Deep Litter - Best bedding?

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TheBayMonkey

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Stable is wide (12ft) but shallow (10ft) with door in the middle. Hay and water live either side of the door in each corner with bedding along the back as a large strip (4-5ft) along the whole length. I've used wood pellets over the years with great success on a weekly deep litter system, however last year, despite putting in 3 bags per week (used to be 1 per week with an extra 1 to top up each month) his bed got wetter and wetter, eventually turning into red mulch. I assume this was a combination of feeding haylage instead of hay (swapping back this year), being in a smaller stable, increased time in because of mud fever, and a wet winter meaning the pellets were absorbing moisture from the air.

I'd like to try deep litter this year to make a more solid base as I imagine he will be in a lot again this year with mud fever as it is already extremely wet.
I've tried on shavings over the summer when he came in for some hay/to be ridden and it became wet very quickly and mixed in so I don't think this is a good idea. Straw isn't an option due to storage.
I've watched a few videos using easibed or similar, has anyone tried this before?
Lastly, although I've read that many using deep litter just take the poo and dregs of hay out and re-level the bed, do you really not take any wet out at all for the whole winter and just keep topping up, or do you gut it a couple of times during the year?
 
The trick with deep litter is to keep topping up, even if it doesn't look as though it needs it. Miscanthus is absorbent, look on it as blotting paper. Once you get it to a certain level the wet stays at the bottom and the top remains dry
 
JillA said:
The trick with deep litter is to keep topping up, even if it doesn't look as though it needs it. Miscanthus is absorbent, look on it as blotting paper. Once you get it to a certain level the wet stays at the bottom and the top remains dry
Click to expand...

I plan on adding a bale of shavings and a bag of pellets in rotation (i.e. one one week, the other the next). I've priced it up and its already taken off nearly £100 from my normal just pellets bill (if it works lol)
 
Wood pellets. I'd never use anything else now. Yes, leave the wet - just keep adding on top - unless there's a really really sopping sodden loose bit on the top that you can easily whip off.
 
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