How big are your banks? Pellet bed issue :(

[Vickijay]

Hi there!

I get bad asthma from my straw beds so before winter sets in I'm giving pellets a go in 1 stable.

I put in 10 bags as per the instructions and my bed looks like this...

I really like how solid it is, but I'm offended by the tiny banks! I'm used to having big straw banks, probably about 3' high and chunky.

So do I- add about 5 more bales to get slightly larger banks? I'm slightly worried that will be really heavy and difficult to turn over? Or should I put a different type of bedding in my banks? Or do something different?!

Any help would be great!!

 

[3Beasties]

I make my banks the same sort of size as yours although I think they would go bigger if you added more (not like 3ft straw ones though!). They shouldn't get overly heavy as long as you regularly turn them

 

[Vickijay]

I make my banks the same sort of size as yours although I think they would go bigger if you added more (not like 3ft straw ones though!). They shouldn't get overly heavy as long as you regularly turn them

It just feels so solid that I feel like 5 more bags would weigh a ton to turn...

Is yours pellets? How do you manage it? My OCD would say that I'd have to clear out the wet every day

 

[avthechav]

I have come to the conclusion that banks are actually only of use if big and solid. So with my two boys on woodchips (which I love) I have done away with banks entirely! The older stuff mare who I rightly or wrongly assume may be more likely to get herself in a pickle due to being less supple is on shavings and her beds are made from the dirtier more solid shavings that contain the hay that she has dropped over time and tend to stay rather than being turned each day.

 

[honetpot]

Banks only get mouldy, forty plus years I have only seen two horses truly cast and banks were of no use what so ever. I have rubber mats and only lay bedding where they stale and lay and do not bother doing the edges. When I did do the edges I took the wet out of the middle, take bedding from the edges to fill in the whole and add most of the new bedding to the edges so the bedding got turned over. If you disturb old banks that are never turned they are full of dust and mould.

 

[3Beasties]

Yes mine are on pellets. Did you break the pellets down completely for the banks? That would obviously bulk it out a bit more. I agree with the above about banks not being much use unless massive but I will hold my hands up and say that I still have banks regardless purely for aesthetic purposes!

I don't take the wet out of mine every day but I don't think it would matter if you did, the wet just tends to make the bed a bit more stable IMO. Missi is very clean so hers stays really nice, can go a couple of weeks without taking the wet out of hers (maybe even longer now as she has learnt to pee on command over Summer!) and the bed 'looks' fresh and clean all the time. Charlie on the other hand is disgusting! Mixes his mess in and pees for Britain so his needs doing more often. At the moment I do it once a week but I think I will start doing it more often. Today I had to take the whole lot out (apart from banks!) as it was so gross, he's only been 'in' for 5 weeks!

 

[Vickijay]

My straw banks never get mouldy! I turn them everyday and mix in fresh straw everyday too.

Hmm, maybe the answer is to chuck a few more bags and just give it a go. I was pleased with how solid it felt. I imagine there will be a fair amount of trial and error!!

 

[3Beasties]

They are great once you work out how they work best for you. Far less smellier than straw and easier than shaving (used shavings at camp this summer and they seem to get EVERYWHERE and stick to EVERYTHING!)

 

[Vickijay]

They are great once you work out how they work best for you. Far less smellier than straw and easier than shaving (used shavings at camp this summer and they seem to get EVERYWHERE and stick to EVERYTHING!)

Do you buy them in bulk?

 

[3Beasties]

Yer, my last lot came from here - http://www.whitehorseenergy.co.uk/Home They worked out at £3.70 a bag for the platinum plus pellets. If you decide to order from them let me know as I have a voucher code for 5% off (not a huge amount but every little helps!)

