Are wood pellet beddings cheaper than other types?

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aradiagreen

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I'm looking at bringing my pony in during the day. I'm looking at which bedding to use and I currently use wood pellets for my ferret's bedding. I was amazed by how absorbent they are - I hardly have to clean out any bedding now, just the poo and the really wet bits. I would imagine that they would be very cost-effective used in a stable (& they claim so). Would they be easy to dispose of? Does anyone have experience of them and do they cut the bills? Otherwise I'd be looking at straw. The pellets are expensive to buy compared to straw but I assume you'd need less of them over time. How many bags does it take to fill an average stable? I'm going to have to get my calculator out! Any first hand experience good or bad appreciated!
 
My lad was on pellets, and is now on straw. The only reason I changed was because I changed yards, and the straw is included in the price... He has a lovely deep, well mucked out, bed of decent quality straw...but I still think that it stinks, and he seems to always be stood in wet straw that reeks of ammonia... And keeps getting little niggles of thrush.

For the winter, I think I'll be sucking it up and buying pellets :rolleyes: On a well maintained pellet bed, my horse always had dry feet, the stable never smelled, and he didn't get covered in wet stains all the time. It took a while to get used to leaving the wet in, but it really does work. I took out wet patches once a week, and just skipped out the rest of the time. Half a small barrow tops most days, with maybe 2 barrows of wet at the weekend. When the wet was lifted, the floor dried within 15 mins, and smelt much less than the straw does!

It does make a difference though what brand you use - I tried Verdo pellets, and they didn't work for me. Dark and got through loads, to worked out the same price. The best ones I used were 5* ones - though lots of people rate Liverpool too. I had a big stable and deep bed, and once set up, put in 3 bags per fortnight average. It takes a bit of getting used to, and you do have to top up promptly otherwise the whole lot seems to get wet very quickly, but it really worked well for me.

If you can buy in bulk direct from the suppliers, it works out loads cheaper. If you only buy from feed store etc, it seemed to work out the same price for me, but much drier underfoot than shavings etc.
 
Thanks Lego, that's really helpful. I was amazed when I changed from shavings to pellets with the ferrets. At the moment I'm having to use up some shavings and its awful after you've used pellets as its so smelly and messy! I can only imagine it in a stable. Some say you should wet it? Do you bother? How many bags do you think it would take to fill a stable in the first place approx?! How deep did you make the bed?
 
:)Definitely! I had my clean little 14.1 mare and my mucky 15.1 boy on pellets from 4.1.13 until 2 weeks ago.
They were out in the day/in before dark in stables with rubber matting so put pellets on the back half.
Skipped muck out in morning (10 minute job), hardly any bedding had to be removed, tiny muck heap, now they are out remainder in stable can be put in gateways - Simples!
I used Five Star professional - the cheaper one that's 10% VAT. Delivery was prompt and friendly. I'm so sold on this I tell complete strangers about it (provided they are wearing half chaps) Yes I do get funny looks. It smells nice, doesn't stick in my horse's tail, is in neat 15kg bags- light enough for the little old lady to carry -
Can't fault it - AND I STILL HAVE 5 BAGS LEFT!
 
I've had my mare on wood pellets for five years, I must have been one of the first to try them out. It was a big step to fork out £250 for a pallet but I love them. The only time the bed was awful was during the winter just gone when the horses were in 24/7. I thought "oh, the bed will last another day" but then it doesn't and I was left with a dark mush that needed to be cleared out before more was put in. The most I've ever used though if 4 10kg bags in one week. Whilst out during the day I add two bags every 10 days.

I use Corley Biowood.
 
I have my mare on Liverpool wood pellets and they're brilliant. I put in about 8-10 bags when i started off her stable i think and she gets a bag down a week. I found the best way when putting in new bags is to empty the bag into a big bucket or wheelbarrow in the morning and fill it with a bucket or two of water and then leave it in the stable all day. It all breaks down and you can then spread it out :) I started her bed off dry though, i just find she copes better if i put wetted pellets down. It doesn't smell like a shavings bed and it's really easy to muck out. Bella was really messy on every other bedding but pellets seem to be fine and she has a very neat poo half and a sleeping area half of her bed haha. I would definitely recommend them :)
 
I've got wood pellets on a rubber floor and think they are brilliant. Aqua Max are very good but expensive, now use Liverpool. You do need to be careful though as some makes are very dark and don't break up easily enough. I add the pellets dry to an existing bed and fork them in so they absorb any wet and break down like that. Having used shavings and hemp in the past I find pellets much better and it keeps the muckheap much smaller.
 
aradiagreen said:
Thanks Lego, that's really helpful. I was amazed when I changed from shavings to pellets with the ferrets. At the moment I'm having to use up some shavings and its awful after you've used pellets as its so smelly and messy! I can only imagine it in a stable. Some say you should wet it? Do you bother? How many bags do you think it would take to fill a stable in the first place approx?! How deep did you make the bed?
Click to expand...

Like someone else said - I recommend wood pellets to anyone who even looks like they might be interested :rolleyes:

As I had such a big stable, and had a lot of bedding in anyway, I didn't start off with a pure wood pellet bed. I just added a couple of bags at a time as needed until it was all pellets, but when a friend started hers, she put in about 10x 15kg bags.

I used to cut an x in the bag, then pour in half a bucket of water or so, so that about half the pellets had broken down and gone fluffy. Then tip the bags out onto the bed and smooth over.

When topping up weekly, I'd water the pellets as above if putting a lot in. If just adding a bag - or if I'd bought a load and needed somewhere to put them - I'd just tip them onto the bed. I used to chuck a bag or two against the back wall once a week, then pull the pellets forward and spread as needed. I found that if I kept the bed so that there were some visible pellets that hadn't broken down, it was fine. If you leave it too long without topping up, they do go soggy quite quickly...

I tried Aqua Max too - best one I used, but I could only get hold of it at 7.99 a bag...
 
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