Pelleted Bedding tips?

[gb0831]

Okay so my preferred bedding has always been shavings but I recently moved to a new farm where I do not have anywhere to store them, so for the last couple of months I have been buying bedding pellets by the pallette. They are more spendy than shavings and I feel like I go through quite a few. I have three horses who are turned out daily from 9 am to 6pm and Im usually using 1-2 bags per day for all 3 stalls. Ive found that soaking them overnight helps a little because they break down into more of a powder but I feel like Im still using quite a bit. So if anyone has any tips or tricks for making them last longer or stay fresher for longer please let me know.

 

[Highmileagecob]

I have used them for a few years, but only put them in the pee patch, in the centre of the shavings bed. I wouldn't soak them - I tip the bag out, spread as required, and give a light spray with a hand held pressure sprayer. Just enough to start swelling the pellets. Two 30 litre bags will last up to a fortnight before a damp patch comes to the surface. That is my signal to muck out and replace. Having said that, my horse does have access to a small outdoor compound when stabled, so this is not a complete picture.

 

[Auslander]

Are you doing a full muck out? They are more economical if you start with a deep bed, and don't take the wet out til it reaches the surface, but just as costly as other bedding if you take everything out daily.

 

[spoo]

I switched to straw pellets about 6 weeks ago. I too was on a shavings bed, but have a new mare who is dirty and wet compared to my other horse so I thought I’d try pellets as a cheaper option. I purchased a pallet, so compared to £13 for a bale of shavings, these work out about £5.50 a bag so much much cheaper.

I only have half a bed, with rubber mats down in the whole stable. I used 6 bags to make a bed initially. Didn’t soak them. Gradually over the first few days, they fluff up turn into a soft bed. I have only been taking the poo out as the pellets are so absorbent I struggle to find any wet.

I’m a perfectionist with my shavings bed and like a white bed so the pellets are aesthetically less pleasing, but mucking out literally takes 3 minutes, there’s no puddles of wet, and the bed doesn’t smell.

I think you need to put more in to establish a bed in the first place, and then maintain the bed by adding a bag once a week.

Now I’m over the look of the colour of the bed, I think it will save me a lot of money and plan to switch my other horse once her supply of shavings has finished. I actually enjoy mucking it out now.

 

[Surbie]

Mine thinks straw pellets are a lovely snack, so I only use them in the pee patch, and only soaked. I use 1 bag a fortnight, mixing in with the miscanthus a poo scoop at a time. I use a bag of miscanthus a week and do a full muck out each day. Takes 20mins tops.

 

[spottypony90]

Mix them with shavings and don’t dampen them and they will go further.