Feeding Chaff to Horses

If you’re having trouble finding or storing hay for your horses, chopped hay, called chaff, might be an option. Chaff is available at some feed stores in 50-pound (23-kilogram) bags. Chaffs made from high-quality hay can serve as a principal forage source for horses.

Chaff can be made of any type of hay, although lucerne (alfalfa), oat, and timothy are the most common. Some chaff is mixed with molasses or oils to aid palatability. It can also be added to grain rations to add bulk and increase chewing time to slow down horses that bolt their feed.

Though chaff made from straw is popular in some regions of the world, straw offers few nutrients to horses, and it is high in indigestible fiber, which increases the risk of impaction colic. Therefore, straw chaff should be fed in small amounts, primarily as a way to slow consumption of a grain meal, and should not be used as the sole forage.

Horses can survive without long-stem forage, such as grass or hay, in their diets provided the forage requirement is met (at least 1-1.5% of body weight per day) through alternative forages such as chaff or cubes. To maximize “chew time,” though, it is best to also give horses some long-stem forage daily.