I know its been done a million times over but Wood Pellets??

[FaldingwoodLivery]

I have an extremely filthy disgusting mare!

She is dirtier in her stable than any horse i"ve ever seen, we're talking the whole of the middle of the bed being a brown soggy mess every single morning. just want to point out she isnt a box walker, shes very settled in her stable, i thik she is just incredibly wet!

At the minute she"s on shavings, the whole yard is on shavings and it works very well for us so i am a bit reluctant to change but i need to do something!
she has a full bed on one side of her box then the other half has a rubber mat which i just sprinkle over with bedding as she tends to do most of her poo and wee one one side. This for a while worked, could just scrape everything off the mat and tidy up the other side but I recenty moved her to a new stable and she now poos and wees everywhere again. We literally have to take out the whole of the middle of the bed everyday.

So ideas anyone? i dont like the idea of just rubber matting the whole stable and having a sprinkling of bedding, as i think it smells and makes rugs filthy. Ive been considering trying wood pellets....possibly just as a base with a layer of shavings on top or maybe wood pellets in middle with shavings banks? would this be possible and would it work? I like big banks so thats why i am considering using the wood pellets/savings combo, or would i be better using wood pellets alone?

Secondly Ive been looking at the liverpool wood pellets website, there seem to be lots of different options on the online store... which one is best? and also been trying to find local stockists as id like to try it first before buying whole pallet, anyone know one around south yorkshire??

 

[Ali2]

I used to use pellets under a shavings bed and it worked brilliantly - I'd certainly give it a go in your situation. I now just use pellets and its even easier, although not as easy on the eye!

Has she always been very wet?

 

[Liath]

I've tried pretty much every beddig going for my filthy and very wet gelding and wood pellets are the only thing that is remotely manageable!

I've switched from Aquamax to a cheaper version as I still have to use 3-4 bags a week to keep a remotely pleasant bed, and to be honest, other than the colour (cheaper ones are darker!) I'm not noticing much difference.

Also did the pellet base/shavings top, it looks nicer, but His Lordship still trashes it very quickly and the pellets alone are MUCH easier.

Currently have the remnants of the shavings 'top' as banks with pellets in the middle, and that is working really well

 

[QUICKFIRE]

I do a deep litter. wood pellet base, with out adding water, with elephant grass on top, I started the bed back in the summer ( if you could call it that) but horse didn't really come in till the clocks went back, so end of Oct, in that time I have used 3 bags of 15kg wood pellets, a builders dumpy bag of elephant grass and 3 bales of the same, I did a full muck out the weekend and took only 5 small wheel barrows of wet out!! which I am very pleased with. There is so vey little waste, I just brushed the clean bedding off the compacted wet. I take a large trug bucket of poop off every day but dont disturb the bed. Never smells this way

 

[Salcey]

I feel your pain.. with my v wet mare I ve found a base of pellets with a deep shavings bed on top works. I remove every bit of wet each day and top up with dry pellets mixed with new shavings.

 

[maginn]

I have a very similar mare - she is very very wet but does not churn her bed up. I have tried wood pellets & didn't get on with them. They got very wet and heavy very quickly IMO although they worked much better mixed with light shavings like bedmax or similar as they need some bulk & lightness. Was still using 2 bags plus a bale of shavings each week doing this last year though, but was taking the wet out at the weekends. Deep litter may have been better, in hindsight.

After trying various different bedding systems none of which worked very well I have to say I this year I have cracked it. I have saved loads of money & time into the bargain.

I have deep littered with a base of 5 bags of megazorb, which soaks up the wet really well (you could put more down but this seemed about the right level in a 12x12 box) wood pellets could also work for this but you would have to put more in as bags are small. Then I topped up with some shavings bought from High Park shavings which are pretty much the same as bedmax but a lot cheaper. I think I put 7 bales in on top of the megazorb to start off but you could do it with any brand if you already have them in. This gives you a really deep bed which I think is the key with a wet horse whatever you use, it must be really really deep. Just take the pooh out & do not disturb more than is necessary. If you have it deep enough but with an absorbent base the wet will not make its way to the top. After a week I added 2 more bales of shavings and then 1 bale of shavings per week & no more !!! Bed is great it is a lovely solid base, you don't need any rubber mats & no danger of any capped hocks. It keeps really clean and is not smelly and looks lovely (almost ironed !!!) If you are worried about the huge clear out in the spring that is also not a concern, I recently moved into another stable as it became free and did the full muck out, I got 7 barrows out & the rest was clean and was shifted into the other stable. I can't recommend this enough, I spend 10 mins mucking out now & £6 a week on shavings !!!