Nature's Best (and similar wood pellets) . . . . advice

[wonkey_donkey]

Having just started using this bedding and added my first top up bag and mixed it in with the bed. However, the pellets have stayed in tact and not broken down like I thought they would, even though the bed was quite damp and defo ready for some fresh stuff to be added.
So, is this whats supposed to happen or do you guys do something different when adding fresh pellets ???

 

[Bosworth]

they take time, so if you do it in the morning - some will have broken down by tonight. Just stir it in and leave it, probably means your bed is not as damp as you think. My new bag takes the 7 days to break down - ready for the next bag.

 

[charliesarmy]

I open the bag Chuck about a third of a bucket of water in..leave for about ten mins then chuckr onto bed

I find it starts activating them then let my mare do the mixing when shes running round her stable

 

[Booboos]

I find most of mine have a 4 day cicle:

day 1 bed is very dry, with a lot of intact pellets
day 2 less so
day 3 quite a few wet patches, no intact pellets, might need some new pellets
day 4 definately needs new pellets

I use half a bag every 3-4 days, take out all the pooh every day and any wet that is really wet (at the bottom of the bed when it clumps together).

 

[embonaught]

I add two bags every fortnight. Water first (about third watering can per bag) mix in with old bedding. First night it's still a bit crunchy, second it swells up and stays lovely for about a week. Just remove poo. During second week take out piss pancakes. End of second week, start again.

 

[BlueberryPocket]

I've have just taken delivery of wood pellets but i'm a bit nervous of using them - dont really know where to start. Going to wait until my 2 remaining bales of shaving are finished & throw them in & see what happens. I think it's going to be trail & error!

 

[Delphidazzler]

I changed back in March to Nature's Best and yes it is a learning curve but one worth sticking with! I love it - but do find I treat each bed a little differently - with the dirty mare I sift the top off and chuck up into banks - leaving a base and take out any really wet stuff and put the bag of dry pellets in the middle - this then seems to dry out whole bed! With clean mare just sift through and move around generally and take out wet patch when it has clumped nicely together and put a bag in approx once a week. The pony doesn't really produce enough moisture in the bed to activate pellets so I open a bag get the hosepipe on it and wait until the pellets have swollen up (they usually split the bag so have it nice and near the stable!) and I put one bag in about once a fortnight. I find it fab - and even though you may not have a "white" shavings colour bed I certainly find that mine have less poo in them than a shavings bed and I have never had a smelly bed - even with the filthy mare!

 

[pollypt]

I got mine from Liverpool wood pellets and mine were a nice light colour and have broken down to become a nice light goldy colour.