It does make a good mash, but you shouldn’t have to. My aunt’s old guy eats it dry with no molars.
[QUOTE=abbydp;4156934]
It does make a good mash, but you shouldn’t have to. My aunt’s old guy eats it dry with no molars.[/QUOTE]
I don’t need it a mash, either. I’m actually hoping to find something that will fit into a small hole hay net, and was wondering if chopped stuff would work or not. 
Triple Crown chopped hays…the benefits ot the chopped hays have been mentioned by many people laready but here are a few more ideas: it can help extend your hay supply when hoping to conserve your hay supply or if you are having a hard time finding hay from your local farmers, it can be used as a portion of your horses forage supply. you can offer some as treats or “busy food” while tacking up/grooming your horse.
The chopped hays are proving to be good for senior horses with no teeth, they are able to chew the smaller fiber length than normal length hay, but get the benefit of the fiber length or “scratch factor” of the chopped hay than going to pelleted hays which will not provide this benefit and are often eaten too fast and then you may have horses chewing on the stalls or fences looking for something more…
The bagged hays are very nice when traveling or going to state parks…while they do not say weed free on the bag we have found that if you call parks ahead of time you can see if they will accept the hay and some of them will let you us our products.
*The safe starch is a guaranteed 10% or below NSC value so is constantly being fed or recommended to horses that need to have low starch/sugar diets for various metabolic issues. We are feeding this hay to cushings horses, IR horses, PSSM horses etc.
*hope this offers additional thoughts…
[QUOTE=sublimequine;4154255]
Does anyone here supplement their horse’s hay with chopped forage of some sort?
- What brand do you use, what does it consist of (ie, alf, tim, alf/tim, molasses, no molasses)?
- How much does it cost per bag?
- How often do you go throuhg a bag for one horse?
- What’s the consistency of the forage? Super finely chopped, or 3-4 inch long pieces? Or somewhere in between?
Thanks! :D[/QUOTE]
We feed Lucerne Farms chopped forage. The miniature horses get the Hi-Fiber Gold at their evening feeding (it’s much easier to measure the small amount the minis require than trying to split a flake of hay!)
My mare gets the Alfalfa Supreme as a supplement to her baled hay.
I feed her 3.5 lbs am and pm. It’s the only thing that has really filled her out and gave her energy for hard work. Love the stuff.
We pay between $13.00 and $16.00 for 40 lb bags. The alfalfa is finely chopped, the Hi Fiber less so.
[QUOTE=sublimequine;4156137]
I bet it would make an awesome mash! Good point. :D[/QUOTE]
Indeed…I’ve used some chopped alfalfa in a bucket of water to get a horse to drink. When they’re colicky, that’s one of the first things I try.
not normally, but we can chop and bag any hay we sell…
best
Chaffhaye
We feed Chaffhaye Chopped Alfalfa or Chopped Grass forage in the winter. Consistent quality, stays fresh for 2 years. 50# bags cost $12 in our area. No waste as compared to feeding hay. Much more nutritious than dry stored hay. Takes up much less space than hay. No dust/allergy issues. Wonderful!
http://chaffhaye.com
http://www.chaffhaye.com/index.php?page_name=knowledge_center
I tried one, it was pieces about 3 inches long, I am not sure of the brand. It looked wonderful, smelled wonderful, I thought it was a great idea to feed a boarded horse to put some weight on her. The kind I used was sprayed with oil and vitamins. Perfect.
Unfortunately my horse was less than impressed. She scarfed it up for a day or two but then lost interest. She did eventually eat a bale, but only very small amounts per day, so no help with the weight. She is a picky eater and prefers plain and simple.
I would think it would stay in one of those nets. The alfalfa doesn’t lose it’s leaves as easy as regular alfalfa. I don’t think a regular net would work, but the small holes should keep it in enough. It may be pretty pricey to fill a net daily though.
My horse has been on TC Senior for almost 9 years. He’s 27. He gets second cut hay also. His senior feed is soaked. Because he was losing a bit of weight when he came out of the winter 2 years ago we added TC Alpha Lox. He loves it! He was going through 2 bags a month. It is about $33 a bag. I’ve cut him down to a bag a month. We just grab a handful and put it on top of his soaked grain. Frankly, there are so many choices out there. He’s moving to a different barn. The one I’m looking at wants to put him on TC Safe Choice. I guess I have to research what the difference is!
