Big or small flake shavings?

[dreambigpony]

Which do you prefer and why?

 

[Sukistokes2]

Small, because I believe they hold the wet better. Also they seem to last longer for me.

 

[gingernut81]

Small. Same as above!

 

[landyandy]

small for me, less waste

 

[Stroppy Mare]

Small - more absorbant and clean falls thru fork easier

 

[Cobbytype]

Small, because I believe they hold the wet better. Also they seem to last longer for me.

Ditto. I tried different brands over the years and always went back to Snowflake as they were more absorbent and bedded down nicely.

 

[poiuytrewq]

To go against the grain... Big! I find when my horse poo's it sits on top of big flakes better. On small flake shavings it seems to get lost and buried making it harder to find.
I do however mostly use small as it's cheaper near me!

 

[Midlifecrisis]

I never get a chance to decide because I buy unbranded shavings and the bales are sometimes large and sometimes small consequently my beds are a mix of both!

 

[Cortez]

Am veering towards small for the same reason as the other posters, however I am fairly new to shavings (horse coughs on straw) and have to say they are ALL the work of the devil compared to straw!

 

[Cobbytype]

Am veering towards small for the same reason as the other posters, however I am fairly new to shavings (horse coughs on straw) and have to say they are ALL the work of the devil compared to straw!

I felt the same when I started using shavings, but once you get used to them they're much easier, especially with a 'pittly' (wet) horse. It takes a while for the beds to become established and to bed down nicely. I changed from straw as my paddock is 400m away from home (where my stable is) and I could get 3 days shavings muck in the Smart Cart, but with straw only 1 - 2 days worth and on a windy day the straw used to blow about too much. I also switched from straw as it irritated my horse's scabby legs.

 

[gina2201]

Small flake here too!

 

[Abby-Lou]

Large flakes with mats. I do full clean out each day small flakes make a horrible wet bed

 

[BSL]

i have tried so many different forms of bedding. I have rubber mats. I used to love aubiose but it got too expensive. Have just started to use Hunters shavings, ie small flakes and I have got to say the bales are massive, packed really tightly, they make a lovely bed and seem to be really absorbent. My favorite so far.

 

[Jane_Lou]

I use Bedmax now for price and lack of dust. Most of the small flake shavings I can get are really dusty, Hunters, when available, are twice the price of Bedmax. I find Bedmax make a really stable bed, I put in a bale of small every 5-6 weeks to "fluff" it a bit and if they are going to be in lots I put some megasorb under where they wee. I have a deep bed and skip out daily, taking the wet out weekly, and it seems to work well.

 

[eggs]

Definitely small. The large flakes make a great deep bed when you first put the bed down but I found they were less absorbent than small flake and also I ended up throwing more out as they don't 'sift'.

I liked chopped rape straw and miscanthus but now use wood pellets.

 

[Sussexbythesea]

Small because its easier to sieve through it to take out the poo nuggets that have been kicked about the stable and they seem to last longer. Used to be on Bedmax but the bales seemed to get smaller but more expensive and was difficult to remove small bits of poo as the same size as the flake.

 

[atlantis]

It depends on the horse.

I used bedmax for my old boy. He was very tidy and would pee in a bucket when he came in at night and would poo in one corner. The bedmax made an excellent deep litter bed for him.

My new mare is wet and poos all over and likes to mix it up!!! I started her in bedmax and she was quickly changed to small flake shavings. They're dustier but it's easier to sort through the clean and the wet and the poo with less waste.

However I'm consudering giving pellets a go. Not sure

 

[Holly Hocks]

Small

 

[MissJessica]

LOVE this post, controversial - I have love for both, depends what your requirements are... http://geegeeandme.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/the-best-equine-bedding.html

 

[lhotse]

After years of using smallflake shavings, I changed to Bedmax with Megazorb underneath where my mare wees and have a much nicer bed, less dust, easier to keep clean and a good deep bed that doesn;t move around.