Shavings

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Stenners

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Those of you that use shavings…. What ones do you use and how much a bale?? Pics of your beds would be amazing too!!
I usually use straw but can’t get anything decent for love nor money near me so thinking I’ll have to go back to shavings.
 
I use bedmax mixed in with pellets, it makes a fluffy absorbent bed and although a bale of bedmax is pricey I probably only put one in every couple of weeks ?

I skip out with a poop scoop and rake which is a lot easier than a shavings fork.
 
The people I work for use Hunter shavings. I’ve never used them before, at other work we use Bedmax which I really like.
Hunter are small flake, the bales are massive. They take some breaking up because they are so compressed but are lovely.
 
I use Bedmax with a scoop of pellets underneath for the wet patch. I’ve used a fair few types of shavings and always go back as they are pretty much dust free and make a deep supportive bed.
 
Do you have a link to the Bedmax shavings you use and also the wood pellets? Do you sprinkle the pellets down and then put the shavings on top each time you do the bed? I like to let my bed air daily and dry out! Would this work?
 
I just get the bedmax on a pallet from the local farm shop - bright yellow wrapping if that helps! I add a bag of the pellets at a time, probably once every 10-14 days (any more and it gets too dusty for me). They start out on the bottom but get mixed in with the shavings each day as you muck out - still very absorbent though. Absolutely fine to leave up to dry ?
 
We buy our unbranded ones direct from a sawmill. We have to collect, which means I've got the day from hell next week when we take the trailer twice, load twice, unload twice and stack twice. However, they are about £1.50/£2 a bale cheaper than the delivered ones and the quality is always very good, better than some of the branded ones we have used. It's worth shopping around to see what there is locally.

Last year we could not go and collect due to pandemic restrictions so we did use some branded ones. One was really big flake and worked well but is currently around £7.50 a bale - I'll try to remember what they were - but our second load was almost as fine as sawdust and a bale didn't last nearly as long as usual.

It is worth shopping around to see what is available locally and working out which work best for you.
 
I put a feed scoops worth of pellets on the clean wet patch every day once I’ve mucked out, pulled the bedding to the sides etc, then pull the bed back down on top. I have quite a thick bed though so I find the pellets just sit underneath and soak up the wet. Probably wouldn’t work with a thin bed, and mine is very predictable with his wee so I don’t need to spread the pellets around! Just means I don’t waste shavings, and one bag of pellets lasts a couple of weeks like this.
 
I use maga spread they are large flake made by same people as Hunters they are £10.50 a bale they make a nice bed though I have tried cheaper ones but always go back to them.
 
MegaSpread, I get them delivered for £9 a bale, had to use 2 Cheshire Choice bales to get as much bedding as one MegSpread.
 
Vida Stallstro or unbranded small flake with a large bed of pellets. I much prefer small shavings with my wood pellet bed, large flake shavings like blue frog, megaspread or bedmax just don't give me the stability I prefer.
 
Stenners said:
Those of you that use shavings…. What ones do you use and how much a bale?? Pics of your beds would be amazing too!!
I usually use straw but can’t get anything decent for love nor money near me so thinking I’ll have to go back to shavings.
Click to expand...
I used bedmax and aubiose.

mare I dig her pee bank out every 2 weeks and put a fresh wood pellets down in that area only

Don't like Shaving per say anymore
 
NinjaPony said:
I put a feed scoops worth of pellets on the clean wet patch every day once I’ve mucked out, pulled the bedding to the sides etc, then pull the bed back down on top. I have quite a thick bed though so I find the pellets just sit underneath and soak up the wet. Probably wouldn’t work with a thin bed, and mine is very predictable with his wee so I don’t need to spread the pellets around! Just means I don’t waste shavings, and one bag of pellets lasts a couple of weeks like this.
Click to expand...

I've been thinking of trying this method this winter ? good to read someone else does it.
 
Unbranded standard ones. Nice heavy bags you have to break the shavings up they’re so compacted. Occasionally you get a light bale that’s almost sawdust. They are small flaked too. Friend uses Carrs Billington ones which are much lighter but more expensive bales. Also larger flakes too which I don’t like.
 
We have 3 horses, we have used shavings, straw, pellets etc but they were all too expensive when you have 3 horses. I now collect sawdust from a woodworking company. I go with my trailer & collect 6 or 7 huge bags of sawdust. The bags are automatically filled from the machines. I use that on the floor of the bed. I then take my horsebox to another place & I fill builders bags with shavings. Normally I collect 5 or 6 bags. At each place hey don't want paying but I always take boxes of biscuits for them to have on their tea breaks. I only go when I am getting low, sometimes they phone me to say they've got loads & would like me to collect if I can. I always try to help them. This arrangement has saved me hundreds if not thousands of pounds. ;)
 
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