Straw pellets

Goldenstar

Well-Known Member
Joined
28 March 2011
Messages
46,023
Visit site
Does anyone use them ?
H is a very big wet horse and uses a lot of shavings in a week , I can get straw pellets easily and wondered if they might be better for him.
How do you manage them ? I don’t deep litter btw .
All information gratefully received I don’t think I have ever seen them in use .
 

JennBags

HHOSS Wonder Woman
Joined
21 May 2002
Messages
18,177
Location
West Sussex
Visit site
Same as wood pellets, just more orangey in colour! You do need to deep litter them or it's not worth doing. I'd put a bag down where he's wet and put shavings on top. The pellets will expand as they get wet but don't be tempted to keep taking them out, you have to have it relatively deep for it to work really well. Then the shavings on top should stay pretty dry and only take the wet out when it comes to the top.
 

eggs

Well-Known Member
Joined
3 February 2009
Messages
5,245
Visit site
I usually use wood pellets but was persuaded to try straw pellets. They are certainly darker in colour than the wood pellets. I trialled them with two horses and they seemed to work quite well so I ordered in a pallet load and swapped the other horses over to them. Unfortunately three of them seemed to think they were walking into an all you can eat buffet and started to scoff them (they do have quite a strong smell) when they were put into their stable. As I was worried they would colic if they just kept eating them I had to whip the straw pellets straight out and put wood pellets back in. I managed to use the rest of the pallet up with the two horses that I had initially trialled them with.

I have one horse on straw as he is very wet and I put a thin layer of straw pellets down where he pees und then put a thick straw bed over the top and this seems to work well. As he is in during the day and out at night I skip the droppings out daily and then twice a week dig out the pellets and wet straw two or three times a week.
 

Nasicus

Well-Known Member
Joined
15 December 2015
Messages
2,179
Visit site
I tried them in the past without deep littering, and hated them. It was a while ago no, so can't remember exactly why I hated them, but I do remember that they looked disgustingly dark and dirty after a couple of days (which I would have lived with if they were good otherwise). I had bought approx 15 bags and ended up giving the remaining ones away. I did not try them as a deep litter, so can't comment on using them for that.
I just stick to wood pellets now, which I have used as a non-deep litter bedding and currently as a deep litter with success.
 

SpottyMare

Well-Known Member
Joined
30 December 2013
Messages
441
Visit site
I use miscanthus pellets that are similar to straw pellets, and have used straw pellets as an emergency supply when the miscanthus has run out.

I love them for one horse (who pees for England - he is unbelievably wet!) - I started with about 8 15kg bags in a 12ft stable, and try to keep them at a level of 2 to 3 inches deep. Skim the poo off the top, and remove the wet when it reaches the top (or goes squish when stood on) - quick and easy to do the stable every night. Love them!

However - my mare didn't get on with them at all. But then she has also not got on with shavings, aubiose, chopped rape straw...etc. The only thing that works for her is a big, fluffy straw bed and I put a layer of the pellets underneath to absorb the wet. But because I have tried her on everything else too, I don't really consider her to be a representative example of their effectiveness :)
 

SpottyMare

Well-Known Member
Joined
30 December 2013
Messages
441
Visit site
Just as an aside, I think there's some research that suggests miscanthus pellets are more absorbent than straw pellets that in turn are more absorbent than wood. My experience of all of them bears this out.
 

BOWS28

Well-Known Member
Joined
27 February 2018
Messages
502
Location
Hertfordshire
Visit site
I've never used straw pellets but i love the woodpellets. When mine are in over night i do a full muck out each day. When they go out overnight, i deep litter and it works well. To buy a pallet they're not overly cheap but once the bed is made, keep it big and i only add 1-2 bags a week. Brilliant stuff and my bed is still white and lush looking!
 

PapaverFollis

Well-Known Member
Joined
13 November 2012
Messages
9,544
Visit site
My current livery yard got a pallet but they mostly went unused because many of the horses that were put on them ate them! They provide wood pellets instead now which I love but I do mix with Easibed as my mare is really wet and churns up the bed and the wood pellet plus Easibed mix just seemed to be more stable than either bedding alone.
 

Goldenstar

Well-Known Member
Joined
28 March 2011
Messages
46,023
Visit site
Mmmmmm not sounding like the answer I won’t in any circumstances deep litter so I don’t think they would suit .
He’s a big horse and boy does he pee . I wonder if easybed might work .
I love the bed max for their feet it’s so good but it’s not great with him it’s so expensive I could easy add a bale a day to his stable .
I wonder if I mixed bedmax with little max that might be better .
 

PapaverFollis

Well-Known Member
Joined
13 November 2012
Messages
9,544
Visit site
I can thoroughly reccommend Easibed mixed with wood pellets for a large, dirty horse! I use it on top of rubber mats for my filthy creature and could probably have got away with 1 bag of each a week... And she's really really wet and dirty. I was using 1.5-2 Easibed though cos I had it available. And I started the bed with about 3 bags of each. Roughly. It evolved from a wood pellet only bed.
 

Orangehorse

Well-Known Member
Joined
25 November 2005
Messages
13,204
Visit site
I use the straw pellets under a straw bed. I think they are more eco-friendly than wood. I'm always thinking about chopping down trees to make into shavings for my horse, whereas straw is simply a by-product.
 

oldie48

Well-Known Member
Joined
15 April 2013
Messages
7,027
Location
South Worcestershire
Visit site
I've used both but on top of rubber matting. TBH I'm not bothered what colour the bed is, it's how it smells and don't find a difference between the straw and the wood pellets. I changed to straw because it is better for the environment and I can put it straight onto my garden. My supplier does both straw and miscanthus (which is more absorbent than wood) and I buy a pallet of half each, using the miscanthus where the horses pee. I have never had a horse try to eat either but the bed it made and watered initially to allow it to break down and I only put the pellets into an established bed, mixing them in with the existing bed and putting extra under the bed where the horse pees.
 
Top