Deep litter style pellet beds in warm weather. Smelly or not?

[chrissie1]

I am considering moving my filly onto just pellets, currently ( as we have lost of straw) she has mats, straw and I soak a bag of pellets then scatter through the bed. I skip out and push the straw back over the wet areas daily, then skim off a layer of wet. She's a tidy filly and this keeps her on a nice deep bed, that I strip completely about every 8 weeks. It never smells.

It doesn't now, but I'm wondering if it attracts the midges more than a full pellet bed would, she gets very upset about them and last year I had a real game with her, mane rubbed, bald tail etc. Last summer she was on straw alone with a full daily muck out, deep bed so the pee sank out of sight.

I know some people put a deep base down and then have a bit of a dig out of wet spots weekly and add more to top up. Others say they have a base and nver touch it, just top up with clean. Or of course you can remove the wet daily.

Doesn't having a solid base smell at all? It's not that I'm too idle to muck out, we have a lot of straw which is cheaper but her stable seems to still retain a slight stable smell even mucked out daily, whereas the horses in the other stables, one of which is a 16.3 messy mare, don't. Stable deodorants work up to a point.

Anyone's thought or views welcomed!

 

[somethingillremember]

I have pellet base and straw on the top .... brill. I dont think they smell at all . One of mine does tend to stand,poo and wee in the same spot and she mashes it into a lovely large "pat" ! So with her I do dig it out most days , the others ...if its not dirty I dont move it . I thin the straw back during the day ( mine are in during the day and out at night to stay out of the heat and flies) and it great.
Maybe her wee makes her stable smell more strong than the others , I wouldnt worry about it .

 

[Jenni_]

I really like this type of bedding. Put it down nice and thick, skim the poo off the top and take out the wet when it shows through. The thicker you make it the easier it is to take out as it stays as a round patch rather than spreadin over a wider area.

Literally takes minutes to muck out and its amazing how little waste you get. Your barrow looks like you've poo picked with a a little bit of bedding if you've taken pee out.

It doesn't smell either.

Fab stuff.

 

[Polos Mum]

I find pellets went really dusty in warm weather - I wouldn't have thought it would make any different to flys.

 

[LovesCobs]

I find the base isn't smelly at all even in summer. It does smell when u dig it out if you change the whole bed. But on a day to day basis no

 

[Cinnamontoast]

I take out wet daily and there's no smell. I've not really seen lots of dry dusty weather since being on pellets but if it was smelly, I'd have it turned over and replace really wet bits with fresh.