Tips on using wood pellet bed?

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FollyFarmEC

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www.follyfarmec.co.uk
Hi

We are running a trial of 5 star Wood Pellets, and the info is confusing, the bag says 4.5 liters of water, website says from 5 to 10 liters and it doesn't seem to last as long as everyone else is saying.

So what are your tips on getting the best out of this bedding?

Thanks
FF
 
I use their pellets and put them in a large trug, add water until I can just see it around the pellets and leave to fluff up. It doesn't completely break up but is half 'sawdust bits' and half in softer pellets. Once a week I take out all the wet and add one bag soaked like this, mixing it into the existing bedding. I skip out poo daily and if wet gets to the top I take the soggiest bit out and mix the rest in with the drier bedding to make the most of its absorbency. I have a quarter bed about 2in deep on top of rubber matting. My horse is turned out daily 8-5.

Hope that helps
 
sorry to hijack but i dont understand about these pellets -do they dry back out or does the bed stay damp? im interested in them but a bit sceptical TBH
 
unicorndreams said:
I use their pellets and put them in a large trug, add water until I can just see it around the pellets and leave to fluff up. It doesn't completely break up but is half 'sawdust bits' and half in softer pellets. Once a week I take out all the wet and add one bag soaked like this, mixing it into the existing bedding. I skip out poo daily and if wet gets to the top I take the soggiest bit out and mix the rest in with the drier bedding to make the most of its absorbency. I have a quarter bed about 2in deep on top of rubber matting. My horse is turned out daily 8-5.

Hope that helps
Click to expand...

Hi

Do you know how big your trug is, 40L, 30L etc?

The problem we have is we are taking more out in a week than 1 bag replaces which makes it the same as shavings and removes the point of moving over.

Thanks
FF
 
unicorndreams said:
I use their pellets and put them in a large trug, add water until I can just see it around the pellets and leave to fluff up. It doesn't completely break up but is half 'sawdust bits' and half in softer pellets. Once a week I take out all the wet and add one bag soaked like this, mixing it into the existing bedding. I skip out poo daily and if wet gets to the top I take the soggiest bit out and mix the rest in with the drier bedding to make the most of its absorbency. I have a quarter bed about 2in deep on top of rubber matting. My horse is turned out daily 8-5.

Hope that helps
Click to expand...

I was just reading this and thinking, that method sounds very familiar.... then I realised it was you :)
 
I've been trying to learn to love pellets for about 4 months, but have admitted defeat now. I just don't like the bed, although its easy to muck out, and can't wait to put down the new bedding, which arrived this morning, just after I had bunged in a big bale of shavings to keep him ticking over!! Grrr!

He doesn't seem to like pellets either, wasn't lying down much/at all until I put shavings in, and now I can't get him up in the mornings!
 
mmm i have to say im not keen on the bed being damp at all. im currently using a bale of shavings on rubber matting a week per stable and my beds are dry (i take out all the wet everyday) i turn the bed so its fluffy and clean and TBH its only cost making me look at alternatives -if something else would give me a dry clean bed i would try it but im just not sure:rolleyes: (both my horses are grey and the fact that they STAY grey on a dry shavings bed is a huge bonus):D
 
archiepoo said:
mmm i have to say im not keen on the bed being damp at all. im currently using a bale of shavings on rubber matting a week per stable and my beds are dry (i take out all the wet everyday) i turn the bed so its fluffy and clean and TBH its only cost making me look at alternatives -if something else would give me a dry clean bed i would try it but im just not sure:rolleyes: (both my horses are grey and the fact that they STAY grey on a dry shavings bed is a huge bonus):D
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that is what I am saying, there are dry, but if you leave it 'long' enough they will become wet.

We are still in trial mode, so I have alot learn still, but damp bed isn't an issue.

:)
 
Wood pellet beds are no damper than any other bed if worked properly. In fact they are the most absorbent bedding on the market.

Personally, I cut a large x in the bag, fold in flaps and add about half a bucket of water to each. Use an aubiose or similar fork to take out poo and any wet that has reached the surface. Mix in dry and tidy.

I always make sure any scraps of hay are also removed.

It is not a "pretty" bed though so anyone looking for a "nest" for their horse should look elsewhere but horses are not nesting animals - just look at what they lie on out in the field! Banks are never high.
 
