Wood Pellet Bedding?

3Beasties

3Beasties

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Last winter I used shaving for my TB, apart from the fact it seemed to take ages to muck out (I have OCD!) I got on really well with them.

This year however I can't afford shavings so was going to use straw (which I'm not overly keen on) but have now read a bit about wood pellets and am thinking about giving them a try!

Just wondered if you could help me with a few questions and give me your experiences!

Having looked on-line I can see that they can be ordered in bulk but I don't want to order a tonne of the stuff if I don't get on with it. How many bags would I need to start a bed off with? (12x12 stable with matting but I would want a nice deep bed with banks) I think it would be worth me paying a bit extra to buy enough just to see me through a couple of weeks to see how I get on with it.

As mentioned above I also have OCD when it comes to my stable, is this bedding likely to drive me mad or is it relatively easy to keep clean? Does it feel soft for the horse or does it become quite solid? Can it be moved about easily (swept back or piled up?)

One of my main worries is what happens when we have weeks worth or ice and snow! It's bad enough lugging water outside for the various animals to drink never mind having to wet the bedding as well! Do they need much water to soak them and what's the best method of doing this?

My TB is relatively clean although with shaving I found he would spread the poo about a bit as he moved round the stable and I would have to sieve through it to get the little bits out, what would be the best method of mucking out? Wet out every day? Deep litter? Semi-deep litter?

And finally which Pellets would you recommend? I've read a lot of good things about Liverpool pellets so am swaying towards them at the moment unless anyone can persuade me otherwise?

Sorry for all the questions, Oreos to anyone who can help :D

PS - Would love to see piccys if anyone has any of their wood pellet bed?!
 
I use entirely wood pellets, started with Aquamax, but they're not much cheaper than shavings, I then used Liverpool Pellets several times and they were always really good, I now use Verdo woodpellets as the local merchant supplies them (I like to support local businesses where I can), Verdo have a special offer running in Equi-ads with a tonne at £229.
I intially used 8 bags of pellets, my mare who is normally quite wet was really clean on them and even after the last 2 winters we've had up in Scotland she didn't go through anymore than normal even when she was in for weeks at a time.
If you want to just 'give it a go' I would say 15/20 to be safe (you could probably get away with 10, but that allows extra if you decide to continue), I normally only use 1 bag a week, although I will sometimes run the bed down a bit and then put in 2 bags (I think it may just be me being a bit weird).
Some people on our yard mix them 50/50 they put a bag of pellets on the matting and don't soak them and then put the shavings over the top, they cut down on shavings that way, they're probably using a bag of shavings every 10 days or so.
I find it easy to keep clean and it doesn't go solid, you can get special rakes that have tines closer together. I lift the bed everyday up to the walls and pull it down again
Don't be afraid to wet the pellets and allow plenty of time as you probably won't put enough water on them to begin with and will need to put more on!!!! Once the initial bed is down I don't soak the new ones that much, I put them on the bottom and allow the pee etc to break them down (if I put 2 bags down then yes I did soak them, about a bucket of water to a bag), if you put them on the top and then spread them out without soaking them you notice all the tiny tiny bits of poo that you've missed (if hence why i put mine on the bottom)
Some people on her put the bag of pellets into a skip bucket and add a bucket of water, leave it for 15 min and then go back and empty it out in the bed once they have broken down.
 
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If you are OCD about mucking out you will be farrrrrr better off with pellets, shavings look mucky even with tiny bits left whereas wood pellet bed looks clean. Also the horses (well mine anyway) massively prefer it, it's like a lovely forest floor and much more supportive. No point using tonnes of shavings when they just kick away as the horse lies down/gets up! My horses are much cleaner and more settled on pellets; I use 25% hemp as well just to add bounce and super absorbancy for stinky mare but its probably not needed.

I only wetted the original bed, the subsequent ones just get mixed in and seem fine. But if I do ever wet the odd one I make slits and then pour a small bucket of water in, leave it 10 mins and it's ready.
 
Lots of questions , here is an answer to some of them!
I would think 8 bags would give a nice bed to start and then you should get away with 1 a week in normal usage. I am not sure about the banks I have never tried to make them with pellets but think they might fall down. I completely remove all droppings every day and wet when it comes to the surface , my muck heap is very small since I changed. I think they make a lovely soft bed which is easy enough for me to move / sweep etc but the horses dont usually go through it like they can with shavings. There is no need to wet after the initial making of the bed just stir pellets in and the damp of the bedding will get them to expand. The real bonus is that if you do get on with them you can store a whole winters worth in the same space as a month of shavings. Liverpool wood pellets are great!
 
