Shavings - a small whinge and recommendations wanted

[suestowford]

I've been using Woodpecker shavings for years. I liked them as they were flaky enough to be comfortable for the pony to lie on, and more absorbent than the larger flake ones like New Flake. But this year I have been really disappointed in them. They're more like the economy cattle grade shavings - very dusty and tiny little flakes which tend to pack down into a hard bed. I am having to use a dust mask when sweeping up or putting the bed back down, and I don't think they should be like that.
I will be contacting the company to see what they have to say about it but I would also be very glad to hear from anyone else who has also noticed a difference in them.
I would also like to hear of anyone's recommendations for alternatives to Woodpecker shavings as I doubt I will want to buy those again once I've used up this year's lot.
Thanks

 

[cumbriamax]

I'm sure woodpecker will be glad of the feedback and will hopefully be able to provide you an explanation and hopefully rectify this.
I've never heard of Woodpecker but I have generally used Jenkinsons Natural Flake as they are readily available and very compacted so loads in a bale(they can take a bit of breaking up though). Also really like Bedmax shavings.

 

[Cowpony]

I use Snowflake standard. I moved to that one from Nordic as I kept finding big bits of wood in the Nordic.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I use megaspread bit more expensive but far better than any other brands I have tried.

 

[GoldenWillow]

I've found Bedmax to be the most dust free shavings of all I've tried if this is important to you. I use the big flake ones but they do a smaller flake one as well.

 

[blitznbobs]

I use bedmax and snowflake — depending on whats available- in an ideal world i would put snowflake on the bottom and bedmax on the top- but its not an ideal world so they get whichever i have in

 

[NinjaPony]

I've gone back to the original big flake bedmax. They make a really nice supportive best, and they are largely dust free. I just use a scoop of pellets underneath in the wet patch to help absorb it. My pony loves his bed, he's always lying down which he doesnt do if the bed isn't supportive enough.

 

[Chappie]

I prefer LittleMax to BedMax, I find I get a fuller and fluffier bed. I don't have a lot of choice in my area from suppliers but happy with LittleMax.

I like a "white" bed and am a fuss pot and find it generally okay to work with, don't get loads of wastage.

I also find I get more in a bale of LittleMax than I do Natural Flake.

 

[suestowford]

I don't have a lot of choice in my area from suppliers but happy with LittleMax.

This is a problem, there don't seem to be many brands available in the usual shops but I am certainly going to look into some of these other brands and see if they are available.
Thanks all for the suggestions

 

[my bfg]

Not used Woodpecker but I stopped using Hunters as kept finding rubbish in them, crisp packets/choc wrappers/plastic/metal staples etc. I went onto straw
Our yard uses Eventus, both grade A and grade B, they both look really good and make a great bed
As they sponser quite a few riders there's a few discount codes about to