 

[Ali2]

IMO you'll never get banks of any use with pellets so why bother having them. If you are genuinely worried about casting invest in some anti cast strips. I absolutely loved pellets when we used them (only stopped as we moved to our own land and horses now live out so come and go in to a matted barn as they please). You really don't need to take the wet out every day and will just be chucking money on the heap if you do. I found it far better to leave the wet in, to give a solid, stable bed, and only took it out once a week.

I switched from LWP to White Horse and found the product and customer service from White Horse superior

 

[Mongoose11]

I Love pellets! I take out the wet everyday, takes me three minutes to muck out and fills one tub trug! More to the point it's costing me half the price of shavings!

Incidentally, why do you need banks? Habit?

 

[milesjess]

I like banks purely to keep the draughts out and my boy uses them as pillows

I do however use shavings but used to have a pellet bed. You can't really get big banks off a pellet bed, but if you really want one add a bale of shavings now and again to bulk it up.

 

[Paint Me Proud]

the bed will grow exponentially when you horse starts trampellling on it. In a couple of days you will post a thread entitiled 'horse needs a step ladder to get in his stable' lol. Pellets are great, just ditch the banks, they dont work anyway.

 

[Sandstone1]

How many bags would you say you need to start a bed? I have lwp at moment but never used before.
Have rubber matting too.

 

[Liane]

I have banks in my pellet beds probably bigger than those, I take the wet out once per week and turn the banks over at the same time, it's a heavy job but only once per week and it's worth it considering how quick it is to skip out all week

 

[Paint Me Proud]

when i started a new bed

after 2 days

It grew to the edge of my mats over the next week!

 

[eggs]

I've been using pellets for a few years now and don't use banks.

 

[Nicnac]

Just bung some rubber on your walls

 

[spotty_pony]

When I used to use wood pellets, I used to buy 1-2 bales of shavings to use as banks around the edges and slowly mix them into the bed which made the bed appear more 'fluffy' and lighter in colour. I would pull a different bank into the middle once each week and then replace the bank with a new bale of shavings. Shavings and wood pellets work very well together but it isn't the cheapest bedding option.

 

[flosskins]

How much do these pellets seem to cost weekly? I keep my 3 on a seriously short budget and they are really clean (well 2 of them are!) I use 1 bale of straw each per week so doesn't cost too much but they do eat it which gets irritating!

 

[Vickijay]

When I used to use wood pellets, I used to buy 1-2 bales of shavings to use as banks around the edges and slowly mix them into the bed which made the bed appear more 'fluffy' and lighter in colour. I would pull a different bank into the middle once each week and then replace the bank with a new bale of shavings. Shavings and wood pellets work very well together but it isn't the cheapest bedding option.

This what I was wondering about doing but will wait and see how I get on with them to begin with.

How much do these pellets seem to cost weekly? I keep my 3 on a seriously short budget and they are really clean (well 2 of them are!) I use 1 bale of straw each per week so doesn't cost too much but they do eat it which gets irritating!

A bag cost £5.20. They say you will put in 1-2 bags a week. Bags are cheaper of bought in bulk, can go down to around £2.50ish a bag

 

[Maesfen]

IMO you'll never get banks of any use with pellets so why bother having them. If you are genuinely worried about casting invest in some anti cast strips. I absolutely loved pellets when we used them (only stopped as we moved to our own land and horses now live out so come and go in to a matted barn as they please). You really don't need to take the wet out every day and will just be chucking money on the heap if you do. I found it far better to leave the wet in, to give a solid, stable bed, and only took it out once a week.

I switched from LWP to White Horse and found the product and customer service from White Horse superior

All of this exactly!
I use their Woodlets and find them much better than any of the other pellets I've tried. If you buy a full pallet they work out at £2.55 per 10 kg bag.
http://www.whitehorseenergy.co.uk/Wood-Pellets

 

[case895]

I don't have them any more as I don't see the point. The idea that a few inches of slightly compacted bedding could have any effect on a cast horse is ridiculous. I took them out because one of my horses is a slob and the banks became breeding grounds for small black things.