Kub
Well-Known Member
As above, who uses them and would you recommend them? Advantages/disadvantages? Ta
Wood pellets for bedding - any good?
- Thread starter Kub
- Start date
Flicker
Well-Known Member
If you mean like aquamax, they are very good if your horse is not too wet / mucky. My boy was too wet and it was becoming very expensive for me to maintain the bed at the size I wanted it, so I went back to shavings. But there are some lovely aquamax beds at our yard.
My advice:
Start with a big bed - it costs more at the outset, but you save in the long run because you don't waste as much as you would with a titchy bed that gets soaked;
Try to 'rotate' the bed as much as possible so you can get as much out of it as possible. Wet bits can dry out if you make them into banks etc.
When it is dry, it is a pleasure to use because it is so easy to sort the droppings out.
When it is wet it is heavy and disgusting.
My advice:
Start with a big bed - it costs more at the outset, but you save in the long run because you don't waste as much as you would with a titchy bed that gets soaked;
Try to 'rotate' the bed as much as possible so you can get as much out of it as possible. Wet bits can dry out if you make them into banks etc.
When it is dry, it is a pleasure to use because it is so easy to sort the droppings out.
When it is wet it is heavy and disgusting.
ironhorse
Well-Known Member
They had some at a show venue we used recently -probably wasn't Aquamax.
I found it hideously dusty - for once I was really pleased my horse is a grey - all the bays and blacks were plastered in it.
I also found the wet bits really hard to skip out.
It was a nightmare all weekend and I came back with strict instructions for our YO not to get any!
I found it hideously dusty - for once I was really pleased my horse is a grey - all the bays and blacks were plastered in it.
I also found the wet bits really hard to skip out.
It was a nightmare all weekend and I came back with strict instructions for our YO not to get any!
Slinkyunicorn
Well-Known Member
I use them and wouldn't use anything else now. I have one clean horse and one very dirty horse and it works well for both. The best thing for me is that apart from being a cheaper option than shavings they also save me loads of time. Can muck out both stables in about 15 mins and fill one wheelbarrow.
Theresa_F
Well-Known Member
I have just started on liverpool wood pellets. Only a week but I am so pleased with them. Poo is just taken out and bedding is left. Very absorbant, have not had any wet come through yet. Real test will be when Farra finishes the megazorb and goes on them as she is really dirty.
My pocket is also feeling the benefit - I bought 1000k for £213 so about £3 a bag and one a week to ten days should do me in winter for Chancer and probably one a week will do Farra as well.
My pocket is also feeling the benefit - I bought 1000k for £213 so about £3 a bag and one a week to ten days should do me in winter for Chancer and probably one a week will do Farra as well.
tibby
Well-Known Member
I changed from shavings to Liverpool wood pellets last January when I was finding it difficult to get shavings, I manage to use three bags a fortnight. I do have rubber mats and muck out daily but they are excellent I would highly recommend.
perryhillbay
Well-Known Member
Love wood pellets. My mare is just disgusting on anything else, but one bag of these a week in her stable does wonders!
Kub
Well-Known Member
Well my boy can be quite messy, and the first time I stabled him, he made such a mess I had to take out almost a bale of shavings, was ridiculous!!
I have thick mats now and tend to only use a sprinkle of shavings to avoid it happening again, but there stable slopes forward and all the wet ends up soaked into the concrete at the front, which I'd like to avoid. So wanted something I can deep litter without too much hassle/cost.
How do you go about soaking them to activate them? I don't really have a hose near my stable... :S And how much is delivery from liverpoolwoodpellets?
I have thick mats now and tend to only use a sprinkle of shavings to avoid it happening again, but there stable slopes forward and all the wet ends up soaked into the concrete at the front, which I'd like to avoid. So wanted something I can deep litter without too much hassle/cost.
How do you go about soaking them to activate them? I don't really have a hose near my stable... :S And how much is delivery from liverpoolwoodpellets?
sky1234
Well-Known Member
I've used Aquamax for about 5 years. It's excellent, but you do have to get your head around the fact that your beds wont look as cosy as shavings or straw. Many people who use it don't muck out correctly and the beds become a mess, but if you muck out properly, you have a very economical and extremely clean bedding. Another common mistake is that people try to make it as thick as a shavings bed, which does not work and all you have is too much material to go through.
