1st Jan 2009
RSPC’s Feed Store offers two types of chaff:
- O’Driscoll Premium Steam Cut Chaff – 35 kg bag @ Rm100.00 per bag (RM2.86 per kg) *
- O’Driscoll Farm Cut Chaff – 25 kg bag @ RM70.00 per bag (RM2.80 per kg) *
Bag sizes aside, the primary difference is the length of the cut chaff. Farm Cut is a mixture of short, premium cut chaff and rough cut chaff, which is longer. While there are some shorter and longer stems, the bulk of O’Driscoll’s Farm Cut Chaff is over ¾ of an inch in length.
Equine Nutritionist Catherine Marriot spoke about fibre length at the Hookahs Feed Seminar during the Hookahs Tournament last year. Here are excerpts of her talk.
- Horses need a fiber length that is over ¾ of an inch to act functionally in the Gastro Intestinal Tract (GIT)
- Horses duodenal orifice is ¾ of an inch
- The longer the fiber length, the healthier the horses entire digestive system
- Fiber length is directly proportional to speed of flow of feed and acid levels in the entire GIT
- Long fiber length leads to:
- More effective chewing
- Higher saliva production
- More complete digestion
- Slower feed intake
- Healthier stomach, hind gut and less colic
- Decreased incidence of compaction
- Decreased incidence of ulcers
Therefore, if you feed a chaff, and almost every owner RSPC does, you have available a better option for your horse that is cheaper than what you are probably using now. If you change to this better, cheaper option, you are going to save yourself some money.
Many owners let their grooms dictate what their horses should be fed. This article gives you some information that your grooms probably don’t know. Please use it to educate your grooms, to improve the quality of life for your horse, and to make some savings in your feed bill.
* Feed prices used as at 1 January 2008