Info on wood pellet bedding

[Lacuna]

Query into bedding.

Most of the people on my yard are moving from straw over to wood pellets. I'm considering following suit but don't know too much about it. It seems lower maintenance and it will stop fatty from pigging out on his bedding overnight.

How many packs do you need to set up a fresh bed? Any preferred makes? I should add that I haven't got any mats and it will be going down onto concrete - would that make a big difference to maintenance and setup?

 

[Sandstone1]

I use woodpellets and find them better than shavings or staw.
I remove the droppings every day. Then about twice a week I remove the wet and replace with a bag of pellets. I damp the pellets with a kettle of hot water then mix in with the rest of the bed.
I have rubber mats. Think it would work on concrete but you would need a deeper bed.
I have a discount code for white horse if you pm me I will send it to you.

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

The amount you would need to set up a bed depends on the size of stable & size of bed you want in there. As for the makes of pellet bedding it's a personal choice. I've tried quite a lot of makes over the years & found that I prefer Platinum Pellets from White Horse Energy, also Woodlets Pellets from the same company are very good. I needed some a few weeks ago & White Horse were out of stock so I ordered from Liverpool Wood Pellets & they have proved to be good as well. In fact Liverpool Bedding are by far the best packaged, the plastic bags are tougher & you could store them outside where I wouldn't trust the packaging from White Horse as it's pretty flimsy.

All three mentioned above are a similar price per pallet, I do prefer the 15kg bags against the 10kg bags though.

I skip out & remove the pee daily, the pee makes the bedding stick together & it's easy to remove. Hope this helps.

 

[Lintel]

I use 8 x 15kg bags to start a 12x12. No banks.
I slice the bags opens then fill each pellet bag with 1/2 bucket of water.
Leave it for about 15 mins... Normally more as I ride while it's expanding.
I then tip then all out.. Fork through them all and mix, brush and leave
I take out my boys wet patch twice weekly(he saturates one area!!)
I put in 1 bag weekly... He's nice a clean only ever wet in one spot.
In the summer I let it whittle down and disinfect my floor and start again!

I find them AMAZING other than they do dry out a bit in summer. Super quick to muck out... Literally no waste and NO SMELL !!

You won't regret it!

 

[Lacuna]

Thanks Lintel, do you have it on mats or a bare floor?

 

[poiuytrewq]

I prefer to do the same as Lintel but my bags keep splitting or having holes in So I'm currently emptying a bag into a wheelbarrow and adding the half bucket of water!

I probably used about the same 8 bags to set up a 12x12 and 12 for my bigger stable. If at first it doesn't look like a massive bed bear in mind they do seem to grow over the first few days!

I find it infinitely better/easier and less smelly than straw, cheaper than shavings and quicker than anything else I've used.
I don't think pellets work at all well with a box walker (absolute nightmare to try and make look half decent!)
I'm currently using Platinum Plus from White Horse which is great but the bag issue drives me nuts so I'm not sure i will use them again next year.

 

[Dollysox]

I also use the White Horse Platinum Plus pellets and find them excellent. I have a very messy mare and they are so much easier, cheaper and nicer then shavings or straw for her.

I started off with them on rubber matting, but they got wet very quickly, so I took the matting out and put them directly onto concrete, with just a 3 ft wide strip of matting across the front of the stable, and it worked far better.

 

[Meadow]

Brilliantly timed thread as looking to swap from straw to wood pellets but wasn't sure what brand would be best.

Im guessing a brand like woodlets that are advertised as fuel for burners are not the correct grade for bedding? (They appear to be a touch cheaper)

 

[Cassy]

I have been using Aquamax for several years and I prefer them to shavings. I have 3 horses. 2 have an earth floor and one rubber matting. The earth floor is great as some of the wet drains away. The horse on the rubber matting takes twice as long to muck out as she seems to churn it up a lot. I use about a bag a week in each stable. The earth floor ones have a full bed the one on rubber matting has half a bed at the back where she usually does everything. I buy a pallet at the beginning of the winter. It is not cheap but wouldnt go back to shavings.

 

[poiuytrewq]

The fuel grade is exactaly the same. It's just the VAT that's different.
I used Aquamax also last year just to try it out but tbh it would have needed to be significantly better to justify the 3x a bag extra price tag!.... it really wasn't!

 

[xgemmax]

Brilliantly timed thread as looking to swap from straw to wood pellets but wasn't sure what brand would be best.

