Favourite type of bedding?

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amandathepanda

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I'm moving my tack shop to bigger premises end of this month so I can start doing feed & bedding but I will only have room to carry 1/2 different beddings to start off with. What brand of bedding do you prefer? Are there any that you wouldn't touch? Obviously what ever brand I go with needs to be something I can get stock of which seems to be a challenge for everyone at the moment!

Your comments will be appreciated
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I am not convinced, from a retail point of view, that bedding would give you a significant return if space is at a premium - except to draw customers in who might then purchase other things - the mark up, at most, would only be £2 per bale. Of course you would then need parking outside the door to make this viable.

But since you are asking, I use Bedrap, which is chopped rape straw and seems to be acceptable to people who use all other kinds of bedding
 
There is very little return in bedding but stocking it is definately a strategic move - Countrywide has run out around here! Consumable items like bedding draw people in so you can build a customer relationship & they will hopefully spend money on other items while they are in the shop
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New premises has lots of parking right outside the door which helps.

Bedrap is a new one on me so will check that one out, thanks!
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i quite like Bliss but can't get it easily so I've just moved onto wood pellets and am finding it excellent with my rubber mats.

My local small saddlery will order in any bedding that i want with deliveries every Saturday so they can have a full range but don't have to have lots in stock. Seems like a solution that works well for everyone.
 
My nearest tack shop sells bliss, shavings and easibed. The other one sells shavings and sundown blue which is chopped rape and another sundown which is a mix... but obviously shavings aren't the best thing to stock atm.

Can't go wrong with some kind of chopped rape imo whether it's sundown, bliss or bedrap.
 
was using hemcore but that was £8.60 a bale and now using equisorb at £6.80, so either hemp or flax. my advice would be to buy the cheapest and good quality bedding you can find. people don't like paying over the odds. also a little market research like going into the competition and seeing what they sell and the prices.

local farmers are a good contact to have as well.
 
I currently sell shavings! They are a nightmare to get hold of & very expensive for both retailer & customer. Mark up is often less than £2 a bale to be honest. A lot of my customers have been swopping over to straw, which although not so easy to muck out, it is soo much cheaper to buy!

We sell most of woodpecker (white english shaving) & bedmax. Although woodpecker virtually impossible to get hold of. Juts one pointer, if you are offered a cheaper alternative to english shavings which will be probably be scottish - don't buy! Very very dusty & no one will like!
 
As an English person living in Scotland, there is nothing wrong with scottish shavings!! I live in scotland and use them without problem and my hores is susceptable to dust and mould and spores. There will be good and not so good suppliers wherever you go.

There is a shortage of shavings everywhere and if a source springs up from nowhere, you have to to suspicious, if something seems too good to be true, it generally is.
 
I've just switched on of ours onto wood pellet bedding (I was using 3 bales/week of shavings he was so wet) and I'm pleased with the results so far. And the price difference - £5.25/bag as opposed to £7.55/bale for shavings is nice too. I think I may be switching the other one over to pellets too, it's so quick and easy (and non-smelly) to muck out.
 
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