All About 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. A low sugar blend of molasses is often added to increase palatability.

Benefits of feeding Chaff

Feeding chaff will help your horse to digest its feed properly by encouraging chewing and slowing down consumption. The increase in chewing that chaffs encourage stimulates the production of saliva which help prevent sensitive regions of the stomach from the effects of gastric acid and thus helps to maintain gastric health.

A 500kg horse may consume roughly 10kg of dry matter or 50kg of fresh weight grass per day therefore eating about 2kg of sugar which is equivalent to 2 bags of sugar every day. Horses are very well adapted to digest and metabolize sugar as long as it is trickle fed just as it would be in grazing and not offered in one large meal.

Sugar is a vital energy source for horses and ponies as the brain and the central nervous system require glucose for energy. Molasses is therefore useful in moderation and, contrary to popular belief, the typical addition rate of molasses to chaff means that grass usually contains significantly higher sugar levels than molassed chaffs.

Older horses and ponies whose teeth may not be in such good condition and cannot chew hay can often manage chaff. It provides a more palatable base for a feed and helps to encourage appetite, whilst ensuring the intake of vital fibre.