Im guessing a brand like woodlets that are advertised as fuel for burners are not the correct grade for bedding? (They appear to be a touch cheaper)

It's the same stuff, you just pay 5% vat for fuel ones and meant to pay 20% on bedding ones

I use Platinum plus from white horse energy, the packaging seems good on the last pallet I had although I have had problems in the past. I skip out daily and take wet out once a week. Then put one or two bags in (use hot water from the kettle and they expand instantly!). I don't use rubber mats and started the bed with about 10/12 bags I think, my stables are big!

 

[Lacuna]

Brilliant info - last question. I've seen info that approx 8 bags would be sufficient to start a bed on concrete, does that sound about right?

 

[Maesfen]

It expands as you use it so providing you make sure the bed is deep enough (at least 4 inches) you can push it into a smaller area of the box rather than have it spread too thinly over all of it if that makes sense. My boxes are 11 x 13 and my beds are 3 foot from the front.
Big tips: make sure you rake every piece of hay out of the bed every day as it seems to clump and hold moisture and when you add pellets to the bed, leave them dry; they soon blend in and you don't need to make the bed wetter than it needs be; I've never had one that takes more than one bite of them and spit them out in disgust even a very greedy Dales! Oh and don't think the bed will be OK to add pellets to the next day as ten to one, it will become a mess overnight and you'll wish you had done it the day before, it's sods law!
It also depends on how long your horses are in to how long they'll last. Mine are out all day and I use usually,2 x 15 kg a week but I only skip out and take only sopping wet out when needed. It also depends on the atmosphere; if it's damp, you might need dry in more regularly but if dry, it'll last longer. Been on them a few years and wouldn't be without them now, it's the only bedding that doesn't kill my back too.

 

[Annagain]

Brilliant info - last question. I've seen info that approx 8 bags would be sufficient to start a bed on concrete, does that sound about right?

I use 4 in a rubber matted 12x18 stable but only bed down the back 1/3 so a 12x6 bed. That gives quite a thick bed so 8 on concrete and a slightly bigger bed sounds about right. I'd maybe start with 6 and add more if you need to. It only takes 10 mins to soak so you can add to it easily.

I shop around for the cheapest, which this year were Fire Bright from White Horse Energy. They're the 3rd different brand I've had and other than the bags (the Platinum Plus bags weren't great) it's all much of a muchness. One pallet is enough for us to do 2 big horses and a pony for one winter but all three are quite clean. Arch gets through 1-2 bags a week and M & T 1 bag a fortnight as neither wee in their beds as long as they get out early enough!

 

[Meadow]

Sorry for butting in on the thread but do the beds after a while go really dark and look dirty (like shavings can do if you don't keep topping them up) or do they stay nice looking long as you maintain them correctly? I guess the same goes for the smell?

I use wood pellets for my cats litter and my guinea pigs cage and have been really impressed by it

 

[Bernster]

Sorry for butting in on the thread but do the beds after a while go really dark and look dirty (like shavings can do if you don't keep topping them up) or do they stay nice looking long as you maintain them correctly? I guess the same goes for the smell?

I use wood pellets for my cats litter and my guinea pigs cage and have been really impressed by it

Our yard has just switched over to wood pellets. I'd say it's not a 'pretty' bed as it is dark. I was also going to ask on here about the smell, as there is a noticeable ammonia smell now which we didn't have on straw. Mine is on mats on top of concrete with decent drainage.

Is this a smellier bed?

 

[milliepops]

mine are less smelly on pellets than on shavings, they are hanging on straw.

I take out any noticeable wet patches daily and put new pellets in dry to get max absorption. I have mats on top of concrete, no drainage, internal stables.... every type of bed seems to work differently for different horses/people!

 

[Mouse166]

Hi, jumping on too hope no one minds! My new yard only allows biodegradable bedding and I was thinking of using Verdo woodpelletts as a base (I have a wet mare) , just a question if I may, does anyone bulk out the bed by adding shavings onto the pellets? I was thinking off adding a bag of aubiose?

 

[Micky]

I've been on straw..(eats it and too smelly) shavings (love) and just switched to wood pellets,, they're great but if I had the choice I would go back to shavings, personal choice but I still prefer them (not the big flaked ones, small flakes) ...saying that the pellets are fab to muck out of, good support for my lads feet and no smell! Oh and cheaper!

 

[Meadow]

Hi, jumping on too hope no one minds! My new yard only allows biodegradable bedding and I was thinking of using Verdo woodpelletts as a base (I have a wet mare) , just a question if I may, does anyone bulk out the bed by adding shavings onto the pellets? I was thinking off adding a bag of aubiose?

