Pellet bedding (strawmax?)

[Grace06-Queenie]

I’m curious about pellet bedding as I currently have my mare on shavings which she is fine on but I feel like there is always a lot of waste when I muck out and I was wondering on anyone’s opinion about pellet bedding, like if they think it’s better, less waste? And any brands that they specifically suggest as I have only really researched strawmax but it seems great just want other people’s opinions on it

thank you

 

[05jackd]

I use strawmax on the bottom and then straw on the top on a large 20x12’ bed. I really like it and have noticed that is a lot more absorbent than using straw on its own.
I prefer to wood pellets.

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

Our horses all ate it. As in not just nibbling, eating whole Mouthfuls like we had poured pony nuts on the floor ??‍

 

[poiuytrewq]

Our horses all ate it. As in not just nibbling, eating whole Mouthfuls like we had poured pony nuts on the floor ??‍

Mine do too if I don’t water it. I know the straw pellet companies seem to say pour the bags out and they will just break down dry. All my horses just shovel it in though!
Ive not used Strawmax as it’s not available everywhere yet but I’ve used Concorde and Sun-e-bed.
I prefer the colour of woodpellets and do mix the odd bag in to lighten my beds up but in general love them

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

Mine do too if I don’t water it. I know the straw pellet companies seem to say pour the bags out and they will just break down dry. All my horses just shovel it in though!
Ive not used Strawmax as it’s not available everywhere yet but I’ve used Concorde and Sun-e-bed.
I prefer the colour of woodpellets and do mix the odd bag in to lighten my beds up but in general love them

Straw max and Concorde tried and we just couldn’t keep the beds dry as we pretty much had to soak them fully before we could let the horses in. I was cheaper on straw and my friend with her big messy gelding was using two bags a week so more expensive than a bag a week of shavings and the bed was just a brown mush

 

[holeymoley]

Strawmax is fab. I use it as a base with straw on top. Much more absorbent than wood pellets and a far cry more absorbent than shavings/sawdust.

 

[Deleted member 150717]

I’m curious about pellet bedding as I currently have my mare on shavings which she is fine on but I feel like there is always a lot of waste when I muck out and I was wondering on anyone’s opinion about pellet bedding, like if they think it’s better, less waste? And any brands that they specifically suggest as I have only really researched strawmax but it seems great just want other people’s opinions on it

thank you

A lot less waste age especially if the horse you are mucking out it messy. Even better if it’s clean it will take you 30 seconds lol. Before I went on to straw I had pellets and always watered it down just so it would civ through the fork better. I guess it’s personal preference.

 

[willowblack]

We’ve been using concord for nearly 2 years. We wet the first bed because we had one out of three try and eat them but he stopped and hasn’t since and too ups go in whole and he doesn’t bother with them.
It is great stuff. So quick and easy to muck out, hardly any waste unlike a straw bed and is so absorbent that the wet stays in a really small patch so you can dig it out easily.

 

[TPO]

Not a pellet but I use chopped straw in the form of Nedz Pro.

So much less waste with no dust (priority for me) and I find it much more absorbent and cleaner than shavings or wood pellets.

 

[Regandal]

I use a straw pellet product called Ugie Valley, with a covering of shavings on top. Amazing stuff, very soft and mucking out is a breeze.

 

[oldie48]

I use straw pellets, changed from wood pellets are they are better to put on the garden. The only horse that has tried eating them was Fatty but he was permanently on a restricted diet, even he only ate them if they were totally clean so for him I used to mix the new lot in well to the existing bed. If you like white beds, they are not for you, but if you want absorbent, eco friendly, easy to store bedding, they are worth a try. Mine come from Pellet beds, he's a nice guy who is very helpful and his bags are recyclable which is a bonus.

 

[HBB]

I am using Strawmax pellets under Littlemax shavings and so far I am very impressed with how absorbent the pellets are and how little shavings I need to take out.

 

[Apizz2019]

I found little ponies like eating straw pellets so I switched to megazorb and aubiose.

I deep litter and take the wet out once a week.

On shavings I was using 3-4 bales a week with lots of waste.

With megazorb and aubiose I use 1 bale of each per week.

 

[honetpot]

I did a test and straw pellets are 50% more absorbent than good quality wood pellets. I tried Concorde and Sunebed, and they both held 150mls water to 100 grms of dry pellet. I think the Sunebed works better, its a slightly less compressed pellet, so fluffs up quicker.

 

[HBB]

I am using Strawmax pellets under Littlemax shavings and so far I am very impressed with how absorbent the pellets are and how little shavings I need to take out.

I am resurrecting this thread as I have now changed my mind about Strawmax.
I was happy with it for the first few months but once it broke down it made a hell of a mess in the Bedmax shavings, smelled damp and created dust. I ended up running my bed down to get rid of it and now only use Bedmax, I am lucky my horses are clean.

 

[poiuytrewq]

I am resurrecting this thread as I have now changed my mind about Strawmax.
I was happy with it for the first few months but once it broke down it made a hell of a mess in the Bedmax shavings, smelled damp and created dust. I ended up running my bed down to get rid of it and now only use Bedmax, I am lucky my horses are clean.

Yeah, I did try the bedmax ones and they were about the same imo as all the others. I’m surprised at my above response saying I loved straw pellets ?
I no longer use them. Seriously dusty in dry warm weather, my beds got dirty looking really quickly in the winter, I had to keep piling new in to keep them looking half decent.
I’m back on normal straw and have lovely looking beds that don’t take ages to rifle through for tiny bits of poo.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I am resurrecting this thread as I have now changed my mind about Strawmax.
I was happy with it for the first few months but once it broke down it made a hell of a mess in the Bedmax shavings, smelled damp and created dust. I ended up running my bed down to get rid of it and now only use Bedmax, I am lucky my horses are clean.

I use the megaspread shavings but put wood pellets on the floor where they wee and it keeps the bed so much drier and I hardly throw any shavings out, and even if the pellets get a bit mixed in the bed still looks nice and clean and light it really has made a huge difference to the amount of shavings I use now.