Alternatives to Aubiose

[Charlie31]

I was wondering if anybody could suggest any alternatives to Aubiose please? I've used it in the past and liked it but this year in a different stable it's not working out so well for me. I have it on top of mats and I usually take out the poos on a daily basis and then lift out all the wet once a week. I'm finding though that it's really heavy when I come to lift it, which makes the weekly muck out really hard work and tiring. And looking at the wet when I do take it out I think ideally I should be removing the wet more than once every seven days as it's really, really saturated and the floor is wet too. I don't think it helps that the drainage is rubbish (non-existent) in my stable so any excess moisture just sits there really.

So I was thinking maybe it would work better to do a partial wet removal once in the mid-week in addition to the full muck out at the weekend. I'm not sure if this would work particularly well with Aubiose and I expect it would get expensive. Has anybody got any suggestions for something a bit lighter than Aubiose that will deal well with this sort of twice weekly mucking out schedule without breaking the bank please?

I've tried pellets in the past and am not a big fan due to the faff of having to wet them first and wait for them to expand. I might be a bit limited by what I can get in my local shops but all suggestions welcome and then I will explore possibilities from there.

TIA

 

[milliepops]

I used to love Aubiose when I had a dirt floor but now I'm on concrete/rubber it's pellets all the way now. I like the Platinum Plus ones from White Horse Energy as they seem really absorbant and stay a nice light colour. After I've started the bed I chuck new ones in dry, no faffing around. I put a whole bag in dry in the area where my mares wee, to get the most value out of them.

Mine are filthy soggy monsters on shavings. I swapped from Aubiose for cost reasons initially but find the pellet beds so convenient now. I take the wet out a couple of times a week, or whenever I notice it rise to the surface.

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

Another vote for wood pellet bedding. White Horse 'Platinum Plus' are reasonably priced, work well, really absorbent & when they've absorbed the wee they 'clag' together & the wee is easy to removed. Over the years I've tried many different types of bedding & I can't see me changing back from wood pellets now.

 

[PorkChop]

I use Miscanthus on a concrete floor with rubber matting edges.

Pick up droppings daily and then take wet out once a week or deep litter

 

[benz]

I use chopped straw (equinola) on rubber mats, slip out daily and full muck once a week for wet horses, every two weeks for the clean ones. Where I am it costs about £7 a bag I use a bag every time I full muck out. I dont find it heavy.

However if your drainage is so bad it might be worth putting wood pellets down as a base and don't wet them, then your auboise on top? The pellets are so economical and absorbent this might work well if the auboise will stay on top?

 

[Christmas Crumpet]

I also use equinola which I think is fab and it is very absorbent.

 

[helenchat]

I used to love Aubiose when I had a dirt floor but now I'm on concrete/rubber it's pellets all the way now. I like the Platinum Plus ones from White Horse Energy as they seem really absorbant and stay a nice light colour. After I've started the bed I chuck new ones in dry, no faffing around. I put a whole bag in dry in the area where my mares wee, to get the most value out of them.

Mine are filthy soggy monsters on shavings. I swapped from Aubiose for cost reasons initially but find the pellet beds so convenient now. I take the wet out a couple of times a week, or whenever I notice it rise to the surface.

Hi, sorry to hijack but I'm looking at switching to pellets as my horse is a total mess on shavings, and has a history of eating straw 🙄 How many bags do you use to make up a bed? I'm just trying to cost compare to the number of shavings bales I'm using at the moment 😊

 

[milliepops]

Hi, sorry to hijack but I'm looking at switching to pellets as my horse is a total mess on shavings, and has a history of eating straw �� How many bags do you use to make up a bed? I'm just trying to cost compare to the number of shavings bales I'm using at the moment ��

I have 12x12 stables with full rubber, and I bed the back half
I usually start out with 4 or 5 bags of pellets and then add to it as necessary - tend to put in 2 bags a week in the winter, less in summer. I have one that's generally messy and one that is tidy but wet in one spot. I don't have banks, stopped that years ago.

I'd easily get through 2 bales of shavings a week in each stable, for me, pellets are much cheaper.

 

[helenchat]

I have 12x12 stables with full rubber, and I bed the back half
I usually start out with 4 or 5 bags of pellets and then add to it as necessary - tend to put in 2 bags a week in the winter, less in summer. I have one that's generally messy and one that is tidy but wet in one spot. I don't have banks, stopped that years ago.

I'd easily get through 2 bales of shavings a week in each stable, for me, pellets are much cheaper.

Great- sounds ideal for mine really, he just trashes his bed and it becomes really expensive really quickly when I'm constantly topping up on shavings! Thanks 😊

 

[Charlie31]

I used to love Aubiose when I had a dirt floor but now I'm on concrete/rubber it's pellets all the way now. I like the Platinum Plus ones from White Horse Energy as they seem really absorbant and stay a nice light colour. After I've started the bed I chuck new ones in dry, no faffing around. I put a whole bag in dry in the area where my mares wee, to get the most value out of them.

Mine are filthy soggy monsters on shavings. I swapped from Aubiose for cost reasons initially but find the pellet beds so convenient now. I take the wet out a couple of times a week, or whenever I notice it rise to the surface.

I guess if I could just chuck the new bag in dry where he wees then that would save on the annoyance of having to wait for them to swell up after I've wet them. I have to admit that when I was on pellets before the wet patch was generally more self contained and the mats weren't sodden underneath like they are now. It was just the watering the new stuff that was a pain though and I used Verdo which turned out to be a bit rubbish so it wasn't working out to be very economical. Do you just order a pallet direct from the manufacturer? Verdo are the only ones we can buy around here and I wouldn't use them again.

I use chopped straw (equinola) on rubber mats, slip out daily and full muck once a week for wet horses, every two weeks for the clean ones. Where I am it costs about £7 a bag I use a bag every time I full muck out. I dont find it heavy.

However if your drainage is so bad it might be worth putting wood pellets down as a base and don't wet them, then your auboise on top? The pellets are so economical and absorbent this might work well if the auboise will stay on top?

Chopped straw definitely appeals on account of it being lighter than Aubiose so this is another contender. You might have something with the wood pellets as a base though but I don't think I can really be bothered with doing two types. I think I'll have a look at what's available locally and then go with either chopped straw or ordering pellets direct and just having an all pellet bed and not bothering with the soaking new bags of it.

 

[milliepops]

I buy direct and get a pallet load delivered. That lasts me several months. I can't be bothered with the faff of going and buying bulky things, I get my horse feed delivered too

I didn't personally get on with Verdo, but I really like the Platinum Plus pellets.

 

[Charlie31]

I buy direct and get a pallet load delivered. That lasts me several months. I can't be bothered with the faff of going and buying bulky things, I get my horse feed delivered too

I didn't personally get on with Verdo, but I really like the Platinum Plus pellets.

Thanks, it was my experience with Verdo that put me off pellets so maybe it's worth trying with a different brand. I'm with you on buying by the pallet - I just get a bit cautious when trying new bedding in case I don't get on with it!