Cheap Shavings Substitutes...

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simplyme

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Hey all,

Shavings are nearly 10 quid a bale *gulp*.... I currently use the shredded paper from work to mix in with the shavings to make them go further but am interested in much cheaper alternatives to shavings...

Any ideas... and straw isn't an option otherwise the horse in question will look like a barrel with little ginger legs and ears sticking out!
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Rape straw bedding - lots of varieties about - Bliss, dixon's dustless, sundown, bedrap etc and some are 50% rape straw, 50% shavings, so you could always mix it in with your existing shavings bed.
 
I am converted to wood pellets. Stinky was on shavings - 1 - 1/2 bales a week and Farra was on megazorb - 2 - 3 bags a week - filthy mare.

This was costing me £22 - £34 a week for the two of them. I now use 3 - 5 x 15 k bags a week for the two of them at £9.50 - £15.85 so have cut my bedding costs in half for the six months of the year that don't live out 24 x 7.

£10 - £15 a week don't sound that much until you work it out over 6 months and it becomes £260 - £390 saved - plus the mucking out is so quick and easy.
 
wood pellets, definitely worth a try.
one of mine was on 5 bales of ecobed cardboard a week (another filthy mare) and is now on 3 bags a week of wood pellets (£30 down to about £12)
the other 2 were on 2 bales of ecobed, are now on 3 bags of wood pellets, so no change in cost for them, but they're normal clean horses!
 
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Sawdust is not a good idea, ok it may be cheap but it is essentially dust and could cause breathing problems.

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But aren't wood pellets essentially just compressed sawdust?

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They are dampened and don't fly around in the air like sawdust does

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Just playing devil's advocate here as I use neither wood pellets or sawdust and am fortunate enough to have good quality dust free barley straw...

But if wood pellets are soaked they become sawdust, so in essence you could get sawdust from a local sawmill and just damp that down and that would be the same as wood pellets in their dampened form?

As I say, I have no axe to grind and in no way is this a personal remark, I'm just interested as to people's views on the difference and if there is actually a difference at all...
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I think the difference between sawdust from a local saw mill and the wood pellets is that the process used to form the pellet involves lots of steam and actually cleans the wood removing any impurities etc, I think I am correct in saying that woodpellets are formed from white wood only which is preferable for horse bedding.
 
Was just a a suggestion but I have had my horses on sawdust in the past and never had any breathing problems, in fact they've all lived to a ripe old age. We had a laminitic pony on sawdust once many years ago and the vet thought it was an excellent situation as it gives the hooves extra support. We have a timber yard and sell non-dust extracted shavings to the local equine population and they can't get enough of them. Admittedly not many takers for sawdust though.

I guess it depends what you do with a horse as well. Some people who maybe just hack out a handful of times a week and don't need high performance from their horses probably aren't as worried about levels of dust as those taking part in serious competition etc.

However, mine are kept on good straw just because I prefer it and think it makes a much cosier bed!!!!
 
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