Hi,

I am also trialling the 5* bedding, and I have the same problems as you. I never considered my pony to be wet before, but I am having to take out a lot of very big wet patches about twice a week, so it is not really any more cost effective than shavings. It is easier to muck out though. I realised this when I got fed up of them and bunged a bale of shavings on top a couple of weeks ago! I have used a couple of bales of shavings for my banks as well.
I had a sample of the Liverpool pellets too, they are pretty much the same as the 5*

I ONLY added water the the bags when I set up the bed though, when I top up my bed I put them on dry and mix them in with the existing bedding; I thought this is what you were supposed to do?!

Not sure what bedding I will go with next year...!!!
 
When I start a wood pellet bed. I put the bags in dry and spray over with the hose. I don't really wet it, this gets the top layer of pellets fluffed up. When the horse is in they stir the bedding up which fluffs it up more. To muck out I just remove the poos and leave the wet. I take out the worst of the wet about once a week and mix the rest in with the bed. When I add new pellets I always add them dry and they are mixed in within an hour or so of the horse being in. I use 1 new bag a week.

This method works really well for me, he never has a wet bed and by the spring when I lift his rubber mats it is totally dry underneath and there is no smell at all.
 
FollyFarmEC said:
Hi

Do you know how big your trug is, 40L, 30L etc?

The problem we have is we are taking more out in a week than 1 bag replaces which makes it the same as shavings and removes the point of moving over.

Thanks
FF
Click to expand...

I have used them for four years. Even the cleanest of the seven horses here needs 2 sacks a week. I have now changed over to straw and miscanthus pellets as they don't need pre wetting. I find I use less of these than the wood pellets, but still like to add at least two sacks a week for the beds to stay nice. Two of the horses need a bag in every other day! I have tried every method known to reduce this but cannot. However, our horses are in 21 hours a day at this time of year and so this may be the difference.
 
I moved over onto a wood pellet bed a few months ago now, and it has taken me a while to find what works best for us....

I didn't 'start' a wood pellet bed, but added pellet to my rape bedding until it was pretty much just pellets - worked fine for me. I have quite a large stable and keep a deep bed, so do put in more than 1 bag per week. I skip out daily, and take out the wet patch once it rises to the top - it goes quite a distinctive dark orange colour when it needs taking out. If the bed has run down a lot, I cut an x in the bag and add half a bucket of water then mix into the bed. If just adding to a decent bed, I just tip a bag or two onto the bank at the back, then sift forward onto the bed as needed during the week. When all the hard pellets have gone, I add another bag.

The hardest thing is mixing damp bedding into the bed - it feels so wrong! It does however actually work, and helps to keep the rest of the bed stable and firm. It feels wrong to keep wee in the bed, and to add water - but it really is great :)

It really depends on the bedding though - my local supplier has 5* and that's what I started with and got hooked on. Another supplier had Verdo pellets at half the price so I got a bootful, but they just aren't as good, and had me wondering whether I needed to move off pellets...
 
I'm using five star at the moment and find the best way is to have a deeper bed and use less water when adding a new bag (they seem to absorb the damp air in this weather plus my boy treads them in and breaks up any whole pellets). I ad about half a bucket of water-was adding 3 quarters but found it too wet.
 
mcnaughty said:
It is not a "pretty" bed though so anyone looking for a "nest" for their horse should look elsewhere but horses are not nesting animals - just look at what they lie on out in the field! Banks are never high.
Click to expand...

I also subscribe to the 'horses are not nesting animals' theory, but the big thing for me was my horse not lying down on a pellet bed (mainly fluffed up, with a bag of pellets added dry once a week). As soon as I put in an emergency bale of shavings to tide me over, he started lying down again. He is of course, a complete git for disproving my theory! He doesn't lie down in the field either. Big ponce...
 
Hiya
The way I use them is I started with a deep shavings bed then once a week add in the bag of pellets dry. Wet horse gets two, pony mare gets one. Same day each week. I have found that a deep bed works the best. I take out the wet each day, because the bed is deep you can easily see a pit in the bedding where horse has weed, I scrape away the clean take away the sodden wet patch, scrape bed back over hole giving it all a bit of a mix. I don't ever lift the bed. It's very clean very dry and very quick to do. Both neds seems happy and it doesn't move around at all. I have found that it also mixes in well with wood chip bedding for those who don't like the look of pellets. The pellet bags are fairly small but at just under three quid each it's still by far the cheapest way I have found to bed my neddies. Also I am incredibly dust sensitive, straw makes me positively I'll, dust extracted shavings make me wheeze. This stuff I am totally fine with. Oh and I don't have banks... Hope this helps! ;)
 
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