I was thinking about doing this too as people have said it looks a bit mucky and I'm possibly a little fussy and like things to look clean. Instead though I was going look at adding shavings as a top layer to keep it looking cleaner and a bit more fluffy. It's what I do with my guinea pigs cage although a horse and a guinea pig aren't particularly comparable!

 

[MuddyTB]

I was thinking about doing this too as people have said it looks a bit mucky and I'm possibly a little fussy and like things to look clean. Instead though I was going look at adding shavings as a top layer to keep it looking cleaner and a bit more fluffy. It's what I do with my guinea pigs cage although a horse and a guinea pig aren't particularly comparable!

I do this. I used about 4 bags of wood pellets soaked as others have described to make a base. Then put shavings bed on top.
I take out all muck each day but leave the wet in which makes the base firmer and it still absorbs the wet. It keeps the shavings on top much drier than a pure shavings bed. If wet comes up from the base to the top layer I take it out. I put 1 bag of dry pellets a week on top of the base then recover with shavings, use half a bale of shavings a week.

There's no smell and it's dry apart from the very bottom which is mainly left untouched.

 

[Annagain]

Mine have gone a bit darker, but not so dark that they look dirty. I'd say it starts off the colour of custard crèmes when it's fresh and ends up the colour of digestive biscuits. It seems to be a natural change over time rather than staining as mine doesn't poo in his bed, and only wees in one spot. The wee patch is a very different colour - more orangey so it's not wee or poo making it darker.

There's no smell at all and my boy used to honk on shavings.

 

[poiuytrewq]

Sorry for butting in on the thread but do the beds after a while go really dark and look dirty (like shavings can do if you don't keep topping them up) or do they stay nice looking long as you maintain them correctly? I guess the same goes for the smell?

I use wood pellets for my cats litter and my guinea pigs cage and have been really impressed by it

I think I this depends! My horses bed looks ok but isn't the brand new light colour (it's not dark either but in between!)
Daughters horses bed is the same colour as the day I put it down.

 

[Bernster]

Interesting that no one seems to have the wee smell that mine has. Am going to check with the yard!

 

[Achinghips]

Liverpool pellets are better packaged, white horse a bit flimsily packaged.
I make some dry ish banks and after removing the solids, sprinkle some of the banks down on the wet. The wet doesn't move while the top always stays dry. I take the wet out once a week maximum, sometimes, two weeks. Sometimes I put dry pellets down as a base layer where she usually wees, with the semi dry banks over the top. This is for a very wet mare. If I removed the wet everyday I'd be taking too much bedding. The white horse pellets form a better semi deep litter base that won't move, if you do it this way than the Liverpool ones, IMO.

 

[PaulWilliamson]

Ive started using wood pellets for my 2 horses and much prefer it to straw! Easier to clean and I think the horses prefer it too, I've even been using it for my cat too! The best quality I've found is from SDL Pellets.

 

[Maxidoodle]

Ive started using wood pellets for my 2 horses and much prefer it to straw! Easier to clean and I think the horses prefer it too, I've even been using it for my cat too! The best quality I've found is from SDL Pellets.

Are you linked to SDL? First time poster praising a company sounds suspicious. SDL pellets are average, they’re not the best quality. They also use the Pallet Network who are a complete nightmare (I’ve had multiple problems with them at multiple addresses) and for that reason alone, I would not recommend them.

 

[Cowpony]

I use Miscanthus pellets, but if the shop doesn't have any I've used wood pellets and even straw pellets. They all mix in and work just the same, although I kick some of the old bed on top of the straw pellets in case my horse decides to try eating them. Love them! Much easier than straw and shavings, no smell and you can store more sacks than you can bales of shavings

 

[Jambarissa]

I was thinking about doing this too as people have said it looks a bit mucky and I'm possibly a little fussy and like things to look clean. Instead though I was going look at adding shavings as a top layer to keep it looking cleaner and a bit more fluffy. It's what I do with my guinea pigs cage although a horse and a guinea pig aren't particularly comparable!

If you want to mix something with it I'd recommend woodchip rather than shavings, that way you can still sieve it.

To me the only downsides of wood pellets are the colour of the bed, and the dust which I think of as 'heavy' dust - it doesn't make the air dusty but settles on things.

 

[Jambarissa]

Interesting that no one seems to have the wee smell that mine has. Am going to check with the yard!

I moved back to shavings from wood pellets and notice the smell more. Wood pellets barely smell at all and when I lift my mats in spring it's not usually wet underneath either. I wonder if you've gunk under the mats?