Using wood pellets for the first time - watering (or not) advice please!

Hels_Bells

Hels_Bells

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My very old boy is losing a bit of bladder control due to old age and so has become very wet of late. So have decided to move him on to wood pellets as they seem to be much better for wet horses (from what I gather!). I have seen on here there are lots of debates about loving/hating them etc and also about how to best manage them.

Basically, my main question is - should I water them and if so how/how much water!!?? Am probably going to be putting down 10-12 bags to begin with in a fairly standard sized stable (not sure of exact measurement as home-made stables!!) so wondering how best to do it.

After laying initial bed the plan is to muck out poo and (nuggets?) of wet each day then top up with 1 bag a week (or more if needed).

Does that sound like a plan!?? :D
 
Sounds good.

Put on 5-6 ltrs water to start per bag and water more if required.

Better to under water and add more than over water.

about 25% of the pellets should still be intact once watered.

Leave for an hour for best results.

Must be watered or you and horse will be skating round the stable. :D
 
Sounds like a plan! This weather, probably a watering can would be best when you start than a hose. Just spray the whole bed just enough that it looks a different colour, leave for ten minutes and rake over. If they are still very hard repeat and that should be it; they should have broken down just enough which helps them start absorbing wet. You might find the water runs off a bit at the start as pellets are shiny but I just cover with pellets and stamp on them to break up which stops it.
One tip is do rake out any hay that's dropped in the bed as it always mats and tends to hold the wet and clog up with pellets which is wasteful; you'll see what I mean if you leave it for even one day!
Everyone has different methods, it's just finding out what suits you.
 
Water, water, water.

I love wood pellets, but I have known more 'fond of food' horses to eat the pellets if not soaked, resulting in colic and in one instance, death.

So always water them. I think anyone who leaves them as full pellets is just risking a disaster.
 
Farra is a piddle monster. I put them down and then give a quick spray with the hose so they are just changing colour. Wait 10 minutes and they should be starting to swell and slightly crumble. This works best with her, ie not to wet them too much.

At the moment, we have no water at the yard and so I am this week mixing the dry pellets into the existing bedding and ths is working ok.

I take out the poo daily and Farra does need some wet taken out mid week, but Stinky is ok. I do pull a little dry bedding on top of any wet areas. At the weekend, I take all the wet out, put the older bedding into the middle and clean bedding down the sides so the bedding is constantly changed every few weeks.

This works well for our two. I do use 2 x 15 bags a week with Stinky and 3 bags for Farra, but they are fairly large horses, on ad lib hay so drink a lot of water and are in a lot. This week they can't get to the field due to the sheet ice, so I will probably use another bag each on top of my normal amount.

I personally can't rate this bedding highly enough - saves me a lot of time, back ache and cash.
 
I am another wood pellet fan! I have rubber mats so only have a small-ish bed, but I put a bag at a time into a huge trug, and put water on top and stir - keep doing this until they are the right 'moistness' - I usually use a couple of buckets of water. I start the bed off with aound 4 bags, and take out poo and wet every day. If necessary I top up with pellets mixed with water in the trug, and at the weekend I clear it all out and start again. I never water the bed in-between.
 
When you put them in for the initial new bed then I use 2/3 of a bucket of water per 20kgs of pellets (in a wheelbarrow). Lately, (because my bed is now well established) I just top up with a dry bag and they break down nicely overnight.
 
ive been using pellets for a couple of weeks now and really like them.
When adding new ones im having to add them dry as its so cold here and worried about watering them, whats everyone else doing
 
I put 13 bags down in my 12x12 stables initially. I dump them all in a heap and throw a couple of buckets of water over them.

I only wet them when starting a new bed in autumn.

Then I just add another bag when needed and mix it in.

I have found that keeping a deep bed is best for a wet horse. When mucking out, remove the poo and hockey pucks of clumped wet.

What works best is to fluff the bed while mucking out each day. If they settle for too long they seem to be less absorbant and wasteful. So I muck out aggressively and fluff and swirl the drier sides with the damper middle and this makes them last much longer.
 
Think about it like you're dunking a biscuit in your tea. You are turning the pellets from hard to soft with water.

They won't be wet for long enough for the water to freeze, they pellets soak it and turn to mush within 15 minutes.

I only wet them in the autumn, when starting a new bed off after the summer. For the rest of the winter I add them in dry.

I have started beds off totally dry. It's not a problem, just a bit crunchy the first night:)
 
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