Straw pellet V horse eating straw

[PurBee]

Hey folks,

Im wondering if i should try straw pellets. There’s a good supply of them near me, unlike other bedding options.

Trouble is, my horses eat straw if bedded on traditional long stalk straw beds.

Do you think they’ll eat straw pellets? The pelleting process is high heat so maybe that alters the smell of them?

Ive read from a couple of people that their horses didnt eat straw pellets but would eat a full straw bed, so that has me wondering if i might also get away with it!

 

[PurBee]

Also, they have a pellet balancer feed so are aware a pellet shape could be edible..

 

[oldie48]

Fatty will eat anything but he doesn't eat the straw pellets. I do add fresh ones to the existing bed and dig them in a bit but tbh I don't think it's really necessary.

 

[Leo Walker]

nope. Mine rushed in, took a huge greedy mouthful and promptly spat it back out. She tried a couple more times, snuffling and picking up one or two and chewing them, and then she gave up and went to her hay

 

[TGM]

I usually use wood pellets and the horses weren’t interested in eating them at all. Trialed a couple of bags of straw pellets and was a bit concerned that they looked exactly like high fibre cubes. They obviously smell quite tasty too as despite me soaking them and mixing in with existing bedding my horse spent ages rummaging through trying to eat them. They are quite dark too so the bed looks mucky straight away and this makes it harder to sort clean from dirty. So I’m sticking to wood pellets!

 

[oldie48]

They are a darker colour but tbh this isn't an issue for me and I honestly don't have a problem sorting out the bed they are no different to wood pellets what I like about them is that they break down much more quickly than wood pellets (which I used for number of years) and can be put on the garden so I don't have a big muck pile, also they are not acidic so much better for the soil.

 

[Leo Walker]

They are a darker colour but tbh this isn't an issue for me and I honestly don't have a problem sorting out the bed they are no different to wood pellets what I like about them is that they break down much more quickly than wood pellets (which I used for number of years) and can be put on the garden so I don't have a big muck pile, also they are not acidic so much better for the soil.

They also don't need soaking, don't get dusty and seem to be more absorbent. I've just accepted the darker colour. Its worth it for the rest. I muck 2 out and take out about 2/3s of a wheelbarrow and takes 5 mins a box.

 

[eggs]

I trialled them with a couple of my horses with no issue so bit the bullet and ordered a full pallet. Unfortunately most of the horses that I hadn't trialled them with treated their new beds as an all you can eat buffet so I had to whip all the straw pellets out of their stables and go back to wood pellets (which they don't try to eat).

 

[PurBee]

Hmmm interesting experiences, thanks for sharing...think ill try a bag of straw pellets and see before ordering a pallet. Wood pellets are widely available here too as an option.
I really want miscanthus pellets! But there’s only one main supplier here, who chips it, so its not very absorbant in largish chips...but they dont eat it, and its great on the muck heap rotting down fast compared to wood based products.
Fingers crossed they dont figure out the straw pellets are edible