Shavings Shortage

Petalpoos

Petalpoos

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Anyone else suffering from the shavings shortage? Here in Sussex they are almost impossible to get hold of and the price had gone up to £6.30 a bale for the last lot I managed to get. No-one will sell a whole pallet anymore and a couple of suppliers have said the price is going to go up by a pound a bale. I wonder how much of the 'shortage' has been caused by stockpiling?
 
I think everyone is starting to see the affects of the shortage, apparently Hunters have reduced their supply by 50%.
Our yard bought in a load of unbranded ones but they are rubbish compared to the normal hunters we get.
 
We have a severe shaving shortage. Our largest local tack shop is limiting the amount of Hunters you can buy to 6 per transport as me and a friend were planning to load up the trailer.

We have had a delivery of some unbranded stuff but it is rubbish compared to Hunters but yet exactly the same price.

We are talking about switching to Easibed as it is about the same price and is better quality then the unbranded woodchips
 
We had a notice on the board at the yard last night saying shavings were now limited as they were struggling to get hold of them! But did'nt actually say if we are allowed to get our own, or how many we can have from the yard????

Does anyone know which bedding will be readily available?
 
The reason there is a shavings shortgae is because China is buying all the timber usually destined for Europe and UK. As a growing economy and due to the Olympics they are experiencing a boom in their economy as they build structures in readiness for the games.

We have changed to easibed but to be honest it is only worth doing if you deep-litter. A bale is the same weight but does not go as far and nor is it as absorbent, they are also more expensive. Diva is really clean but is on full-muck out and usually only needs 1 bale of shavings a week - she is currently going through 3 easi-bed bales.
 
We had a delivery of different shavings yesterday. Had ordered 3 bales, and got 2 un-branded and one of Bedmax I think. The un-branded we got for about 30p cheaper than Hunters, but the bales don't look as big.
 
I think its starting to hit as i had a long lecture from our farm store guy last week!

Im thinking of switching to straw!!,.....*thinks*,...maybe not!

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I use flax and find it better than shaving I used to get throught 2 - 3 shavings a week and only 1 sometimes 2 of flax a week.
 
I tried these out and i got really annoyed about them sticking to my boots!,...and i couldnt sweep them up as well when it was wet (i have OCD when it comes to sweeping....
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That and my old A-Rab tried to eat it,..so once id spent loads of money on the bed i had to pile it all into my other ponys bed and by loads more shavings! *laughs*...
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We can still get shavings, but they aren't as white as the normal ones we have! We are selling a lot of Miscanthus though, more than shavings, and it's cheaper. Couldn't tell you how much you would use in comparison, as ours all live out!
 
If you can get hold of Bliss bedding its awsome I changed from shavings to it early on..or you could try contacting Sundown products they do a mix of shavings and chopped scented straw

Sundown
 
ahhh you see im quite lucky there is a timber yard thing round the corner from me so i get mine from there £1 a bag and that lasts me a few weeks with rubber matting, and its all dust extracted and everything so im a happy bunny
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Its wierd...flaxy...stuff!

its like,..easibed i think,..but not,...

I dont really know! or how to describe it!,....(someone help me out!
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!)

all i know is that i dont really like it!

..sorry, that wasnt really helpful!

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Yep - I heard about China being the reason for the shavings shortage. Locally, prices have gone thru the roof and/or not available.

I ordered 150 bales of flax and agreed a price and when it arrived 3 days later, the price had gone up by almost 40%!! I refused to pay the new price, so they loaded it all back on the lorry and took it away - they said that they had customers who would pay the top whack for it....

I managed to get 150 bales of Bedmax from my old supplier in Lambourn, who v kindly hauled it all the way down to me but even he said that prices were about to rocket.

The local saw mill say that they can't get the raw materials, so this problem is going to get worse.
 
Basically I think this might be the end of shavings as an affordable bedding!

Unless someone flies out to china buys all the loose shavings and ships it all back to us again...

Our yard manager is pulling her hair out trying to find a direct supplier as Hunters have said they can no longer supply us, Wooburn would not take on any new customers and neither would other large suppliers.
 
Im chagning my whole yard onto Ecobed !!! much cheaper xxx

Worried1 if you want to have a look at it your more than welcome to come up ??

it works out if you buy 4 pallets at £5 a bag !!! you also use less as its more absorbable !!
 
Our supplier just got a full delivery of Bedmax no problem - price the same too.

Bedmax is much better than standard shvings and lasts longer too.

Personally wouldn't go for Easibed, Ecobed or shavings/straw mix.

Have used Easibed and Ecobed in the past and absolutely hated it even with a very clean horse.

Most of the straw/shavings mixes have something put on to make them unpalatable and my lad is allergic to it
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Pretty much got to stick with Bedmax
 
I am paying £6.90 per bag snowflake shavings plus dellivery! Have to get a few at a time as don't have any large transport and our yard hasn't anywhere to store large amounts of shavings. Not allowed straw or any bedding that doesn't compost down quickly or take up too much space. Have to have horse in at night yard policy so backed into a corner really re bedding.
 
Im currently using recycled cardboard, cross cut into approx 1inch squares
Much warmer than shavings, composts faster than shavings, mucks out like shavings, superior to paper
Not sure I would use it on rubber matting--think it would slide
Pay approx £4 a bale delivered, pony has approx 1 bale a week top up horse approx 2 bales. depends on weather
I do use a bedding conditioner to eliminate any ammonia smell.
 
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