfalfa pellets etc and most places never have as a stock item Timothy Pellets or grass forages Its a special order ugh.
Tractor Supply does stock "Stanlee" products and they carry Timothy pellets and Orchard grass Pellets.
I really don't know what the big attraction is to such heavy concentrations of Alfalfa that people want??
There are a lot of TB around here - maybe cause they are harder KEEPERS?????????????
Click to expand...
I've always been a big believer in feeding alfa, its energy dense without being a grain and its rich in nutrients, its great stuff, just not so great for jess at the moment :(
 
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Is it me or have Agrobs brought out more feeds? anyway, anyone know much about green oats? its says they are from the grass family and low starch/sugar but surely oats are oats, no? I'm thinking the Proben LeichtGenuss might be another option if the muesli doesn't work out :)
 
What about Thunderbrooks Laminease or Healthy Herbal Chaff? Something with a bit of taste to disguise the Pro-hoof?
 
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