Chaffhaye anyone?!

[MaggieSims]

@Southern by choice

I still plan on trying this, particularly with Ali, my skinny doe. The feed store was closed yesterday by the time I got there, so I will be attempting to buy again today.

 

[NH homesteader]

I am going to apologize in advance in case this starts a disagreement... Lol

Is Chaffhaye OK for bucks and wethers? I've heard both ways about alfalfa in general. My buckling needs to put some weight on and I don't want to pump him full of grain. Unless that's better? I don't know.

 

[Goat Whisperer]

Chaffhaye is fine for bucks, we fed it to ours

Its not the calcium that caused the UC, that is a common misconception.

As long as your grain is balanced, put him on feed and Chaffhaye if you think he needs it.

 

[NH homesteader]

Cool thanks! Unfortunately my wether, who obviously shares a room with him, lol, gets fat off water. I'll have to split them up for feeding... And listen to the protests!

 

[Kusanar]

I'm looking into this for one of my horses, he gets skinny in winter, this might be something I could add to his feed to boost his nutrition some without pumping him full of grain.

 

[Mini Horses]

Don't know what feed you use but for many a Sr feed will help as it is NORMALLY lower carbs and has beet pulp for more forage. I use Blue Seal Sentinel sr for my guys. Got a whole lot of seniors, late 20 to early 30s. Many cannot have hay.

 

[Kusanar]

Don't know what feed you use but for many a Sr feed will help as it is NORMALLY lower carbs and has beet pulp for more forage. I use Blue Seal Sentinel sr for my guys. Got a whole lot of seniors, late 20 to early 30s. Many cannot have hay.

I feed him senior in winter. I'm a little wiggy about feeding him too much, he colicked a few years ago and nearly had to put him down. Plus, he chokes, and if I keep the feed moist, he spits it everywhere then eats dirt trying to get the feed up.... he still has good teeth, just wasn't really meant to live

 

[Mini Horses]

Choke is an issue with elders as they cannot chew. My old ones that no long do well with grass are kept on short pasture, given the feed I mentioned, which is extruded, so the saliva moistens it easily. It's almost like a puffed cereal for humans. They get all the nutrition, forage, calories, etc. Been my go to for years, with no issues.

I would not give chaff to these older ones here, choke would be a concern for me. They don't have jaw teeth to chew it....gone or worm to far down.

 

[Bossroo]

What I did in a situation like this, is to take alfalfa pellets and soak them in warm water, feed. Worked really well.

 

[babsbag]

I tried a couple bags of the chaffhaye and decided it was too difficult to feed when tossing it over a fence plus I didn't like having to deal with all the plastic bags. My goats ate it ok, I have very non-picky goats. I was just top dressing their normal alfalfa to see if they would eat it and in the middle of my very hot yet very dry summer in a very hot shed the stuff was moldy in two days. It wasn't worth it for me and cost about the same or maybe more than my alfalfa.

I have year round access to very good alfalfa, tested and is dairy quality. The best growing region for alfalfa in the state is about 1.5 hours away and it is trucked here regularly. No reason for me to change what works as long as I can get good alfalfa at a reasonable (for here) cost.

Also, with the chaffhaye you have to be very careful that you don't tear a bag while in storage.