What's a normal amount of wood pellets to get through?

A

Annagain

Well-Known Member
Joined
10 December 2008
Messages
16,194
Visit site
I know I've always been lucky with Archie in terms of mucking out but Charlie is more than making up for it. Archie gets through one bag of wood pellets a week but Charlie easily gets through 4. I expected to get through maybe 2 a week with another horse but feel like 4 is excessive. Have I got off even lighter than I realise with Arch or is Charlie particularly disgusting? There doesn't seem to be a greater volume of anything, it's just EVERYWHERE and all mixed in - it's just one little patch of wee and no poo in his bed with Arch. Nothing I can do about it, I was just wondering whether I'm right to feel so hard done by with C!
 
I think it depends how you manage your bed tbh.
If you only use pellets and try to keep things pristine then I'd easily put a few bags in. I have one messy gelding and i actually put probably one a week or every 10 days because I semi deep litter and top up with big flake shavings (and also sweep their hay shrapnel in which would bring some people out in hives :eek::D)

when the top layer starts to look grotty then I dig out the wet and throw a new bag into the hole. I don't wet them.
 
When I had stabled ponies on wood pellets, I would probably be adding just one a week, but like MP, I would start with a very deep bed, take out poo twice a day and remove the wet once a week and just mix in the new bag dry. Mind you, both ponies are geldings so the wet patch tends to be central in the stable.
Perhaps put more pellets in to start with?
 
With Arch, I take the wet out every day because there is hardly any and add a bag unsoaked every Saturday (i just have time then) Every three weeks or so, I only add half unsoaked as there's enough built up to only need that much and soak the other half to top up the rest of the bed around the wee patch. His bed is pristine but only because he keeps it that way, I'm not precious about it. With Charlie I take the worst of the wet out every day as it's squelchy and have to add a bag of unsoaked about every other day to do this, maybe every three days. I also have to soak a bag every week to top up the rest of his bed as a lot of it ends up getting taken out as the poo is everywhere and all mixed in with bedding. It's hard to get the poo out wiothout taking a load of bedding with it. The sweepings also go back in his bed to the wettest spot in a bid to reduce the amount of fresh pellets I have to use. His bed is medium depth I'd say. Maybe I should try adding more without taking any out.
 
Some horses just don't work on woodpellets. Baycob is great on them, as she doesn't kick the bed around and scatter the poops much. Wonkydonk is awful on them as she drags, digs, kicks, scatters and just generally makes a complete mess. Admittedly she's awful on most bedding due to it, but anything deep litter-ish is a no go, so I just use a thin layer of whatever's cheap on top of Mayomats and expect to strip it completely each time she's been in.
 
Mine has about half a bag a day of soaked pellets to top up his bed. They are mucked out in the morning including wet taken out and then skipped out three or four times more during the day. He isn't the cleanest horse, but not that bad. We are very fussy about clean beds though.
 
That was about what I was doing with The Beast on wood pellets. Marginally better with Easibed on top and semi-deep littered... got her on straw now and it, frankly unbelievably, way way way cleaner. Plus much cheaper. I would never have tried her on straw (I hate straw. Hate it) but it's what I can get easily with minimal people contact and what a difference. I think the key is making it very deep so the very bottom layer where the wet collects is out of reach of massive stompy hooves....
 
This time of year is the worst as they’re in longer. I get through about 2 every 4-5 days with my old boy and take his wet patch out daily as he’s a digger and mixer. My younger one gets through about 2 a week and I take his wet patch out every 4-5 days as otherwise it domes. They’re on rubber matting with about half the stable covered in about 6 inches. I’ve noticed the Firepower pellets I’ve recently bought are coarser and don’t seem to last as long as the unbranded ones I’ve got.
 
I cant keep my gelding on them - he sounds like your Charlie. He creates a nest in the middle of his bed every night and it looks like a whirlwind has been through it. He's grim!

Pro bed has proved the best for him but anyone with OCD about pristine beds needs to close their eyes near his stable. He can turn a beautiful white bed into shades of brown literally overnight.
 
He’s only in 12 hrs overnight so it does seem a lot. Ironically, his bed was pretty clean when I got to the yard tonight, mainly as he’d seemed to miss his bed with his wee! I’ve added more to the worst wee spot, to see if that makes a difference. After years of mr perfect bed it’s just a bit of a change and I’m still working out how to manage it for the best.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top