# Chaffhaye ?



## trob1 (Oct 5, 2007)

I got a flyer in the mail not long ago about chaffhaye and that there were dealers in my area. Well I finally looked it up online and really like how it sounded so I called the dealer near me and drove out to look at the product. At first sight I wasnt really sure about it but decided being I had drove 45 min I might as well get some and see if they like it. I have always loved how there was no waste with alfalfa pellets but hated that it was a pellet. Well chaffhaye is chopped so it seems more natural than pellets. I put some out the other morning in a bucket to see their response and a few really liked it and by evening it was all gone. The next morning I put out about 3lbs of it in 3 buckets and they all dove in and seemed to all like it. I am thinking about using this to replace the alfalfa hay when I run out. I am tired of the mounds of stems the goats leave with the alfalfa hay. I see the dollar bills wasted everytime I pick them up. The dealer priced the chaffhaye at $10.00 a bale and said she would cut me a better price if I buy more at a time. I paid $10.00 a bale for alfalfa hay that about 25% or more of the bale ends up wasted. When I put out the Chaffhaye by night the buckets are licked clean. Does anyone else have any experience with this product? Here is a link to a website about the product. http://www.chaffhaye.com/

We plan on cutting our own grass hay for next year and thought this product could be in addition to the grass hay for calcium.


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## bigoakfarm (Oct 6, 2007)

I'm a HUGE fan of chaffhaye. Used it for two seasons with beautiful results. There is ZERO waste on the chaffhaye and it does seem to have enough long fiber to keep their little rumens busy and you get rid of the hay bellies completely. We were part of a larger route that the dealer ran to deliver a few pallets at a time to our farm. That was the only way we could afford to use it. Once he quit we got a new dealer and we had to add his higher prices per bale plus the cost of driving to pick it up, so we had to start baling our own hay again. I think if you have a reputable dealer who will replace the occasional (read- RARE) bad bale and you can afford to feed it, you should seriously consider it. (this year especially). The quality is hard to match in hay this year.

jmo,
Kristen


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## trob1 (Oct 5, 2007)

That was one of the first things I ask was what if a bale is bad and they said no problem we will replace it. I called about becoming a dealer and the cost was $8.90 a bale with a 240 bale minimum plus a $50.00 drop charge so that makes it only .90 cents cheaper per bale than buying it from the dealer. The only plus is it would be delivered so I may consider it if I really like it in the future but 240 bales would last a long time so I would have to find someone else interested in sharing it.


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## all1965 (Oct 6, 2007)

One of the other myotonic breeders that we know really pushed chaffhaye. We bought 1 bag off of them to try it. Our goats loves it and there was no waste at all. 1 bag equals about 2 bales I believe. The other breeders uses it as there only source of feed and love it.
We don't have a dealer close so we havn't been able to get any more but are going to see about picking some up at the shows.


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## susanne (Nov 13, 2007)

i wanted to feed this too but i heard that if a bag is damaged or open, it will get moldy very fast.
i breeder told me that she lost some pregnancies because some does got listeriosis. since the chaffhaye has molasses mixed in, i guess it is not easy to smell the mold. :roll:


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## trob1 (Oct 5, 2007)

Susanne, I can see where that could happen. There are risk with everything and hay is included. Many goats get sick every year and some die from bad or moldy hay. Same with feed.


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## bigoakfarm (Oct 6, 2007)

I'm sorry to hear about your friend, Susanne. Listeriosis in a pregnant doe is so sad.  

You will get a bag once in a great while that has molded. The thing is, to me it was always easy to spot any mold in chaffhaye. This stuff has a distinct smell to it. Like cooked cabbage smells to me or saurkraut. It also has a powder coating that is not mold -although it looks like mold- it's beneficial yeast. After you've fed it for a while you will notice a molded bag the minute you cut the plastic. It won't smell right and it won't look right. In fact, the dealer we had the first time actually went out of business because the horse owners he was selling chaffhaye to would call repeatedly and ask him to replace bags they thought were molded but really weren't. They just had more yeast in them than other bags. They were further along in the fermentation process. Which is a good thing. You just need to trust your dealer enough to be comfortable feeding the bags you're getting until you are familiar enough with what the product should look and smell like that you can catch a bad bale right away. We returned (2) 50lb bales in two winters. Out of 6 pallets of 40 bags each.

Kristen


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## sixshooterfarm (Oct 18, 2007)

We too have been wanting to feed this but dident have a dealer anywhere near us, I just looked at a website and saw that there is a feed store about 20 minutes from me yay!!!!!!!! Thanks Trob for bringing this topic up!!! I hope the price isent too expensive but shoot at $14.50 a bale for alfalfa....anything is cheaper. I hate buying really really cheap hay because the goats do not do well on it, bought about 30 bales of a grass mix, well it kinda just looked like straw, the goats were not impressed at all and most of that stuff went to bedding. sigh, hopefully the prices will go down or I will have to sell alot of goats, may even have to sell the entire herd.


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## PACE (Oct 8, 2007)

I wish there were dealers in New England! That stuff sounds great  Imagine-- no waste!


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## kelebek (Oct 5, 2007)

darn you all had me curious - and no one sells it in my state or the state next to me.


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