Most Chaffhaye veterans are familiar with the benefits of yeast cultures occasionally found in a bag of Chaffhaye.  But for the first time Chaffhaye user the appearance of a white spot on their fresh Chaffhaye can be of concern.  Not to worry, this article will discuss the benefits of these yeast cultures and how to properly identify them.  A yeast culture is simply a colony of yeast bacteria that has colonized a certain area during the fermentation process. All Chaffhaye has a certain amount of naturally occurring yeast.  Whether it proliferates enough to form a visual colony is a random event. ,So be rest assured, even though they may not be visible, every bag of Chaffhaye is loaded with these helpful pro-biotic.  

So what’s the benefits of these strange white patches? To begin with a live yeast culture helps to stabilize the bacteria population found in the hindgut of a horse (or the rumen of a ruminant).  When these populations are properly balanced, it allows for higher assimilation of nutrients along with an increase in fiber digesting bacteria. This allows for a more complete breakdown and usage of forages. Studies have shown that yeast added to a horses diet significantly increases the quality of a mares milk, improves the horse’s ability to digest fiber and increases the absorption of phosphorus, Yeast in the digestive tract will lower oxygen availability and reduce the pH of the gut.  This reduces the growth of harmful bacteria. With the harmful bacteria in check, beneficial bacteria can flourish.  A healthy population of beneficial bacteria assures maximum forage digestion and nutrient absorption.  Many horse owners that use Chaffhaye report no change in their animals’ condition during long, usually stressful travel. This is testament to Chaffhaye’s ability to maintain proper pH in their horses’ hindgut.

How do I know when I find a yeast culture?  A yeast culture is easy to spot, literally! They appear as white spots.  These spots can range from the size of a dime to larger.  Yeast cultures will have little in the way of smell. If it is a mold, it will smell really bad and be a color other than white.  This can sometimes happen when a bag of Chaffhaye has been damaged in shipment.  Luckily, a bad bag of Chaffhaye is easy to see or smell!  The best role of thumb for identifying a yeast culture is- if it’s white and smells OK, then it is good to feed.