Banks? I'm not sure how you'd make banks out of wood pellets tbh. I love them but they don't make lovely fluffy snuggly looking beds.

I reckon if you like big beds you'd be looking at 10-15 bags depending on how big you like them.

We didn't like white horse ones on our yard. Liverpool and Chorley wood are both about the same, and good, IMO.

I soak mine by putting a bag in a tub trug and chucking on a normal sized bucket of water. They soak pretty quick and I generally only get through one or at worst two bags a week.

If you're OCD about taking out wet you might struggle though because they're much better if you leave it in and only take it out once or twice a week. I haven't ever needed to water my bed once it's down though :)
 
I love them too. The horse I used to share is on them and I've just ordered a load for my new horse (arriving Monday fingers crossed!) It's super quick to muck out as you can just lift the poo off the top and there's virtually no wastage as the bedding just slips back through the fork. Even if they've moved it around you can just pick up a big fork full and with a bit of shaking the bedding removes itself. When the horse was on box rest it would get a bit compact but we just used a 2 prong fork to turn it over and it went fluffy again. Like other posters I've never tried banking it

I've just put 12 bags down in my new stable with matting underneath. I then used the hose on it. I'm in no rush as he's not here yet so I just did a bit at a time but as a rule it seems to take more water than you think. Agree with other posters that you don't need to wet once you've done the initial bed, just spread a new bag on the top when you feel it needs it.
 
I love wood pellets.

I am OCD too. I can't not do a full muck out each day:P

Wood pellets allow me to have the deep, comfortable, dry bed with my two, dirty, beasts, that I have never been able to afford with other beddings.

I use 13 bags for my start up beds. Most people use 8 - 10, but I like a really deep bed as I find that keeps my two dryer. I only wet the start up bed - I empty the bags in a pile and throw a couple of buckets of water over them.
Once the bed is established, I never bother to wet them again. I figure the wet, Blackpool air will do it for me:)

I posted some pics from when I first started using wood pellets in 2009
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?p=10008407#post10008407

I am trialling straw pellets at the moment. There is a thread on Stable Yard about them.
 
I've been using LWP for 3 years and will continue to do so if the straw pellets don't work out. I tried their Premium pellets, but I found no difference between them and the economy ones. So I just order the economy ones.

A tonne isn't too bad to store, but they also do 1/2 tonnes too.
 
Thanks all, some really useful advice there, think I may give them a go as if I get on with them I think it will be fab!

I don't mind not taking the wet out everyday as long as I can't visibly see the wet and the bed isn't wet for the horse to lie on, due to my new hours at college/work I was going to semi deep litter on straw this Winter but really wasn't looking forward to the smell, so hopefully the pellets will help combat that :D
 
3Beasties said:
Thanks all, some really useful advice there, think I may give them a go as if I get on with them I think it will be fab!

I don't mind not taking the wet out everyday as long as I can't visibly see the wet and the bed isn't wet for the horse to lie on, due to my new hours at college/work I was going to semi deep litter on straw this Winter but really wasn't looking forward to the smell, so hopefully the pellets will help combat that :D
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I work full-time with two DIY horses, two dogs, hubby and a teenager.

Wood pellets are the quickest and easiest I've ever mucked out.
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I can't bear it when I help other people and muck their beds out. I'm stood there forever, shaking the bedding off the fork
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The bed breaks down into a soft sand and it's nice and dry.

Just make sure you mix the bed after you've mucked out. Otherwise the middle starts to go clumpy and damp and the sides become dry and dusty.

If you give it all a swirl, it evens the moisture;)
 
I use a mix of shavings and pellets (White horse) as I love the functionality of the pellets, bit missed the nice fluffy look of shVings.

I have shavings banked up, wood pellets as a base and shavings on top. I don't wet them. The pellets eventually break down and mix well with the shavings which means you get a nice looking bed that is wayyyy more absorbent than shavings alone.

My two are quite clean so I don't need to lift the whole bed, just take out the poo and dig up the wet patch (both have one wet patch in the same place each day) and once a week I chuck a new bag of pellets into the wet patch.

The pellets also make the shavings heavier so they don't move so much.

I get through 1 bag of shavings (max) and 2 bags of pellets per week for two big horses.
 
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