You need a fine tine fork. To muck out a stable takes 10 mins: quickly go in and take out the large obvious droppings (takes about 2 mins) then where the wet area is, flick off the top dry layer and take out the sodden wet from underneath (3 mins), then I sieve the lot into a pyramid in the centre of the stable (5 mins). This removes all tiny, hidden droppings, and aerates the whole bed. Then spread out into the bed again, this fluffs up bed. The result is that you have pristine clean beds everyday, and it takes half the time compared to mucking out a shavings bed, and you will only need 1 or 2 bags a week to replenish, depending on how wet the horse is.
I tried Liverpool wood pellets as they're cheaper than aqua max, but they're less absorbent and dont break down like aquamax does, so even though they're considerably cheaper, I don't use them.
You need a fine tine fork. To muck out a stable takes 10 mins: quickly go in and take out the large obvious droppings (takes about 2 mins) then where the wet area is, flick off the top dry layer and take out the sodden wet from underneath (3 mins), then I sieve the lot into a pyramid in the centre of the stable (5 mins). This removes all tiny, hidden droppings, and aerates the whole bed. Then spread out into the bed again, this fluffs up bed. The result is that you have pristine clean beds everyday, and it takes half the time compared to mucking out a shavings bed, and you will only need 1 or 2 bags a week to replenish, depending on how wet the horse is.
I tried Liverpool wood pellets as they're cheaper than aqua max, but they're less absorbent and dont break down like aquamax does, so even though they're considerably cheaper, I don't use them.
sky1234
Well-Known Member
Re soaking. Small garden watering cans are what we use. One can per bag when you fist start off a brand new bed. It will expand to about 4 times its original size, so be careful when you start your bed off not to put too many bags in, as it will be tempting to do this, and it will become a monster over the next few days and it continues to expand!
When you are topping up weekly. If your horse is very wet, you might not want to water the new bag, if your horse is relatively clean you will need to water it. This is something that you need to decide on, depending on how the horse is.
When you are topping up weekly. If your horse is very wet, you might not want to water the new bag, if your horse is relatively clean you will need to water it. This is something that you need to decide on, depending on how the horse is.
Kub
Well-Known Member
Ah yes, a watering can! Never even crossed my mind lol.
RobinHood
Well-Known Member
I've used cheap wood pellets but found them quite dusty and the bed resembled sand. I'm now using aquamax and it's fantastic! I have a tap with a short length of hose for filling up the water bucket inside my stable (YOs fab idea!) and it's perfect for hosing down the bed. I put down 4 bags on rubber mats 10 days ago and still haven't needed to put in any new pellets.
teddyt
Well-Known Member
QR- I used them years ago before the recent surge in popularity. The thing i dislike is that the horse is essentially on a damp bed because you have to add water for the pellets to break down and fluff up. If the bed is dry it is dusty so you have to mix a certain amount of urine in with the bed after the initial watering. I dont like the idea of my horse standing (or lying) in bedding mixed with wee. I know it can look clean and dry if managed properly but it isnt, many manufacturers recomend to take out the very wet bits and mix the rest in. Once urine is exposed to the air bacteria breed. Having used it and because of the above i am not convinced, even though it is cheaper than other bedding
saddlesore
Well-Known Member
I really like it. Have used it for a year now and much prefer it to shavings. As for soaking the new bedding, I pop a bag into two tub trugs (about half full) and fill water to the same level as the pellets. I leave then leave them in the tub for 10-15 mins by which time they have absorbed the water, broken down and are ready to be added to the existing bed
dwi
Well-Known Member
I really like them. Wouldn't go back to any other bedding now. When Daisy comes in for the winter she will be deep littered across the back third of ther stable and the rest is mats. I take the poo off the top and dig out the wet when it rises to the top. Cheap, efficient, very absorbent, she doesn't eat it and it doesn't take up too much storage space.