Aubiose, Bedmax shavings or miscanthus?

Traks

Traks

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It’s been a LONG time since I’ve been able to choose my horses bedding but we are about to move to DIY (from full) and I can actually choose what I want and how much I want 🎉 happy dance!

I used to use Aubiose many years ago and loved it, but there are so many options now! Obviously it’s expensive but I know tends to work out good value if you deep litter and take out wee once a week. People tend to rave about Miscanthus now, is that better? Or do we go for the bedmax shavings the yard tends to favour?

Horse isn’t particularly wet or messy for reference! It’s mainly for winter as will be out 24/7 over summer.
 
Never used Aubiose so can’t comment on that. Miscanthus is far superior than any form of shavings in my experience. I use Ethos and Nanhorn. Very absorbent and doesn’t flatten as quickly as shavings.

Wood pellets are good too!
 
meleeka said:
I haven't used miscanrhus but I hate Bedmax with a passion. It's not remotely absorbant imo and incredibly difficult to muck out. I love Aubiose though. I find I use much less of it than shavings.
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This is what I’ve heard! Thanks
 
I have had a good experience with Bedmax and I really like it. I tend to buy in bulk so can get it occasionally for £8.30 a bale. I have also used Mendip shavings but prefer Bedmax. I also have used a pallet of Unibed and quite liked it especially as can usually find a discount code for 10% off which makes it very good value for a pallet. With a tidy horse I find it just comes down to individual preference as all do same job and cost is mine.
 
holeymoley said:
Never used Aubiose so can’t comment on that. Miscanthus is far superior than any form of shavings in my experience. I use Ethos and Nanhorn. Very absorbent and doesn’t flatten as quickly as shavings.

Wood pellets are good too!
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Thanks I don’t think anywhere local to me stocks ethos unfortunately…
 
LEC said:
I have had a good experience with Bedmax and I really like it. I tend to buy in bulk so can get it occasionally for £8.30 a bale. I have also used Mendip shavings but prefer Bedmax. I also have used a pallet of Unibed and quite liked it especially as can usually find a discount code for 10% off which makes it very good value for a pallet. With a tidy horse I find it just comes down to individual preference as all do same job and cost is mine.
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I like the look of unibed but can’t find it locally and not keen to buy a pallet without trying it x
 
Bedmax is a love it or hate it bedding.
I’m very firmly in the latter, the most expensive wasteful stuff and horrid to muck out.

I find miscanthus/rape the best for combination of value, absorbency, ease of muck out.
 
Really dislike Bedmax. Used to use Easypack miscanthus but it started making us all cough ( humans and horses) so swapped to Aubiose. It's more expensive to set up, but cheaper in the long run as you use less. It's super quick to muck out, rots down quickly on the muck heap and the beds look as immaculate as SV's!
 
I like miscanthus bedding very much,used it for the first time last winter and I'm a convert. I've used straw, shavings, sawdust and chopped cardboard over the years. Miscanthus is Street ahead of all those.
 
I don’t know if Blue Frog are available in Great Britain, if so try them….lovely big white fluffy flakes….and when showjumpers come to stay, the grooms rave about them…the sort of bed, that when it’s down you would happily sleep on yourself….
 
Can I throw wood pellets into the equation? I've tried/used quite a few types of bedding (especially when on livery) but always go back to wood pellets when I can. My horse is wet and buries his poo but literally takes 10 minutes to muck out each day, I Iove pellets!
 
I'm another one who hates bedmax. I'm currently using Megasorb which is fantastic imo. It's light and absorbs well and rota down really quickly.

millbryhill.co.uk

Megazorb

Megazorb is a highly absorbent animal and horse bedding that is manufactured from virgin wood pulp, a by-product of the paper making industry. Buy online at Millbry Hill, with Free UK Delivery on eligible orders.
millbryhill.co.uk millbryhill.co.uk
 
I resisted Aubiose for years, due to the cost, but my scruffy gelding finally made me succumb. I am now a total convert, and absoulutly love it. It is so easy to muck out, and keep clean, it's really absorbant, and the wet stays burried underneath and the top stays dry - I semi deep litter and only take the wet out after a couple of weeks in the winter when they are in every night.
 
MuddyMonster said:
Can I throw wood pellets into the equation? I've tried/used quite a few types of bedding (especially when on livery) but always go back to wood pellets when I can. My horse is wet and buries his poo but literally takes 10 minutes to muck out each day, I Iove pellets!
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Yep we’ve had wood pellets where we are on full livery, it does make a nice bed x
 
I'm another that loathes Bedmax.

