Wood Pellet Newbie - Advice needed!

MileAMinute

MileAMinute

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Well I'm biting the bullet, me and a fellow livery are thinking of investing in wood pellets in a desperate attempt to be a bit more economical whilst keeping the horses cosy!
As I am a traditionalist at heart and used to straw I could do with some more questions answering if anyone could kindly oblige...! :D

1. I presume mucking them out is just like shavings?

2. Do you have to have rubber matting with them? Bearing in mind I'm only having a little section a on them.

3. Is it ok to deep litter on pellets? I'm currently deep-littering on straw and although I'm dreading pulling it up, it's a brilliant time saver!

Also, what are people's opinions on this bedding? Useful? Economical? Absorbent?

Many thanks :)
 
Hi
1 - yes
2 No but it helps - dont need as thick a bed
3 Yes
4 Very absorbant, very economical, great bedding. Do get dusty when weather is hot and dry, but just add water! Dont look as 'comfy' as a straw bed and do discolour - but these arent major isssues. Got mine from Liverpool Wood Pellets were cheapest at the time.
 
hello, we have just changed to liverpool wood pellets...at first i did not like them at all, my mare is very dirty and wet and the bed ended up horrible. I then had a re think, as she is on rubber matting and i just have a small bed with the pellets on them and its great !! I use about 3 bags a week on my horse, the smell from her bed is not overpowering at all, its easy to muck out and hardly any waste..i love them now, although i would not have my horse on a massive bed of them.but i would not have her on a massive bed of shavings either as she is just to dirty.

I usually soak my pellets the night before, she gets about half a bag a day, but some days she does not need any. I pay 3.50 a bag of pellets so even 3 bags a week is only 10.50
 
Brilliant guys - thankyou very much!
That's very reassuring to know about the not needing matting - I am planning to get it in the new year (when all my spare funds aren't being eaten up by Christmas..!)

My gelding isn't very messy at all which is why I was thinking of it as a bonus - he tends to wee in one spot and his poos are only teeny ;-)

Appreciate the personal reviews too - keep them coming! We are debating between the Liverpool and White Horse Bedding......we are ordering in bulk (pallet full!) so we need to be sure it's the way forward else it's a waste of £200 odd pound!

Though the cat would be kept in eternal supply for his litter tray.... :P
 
I have been using LWP for over a year. Very easy to muck out.

My geldings are filthy but I have found a good, deep bed keeps them clean and dry.

I do have EVA mats for extra warmth.

I clean out the poo first. Then I pinpoint the wee, rake off the top layer of clean and fling out the hockey pucks of wee. Then I mix the bedding that has been dampened and stood on with the dry stuff at the sides. This evens out the moisture content of the bed and prevents it getting dusty.

My two horses would take 5 barrows of straw in the morning. With pellets I take out 1 and a half between them and it takes me a quarter of the time.

LWP now do a premium pellet aswell.
 
LOL, sorry to be a pain but I would give some slightly different answers:

1. No. With shavings you take out all the wet everyday. With wood pellets you need to leave in the wet and mix it in thoroughly with the rest of the bed and new stuff, this is the only way to 'activate' the new pellets. You remove the wet when it is thoroughly wet, i.e. clumpy and orange in colour.

2. No but if you invest in rubber matting you can use very few wood pellets as a litter system and save money adn time.

3. People do deep litter, but be prepared to suffer when you have to remove it. Wet wood pellets clump together creating a solid mass, if you leave this for 6 months you may well need a JCB to remove it.

I think it's brilliant, but some of the cheaper brands are not really suitable for equestrian use as they are not kiln dryed and you will find that they are not as absorbent. I use one bag per horse per week.
 
I've been using wood pellets for over a year, started with LWP, now using Corley Biowood which seems to fluff up more.
I use the pellets on concrete, keep the thickness to a max of 6".
Take out the very wet and the poos every day, evenly spread out the rest. It is the cheapest bed I've found and my horses are all big, smallest is 17:1hh and they all roll in their stables so it is soft enough for that.
 
Absolutely NO NEED to mix new dry pellets with existing ones to 'activate ' them.

Just empty the bag into a wheelbarrow and pour over two thirds to three quarters of a bucket of water. After 10 minutes they are all puffed up and spilling over the edge of the barrow.....and if you use warm water its even better.
 
Good tip about the wheelbarrow. I'm fairly new to wood pellets (couple of months) but I'm finding mucking out a doddle. 5 mins tops per stable this morning - I'm using mats and minimal bed and just take out poo then scrape away top of pellets to get wet underneath with a shovel. I've tried straw, cardboard, paper, shavings and hemp in the past but think I've finally cracked it for ease, economy, speed and horsey comfort. Other big benefit is that it can be spread by the farmer in the spring with no problems.
 
If you add the pellets dry and mix them with already damp you increase the absorbancy of the bed and therefore reduce the amount you need to absorb the wet.

I would only activate using water in a wheelbarrow or in the bag they come in, if adding to the size of the bed or initially laying the bed.
 
I started using wood pellets about 2 months ago.
I bought them from Liverpool w/p who i think were really good- very helpful and very easy ordering and delivery. I got the premium ones but the difference in cost is not huge and as other people have pointed out they do discolour anyway.
I can get away with 1 bag a week really but most weeks i use 2 (i do banks aswell)
I take the poo out like shavings with a shavings fork then scrap up the dry and remove the small wet patch- Personally i wouldn't mix it back in, its still wee after all!
I wet the new bag before adding as my horse is dry and they would just never break down otherwise. I empty a bag onto the floor and tip a watering can over them (i also keep the watering can with a rose head thing on it too dampen the bed if needed with out flooding it)

All in all its a very cheap bedding- cheaper than straw and very easy to muck out. If money was no object i would prefer shavings but i need 2 bales a week and thats £15 compared with £3 so no contest!
 
lannerch said:
If you add the pellets dry and mix them with already damp you increase the absorbancy of the bed and therefore reduce the amount you need to absorb the wet.

I would only activate using water in a wheelbarrow or in the bag they come in, if adding to the size of the bed or initially laying the bed.
Click to expand...

Llanerch Ive dug my wet out this morning and chucked a bag in dry as a test, thanks for the tip....will be interesting to see if I need to use the wheelbarrow method at all.
 
ooh hope it works!

Will be interesting indeed. I am relatively new to wood pellets als but its so far so good. Well thats my excuse if it dosn't work spans :)
 
I tried wood pellets a few months ago and hated them! i tried using them in various ways/with different horses, with and without mats and i really really hated them, i danced around the yard when i used the last of them!
i dont know if brand makes a difference but i got mine from White Horse Bedding - never again will i try pellets!
 
luckilotti said:
I tried wood pellets a few months ago and hated them! i tried using them in various ways/with different horses, with and without mats and i really really hated them, i danced around the yard when i used the last of them!
i dont know if brand makes a difference but i got mine from White Horse Bedding - never again will i try pellets!
Click to expand...

Heathen.
 
I love wood pellets, I order from Uk Wood Pellets. You do have to get used to a totally different way of mucking out but they are soo much easier.
 
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