How Much Lucerne Chaff Should I Feed My Horse?

Chaff should be fed at a minimum of 1% and up to 2.5% of body weight daily. Feeding rates will differ according to body weight, condition, metabolism, work intensity and amount of concentrated feed and other roughage fed daily.

How much lucerne should I feed my horse?

As a rule of thumb, allow 1.5 to 2 kg of feed per 100 kg of the horse’s body weight. However, it is safer to use 1.7% of body weight (or 1.7 kg per 100 kg of body weight) to calculate a feed budget.

How much chaff should I feed my horse?

For optimum digestive health horses must receive at least 1.5% of their body weight each day in roughage (grass, hay, chaff and other fibre sources) which would equal 7.5kg for a 500kg horse.

Can you feed a horse too much lucerne?

With performance horses, as with growing horses and pregnant mares, Lucerne must be fed in moderation. Unlike the above classes of animals, excess protein in the diet of working horses, particularly those that are stabled, can be detrimental to their health and performance.

Can too much lucerne cause laminitis?

Actual protein intake depends entirely on how much is fed. There are some insulin resistant/elevated insulin horses that can’t tolerate Lucerne and these horses should never be fed Lucerne. In this case, Lucerne for these horses is a risk factor for laminitis.

How much Lucerne can a horse have?

Lucerne (otherwise known as alfalfa) is a legume not a grass and due to its high nutrient density and digestibility it should only comprise approximately 1/10 of your horses total forage ration.

Is Lucerne fattening for horses?

Lucerne is a valuable source of energy, and it can help keep your horse’s weight in check. Due to the level of proteins, it is very useful for feeding horses that are growing, horses in intense work, or mares used for breeding. The fiber found in Lucerne is a great source of the energy.

Can a horse eat too much chaff?

They are physiologically designed to be ingesting and digesting food almost continuously. Many horse diets in Australia feed too much chaff and not enough hay. You can save money and improve your horse’s health by removing chaff from their diet.

Can I just feed my horse chaff?

Chaff or chopped straw is commonly fed to horses and ponies to bulk out their concentrate feed and to prevent them eating too quickly. Chaff is dried forage that has been cut into small pieces, in contrast to the long grass stems in hay and haylage.

Should you add water to chaff?

Measures must be taken to avoid a horse bolting food; hard feed should include long fibre such as chaff to increase chewing time and the ration should be dampened down with water.

Does lucerne chaff make horses hot?

Grains and grain based feeds, molasses and forages like alfalfa/lucerne hay tend to be commonly blamed for making horses ‘hot’.

Can lucerne cause colic in horses?

Indigestible fibre does serve a purpose in the horse, as it keeps the digesta moving through the digestive tract, like a laxative, which is also important for the health of the horse. But too much indigestible fibre increases the risk of impaction colic and reduces the energy supplied by the hay.

Does lucerne give horses diarrhea?

Lucerne/Alfalfa… if it is really fresh and green it will often cause scouring/diarrhea.

Is lucerne chaff high in sugar?

Lucerne is relatively low in sugar and starch, containing about half the amount of cereal hay (oaten, barley and wheaten) so it doesn’t cause large insulin spikes and blood sugar level fluctuations and is very useful as a component of feed for horses with laminitis or metabolic issues such as insulin resistance.

What chaff is best for laminitic horses?

Timothy chaff is a variety of grass species, that is grown in New Zealand and Australia. It has lower protein and lower sugar levels than Lucerne, it is also low in non-structural carbohydrates, which is great for horses that are prone to metabolic issues such as laminitis or insulin resistance.

Can you feed lucerne chaff to laminitic horses?

Lucerne is a good source of protein, and being a legume it generally contains a much lower level of fructans. It is safe to feed up to 25% of the ration in weight to ‘at risk’ horses. To be extra cautious, feed the second or third cut lucerne as these are lower in sugar due to being cut after the bloom stage of growth.

Why does lucerne make horses hot?

Lucerne Hay contains approximately 18% Protein, 28% Fiber and 16g/kg DM (Dry Matter) of Calcium (https://www.feedipedia.org/node/275). It’s also high in Vitamin K and E. Due to the high amounts of Digestible Energy released it does tend to make horses go hot when fed on its own or in high quantities.

Is lucerne good for laminitis?

Because it is lower in ‘sugars’ than grass, Lucerne/Alfalfa is often recommended as forage for horses and ponies with EMS and laminitis.

How much forage should a horse receive on average daily?

A horse should eat one to two percent of their body weight in roughage every day. Horses who spend much of their time in stalls aren’t doing much grazing, but their natural feeding patterns can be replicated by keeping hay in front of them for most of the day.

What’s the best feed to fatten up a horse?

If increased amounts of hay aren’t enough, try offering a higher quality hay such as alfalfa or an immature grass hay. Alfalfa tends to be higher in energy and protein and lower in sugar. Alfalfa can be fed as hay or as cubes/pellets.
Not enough calories

• Rice bran.
• Flax seed.
• Vegetable oil.
• Dried granular fats.

What is the healthiest diet for a horse?

Horses are naturally grazers, they eat little and often. Their natural diet is mainly grass, which has high roughage content. Horses should be provided with a predominantly fibre-based diet, either grass, hay, haylage or a hay replacement in order to mimic their natural feeding pattern as closely as possible.