Last month I was sent a bag of HoneyChop Plus Herbs chaff to review. They are a brand I have always seen at shows but never used personally. However, many of my horsey friends including my riding instructor and a fellow ex racehorse owner both feed HoneyChop products, so when I was given the opportunity to review a bag I jumped at the chance.
Oat Straw
Unlike many horse feed brands, HoneyChop uses Oat Straw in their feeds. Due to the properties of oat straw, it is easier to digest than more commonly used wheat or barley straw. They naturally dry all their straw and never desiccate (add chemicals/herbicides etc) the straw.
HoneyChop Plus Herbs
HoneyChop currently have a range of 9 different feeds. I chose to review the Plus Herbs, the main reason being I love the idea of horses grazing on herbs. And since my grazing doesn’t allow Scottie to do this, I think it is nice (although not necessary) for him to still be able to get herbs. HoneyChop Plus Herbs contains thyme, oregano, mint and basil, which are often used for their therapeutic properties.
The Nutritional Info
Scottie is an incredible good doer, especially for a thoroughbred. So low digestible energy is important for me when selecting a feed. With just 8MJ/Kg, HoneyChop Plus Herbs is still quite a low calorie feed.
It is also fairly low in sugar and starch and fairly high in fibre. So it shouldn’t upset many horses. Looking at this, it is certainly something I would recommend looking at for good doers.
The Verdict
I really like this chaff and I think I will be swapping for good. It comes in slightly smaller bags which fit better in my feed bins, so I don’t need to leave half of it out in the open. But despite being smaller in size, it still works out a tad cheaper than what I have been using previously. The only issue is that only one of my local feed stores stocks HoneyChop and I have to order in this specific feed.
Scottie also really likes it. It smells amazing and everyone I have spoken to has said it’s very palatable. Scottie is a greedy guts, so he isn’t the best gauge of this, but in a rush to put him out with Bute last week I fed him a small handful of HoneyChop Plus Herbs with his Bute sachet and he polished it all off.
5 Months on
It has been 5 months since I wrote this review and I have continued to feed Honeychop. Much to my surprise, I have seen some fantastic changes in Scottie, including much healthier looking poo! I recently wrote a post about the benefits of feeding Honeychop which you can find here.
Last Updated on 14/01/2022
