Does anyone use shavings straight from the factory/ joiners?

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lauraheads

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I saw that someone on here was using them and just wondered if anyone else uses them?

Are they not really dusty? The prices of shavings are crazy at the moment and thats if you can get your hands on them!

Anyone get any cheap shavings from the blackpool area?

Thanks
 
I've been getting mine from a local woodyard for the past 6 years, and have never had any problems. They guarantee that it is only untreated offcuts that they use, and since they don't make anything there is no chance of any metal getting into them. Occasionally some are a bit damp, but they tend to save me the best ones anyway (don't tell anyone else
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). I pay £3 for the equivalent of a standard bale of shavings.
 
Our yard uses them from two sources. We have never had any problems with them having metal in but one source supplies them loose we collect the trailer when its full and everyone wants them (we have a small amount included in our livery cost). The other lot comes ready bagged and makes you understand why expensive shavings are dust extracted some of the bags are like bedding your horse on flour!
 
I get mine from the local woodmill. It's a mixture of coarse sawdust and shavings. Been getting it there for years and it's always been very good quality, no metal or anything, very little dust and it's from untreated wood. Pay 50 euro for a tonne of it. It's a bit of a job getting it though as we go and shovel it in loose into the horse box with grain shovels (takes about 20 min) and then wheelbarrow it out when we get home. Usually lasts about 6-8 weeks. Used to be able to go whenever we wanted but as business is slow atm we ring before to check they have some. With shavings at 10-12 euro a bale atm it's worth it!!
 
We get some from a small yard that makes park benches it varies sometimes if is fine I put it on the wee-spots and cover it with bought ones as I have to mix it as I dont get enough!!
 
No way. My husband is a carpenter/joiner, and is as horsey as I am. There is no way in a million years he would ever allow our horses to be bedded on stuff from his or anyone else's workshops.

When I was on a yard where there was a joinery in the village, where people could collect a huge bag of sawdust for about £1, I turned my nose up (if I really wanted it, I could get it from my husband for free!) and was considered ungrateful!

I know it is cheaper but, in my opinion and in the opinion of my husband who afterall should know (and is the king of mean when it comes to money), it really is not worth it.
 
a girl at my old yard uses them from a local mill, they are very very dusty and just crap to be honest but when you have a tight budget they are better than a concrete floor! she used only a small bed on rubber mats so it wasnt too too bad but i personally wouldnt use them.
 
laura, I am not saying no one should use it! I just wouldn't because of what my husband says abiout the off-cuts (clean wood or not - it isn't all solid woods).

I would probably consider using them under a different bedding that is not absorbant (such as straw), but I would never use them as the only bedding.
 
Ok I have just heard about liverpool wood pellets. They are wood pellets that you soak and then put them down. I just spoke to the guy and he said he would do 100 bags for £2.35!!

Has anyone tried them?
 
A yard I moved to used them and they were included in the price of the livery so I went along with it (against my better judgement) because everything else about the yard was good and I didn't want to offend by turning my nose up at the shavings. My horse ended up with chronic bronchitus and has always been prone to coughing since. Dust is the enemy of your horse - its not a saving in the long term - I wouldn't touch them.
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Yep, they are the same sort of thing as Aquamax, which I use with one of my horses!

If they are as good as Aquamax then yes, they are brilliant. You do have to be meticulous about your mucking out, though. It is no good deep littering it - it will simply wreck the bed. I can leave the slightly wet and the dry in obviously, but any poo and solid or squelchy wet bits have to come out: this is because the dry will leach the wet into it and you will end up with the bed not lasting.

You need a good amount of bags to start the bed, and on mats I then add a further bag a week. You only need to wet the initial bags; after that you just add in your bag weekly as it is (dry pellets).

It takes getting used to and those who don't use it properly (like my husband until I taught him!) usually end up saying it is not absorbant and is a rubbish bedding, and revert to their old bedding. There are also those who say the bed leaches the moisture from the poos which then get kicked around in little bits; I imagine this would be the case if you leave the poos in there for a very long time before skipping out, but investing in a proper fine tyne fork is imperative as it will pick up even the smallest bits and has a basket so you can sieve at your leisure. I personally have no problem with the poos, even though my boy is quite messy - I tend to muck out just as he is turned out, so they haven't been in there long anyway.

My aquamax, on a pallet of 80 was 4.85 a bag (gone up a bit now), so the ones you have been quoted for are better value! Go for it.
 
It isn't just the dust, lulup: it's the fact that it isn't always solid wood and that the wood is not always sawn neatly and cleanly (even by my husband
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) so you may end up with bits of MDF and bigger bits of wood in there. It may be rare, especially if you have a mill which does this especially for horse owners and so goes to the trouble of sieving), but I just don't like it. Also, there's the dust, likeyou say.
 
I was helping on a yard that went with big bags and her trailer and picked them up form the saw mill.

Cheap and easy never saw a problem with them. if we found any lumps of wood when barrowing them into the stables we removed them nice and easy
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Made good bedding.

Nikki xxx
 
local joiners yard-its free.
the shavings vary-some big white ones,other that are fine and redish.i always check carefully for any nails/sand paper etc.
they are dustier than bagged shavings though
 
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