My horse is on Burleybed miscanthus, which took over from Easypack I think. It is quite dusty, particularly in summer - so much so that those of us who use it have a 'miscanthus cough'when mucking out. When it's down though, it makes a really nice bed and it's cheaper than the shavings alternative locally by about £3/bale.

I use pellets under.
 
I like the idea of Bedmax. I have used it before and a fresh bale smells amazing. BUT. In comparison to other even bog standard shavings, it doesn’t absorb as well and there’s not nearly as much in the bag.
 
Bobthecob15 said:
Haha does anyone have anything good to say about bedmax?! Why are they so bad?
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It has such large flakes that it drains rather than absorbs, which would be not so bad if your stable floor was concrete with those old fashioned herringbone drains marked in it.

The large flakes mean your can't shake it through a shavings fork leaving the poo on the fork - you end up throwing loads away, even if you are really careful - which slows you down so mucking out takes ages.

It is nice a fluffy though, and as said above, it smells good when fresh :)

ETA the large flakes means it takes even longer than a normal wood shavings bed to rot down on the muck heap, ( which is already larger because it's such a pain to muck ot)
 
Bobthecob15 said:
Haha does anyone have anything good to say about bedmax?! Why are they so bad?
Click to expand...

The flakes are too thick & stiff so they don't soak up wet well, don't sift through a shavings fork well and don't fluff up like regular shavings. Even the wood chip stuff is better, it might not fluff up and spread well like shavings but at least it soaks up the wet.
 
My next-stable-neighbour uses Bedmax, and they are part owners of the (very big) yard, and also owned a riding school until a few years ago, so they very much know their stuff when it comes to bedding. So there must be SOMETHING good about it!

Not for me though. That said, I generally despise most bedding not just Bedmax; I have yet to find one that I'm truly happy with. I've been using Aquamax underneath Aubiose for almost a year, and that combination seems to be the best I've tried.
 
I use Equinola (chopped rape straw) at the moment for the equines. However I have found that it gets dusty in the summer when the equines are more often than not sleeping outside the stables and so the bed is not being refreshed as often as in winter.

I always use Bedmax for lambing the sheep on. It is my second choice for the equine stables, I have never had a problem with its lack of absorbency but I do deep litter it and only dig out the wet when it starts to come to the surface.

I have tried Megasorb and it set off my asthma and was very dusty (a pity as I can buy by the pallet locally a lot cheaper than through a third party).

Straw while a good bedding makes the stables smell very quickly, even with twice a day mucking out.
 
LEC said:
I have had a good experience with Bedmax and I really like it. I tend to buy in bulk so can get it occasionally for £8.30 a bale. I have also used Mendip shavings but prefer Bedmax. I also have used a pallet of Unibed and quite liked it especially as can usually find a discount code for 10% off which makes it very good value for a pallet. With a tidy horse I find it just comes down to individual preference as all do same job and cost is mine.
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I loved Bedmax deep littered for at least 4 weeks, with the damp, but not completely soaked, stuff put back down as the base for the new bed. I found it very economical and easy to handle and poo pick without waste.
 
Cragrat said:
It has such large flakes that it drains rather than absorbs, which would be not so bad if your stable floor was concrete with those old fashioned herringbone drains marked in it.

The large flakes mean your can't shake it through a shavings fork leaving the poo on the fork - you end up throwing loads away, even if you are really careful - which slows you down so mucking out takes ages.

It is nice a fluffy though, and as said above, it smells good when fresh :)

ETA the large flakes means it takes even longer than a normal wood shavings bed to rot down on the muck heap, ( which is already larger because it's such a pain to muck ot)
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Sums it up well I think. My lad also got some irritation on his legs when bedded on it.
 
rabatsa said:
I use Equinola (chopped rape straw) at the moment for the equines. However I have found that it gets dusty in the summer when the equines are more often than not sleeping outside the stables and so the bed is not being refreshed as often as in winter.

I always use Bedmax for lambing the sheep on. It is my second choice for the equine stables, I have never had a problem with its lack of absorbency but I do deep litter it and only dig out the wet when it starts to come to the surface.

I have tried Megasorb and it set off my asthma and was very dusty (a pity as I can buy by the pallet locally a lot cheaper than through a third party).

Straw while a good bedding makes the stables smell very quickly, even with twice a day mucking out.
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I put a layer of shavings under my straw (actually wood chip ATM cause it's what the shop had) which soaks up the wet and keeps the smell under control. I take the wet out once a week at the most (though my horse is rarely in 24/7). The wood chip stuff is working just as well.
 
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