Super absorbent bedding!

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Sparkeyboy

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I've decided to move my horses on to rubber matting after many years trying straw beds, shavings, deep littering etc. So far, it's cut my mucking out time dramatically and has saved a lot of money on bedding. Due to working full time I really appreciate the 10 mins it takes me to do them compared to 1 hour!

I have been buying duo bed in bulk but have come to the conclusion no matter how nice it looks, it's really not that absorbent! I have 4 ponies, 2 of which are quite wet and have found the urine still pools even if I put quite a lot of duo bed down to absorb it. (Stables are old buildings converted into stables, so not the best drainage) Can anyone recommend something else which is really absorbent?

Are there other shavings which are more absorbent, or are wood pellets the way forward, do you have to add water to the pellets?

Any suggestions appreciated.

Thanks.
 
I use miscanthus which is very absorbent - I just couldn't get on with pellets and I found having to add water a faff I could do without!
 
Thanks LJR, I did a google search for miscanthus as never heard of it. It looks good, will have to try and find a supplier so I can have a trial run.

I was reluctant to try the pellets because the thought of having to add water too.
 
I am a recent convert to wood pellets! I love them :) They dont look as nice as shavings, but they form a really stable secure base and it takes me minutes to muck them out, and thats with a filthy cob who used to completely trash his bed. Now its a 5min job to skip out 6 days a week, and 1 day a week where it takes 15mins to really sift through and mix in the cleaner, whiter stuff with the older darker stuff :)
 
I use wood pellets on EVA mats. My OH's mare is very wet and messy. Pellets are great, I use about 10 bags to start with, then top up with about two bags a week. I only muck out the wet every other day, it has saved me lots of time and money :).
 
I have to go against the grain and say I HATED wood pellets. Mine is rather wet due to Cushings and in the morning it just looked like he was standing in wet sand :( I tried the 'add 2 bags a week' approach but I found it needed loads more - one week I put 10 bags down. Perhaps it was the type of pellets as the YO only let us have the ones she ordered but I would never use them again. Awful.
 
Megazorb. My mate is clean but wet - the first year I had a complete Megazorb bed which worked brilliantly but just didn't look as nice as a shavings bed. So I switched to shavings but with megazorb underneath - just where she pees. Works brilliantly :)
 
I too hate wood pellets and shavings. I use shredded cardboard. Much more absorbant than either of the other too, and makes a nice squishy bed for them too. Super easy to muck out, and rots down well in the muck heap.
 
The miscanthus or wood fibre beddings are v absorbent but I found them expensive as they don't make up much volume. I would top up with a bag and it hardly made any difference. So I have found using them as a base with shavings on top the best combination for me.
 
I've just started using miscanthus pellets for a really very wet old horse. We were getting through loads of bedding, with a wet soggy, stinky stable. The pellets are really absorbent, no smell at all and are really quick to muck out.

I was slightly concerned about adding water, but it didn't make the bed wet, just fluffed it up. You don't add any water after the initial setup. I'm totally converted. I used to dread doing his stable, it's the easiest to do now and I can't wait to run out of our old bedding to put the others on it!

The pellets I get are from Pellet Beds. I believe that not all pellets are created equal?
 
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