Wood pellet's help

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Bojangles

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Im about to change bedding from shaving to using Ecomax wood pellets I used them on top of his deep litter bed but now we are moving stables so need to start a whole new bed up soon.

He's stable is 12x 14 poss 16 he will have rubber matting at the front dont think I will have enough to lay down all in his stable. Would it work better staight onto the floor?? Or get enough mat's to fill all the stable???? And use the deep littering way with the matting??? I don't want my matting to rot because of it. Do you take wet out once a week or every couple of months???

I like a nice thick bed not bother on colour as I know wp don't stay white. Im worried about him grazing his hock's again

Also Im thinking of using 10-12 15kg bags to set up his bed would this be enough or too much???

He is a big horse and like's to lay down a bit too. Banks??? I havnt done them for year's as the other stable is huge so no need, now Im thinking might be needed??

Any idea's would be so greatfull
 
i would bag up the clean out of his old stable and use as a starter then however many bags of pellets to make the bed up in his new house! i like big full beds with banks, as i find the bigger the bed the less the wet travels, and unless you have a walker and stirrer then big beds work out cheaper in the long run! and less chance of catching his hocks! i take the wet out every day, but your mats shouldnt rot on a deep litter system. pellets are great and you do find your own way of managing them! and what suits the time you have available!
 
Thanks ofcozyoucan. I wont be using any of his old bedding as it's been down for a wee while and would like to start fresh big ouch to my pocket!!! I like big bed's too. Im thinking more now of getting a extra mat then bed down on top etc. He sometime's box walk's if in bad mood!!! He havnt been in a small stable for a while so bed could take a bit of getting used too and to settle down too. Do you wp for banks too?
 
I've not found a way to do banks with wood pellets, they roll down. Slit each bag and water it a bit, not drenched but enough that after a few hours the bag is straining at the seams. The pellets will work well without mats, they don't move about much. But you may find that the mats at the front move. Mats don't rot even when no wet is taken out for months. I prefer to take some of the wet out every three days or so, but only add more pellets once a week, again watered. It's fabulous bedding and supremely easy to skip out each morning.
 
I love my pellets!

I have two wet boys and it's the only bedding I have ever found that keep my beds dry and pleasant to deal with.

I have all over EVA matts with a bedding of about half a foot.

I used to have to just use a sprinkling of shavings or chopped straw as it would get too wet and nasty. Wood pellets have allowed me to actually have a nice bed for the first time in years.

Normal straw nearly killed me!

I rarely bother to wet them, I just mix new ones in.

I've never understood bankings? They look nice but they don't stop horses from getting cast and I begrudge paying for asthetics.
 
p.s. I muck out fully every day. It takes three minutes and it's just half a barrow each instead of two barrows each with other beddings.
 
big banks do help in the casting dept! i cant do a box without big banks! guess its the way i was brought up! my banks are at least 2 to 2'6 high! but i cant do thin beds either and yes all my boxes are fully rubber floored! the hot box is rubber only but only used for drying off and warming up! and on the odd occassion someone has to spend a night in it a bale of shavings is put in. 2 if a big horse!
 
Thanks's everyone for your tip's. I will have a look in tack shop and see how much matting is I won't know what I will need till I've layed down the other bit's got till bank hoilday weekend to get this all sortd. Im not sure on banks yet as I think they need to be big and thick to work propley and as he's not stable not that big dont want to lose the space I will have to play it by ear as I don't want him getting castd either!!

I havnt decide on how I will mange his bed was thinking of deep litter will have to see what he does to the bed firstd!!! Also I hate straw it sends my nose in a right itching and sneezing state!!!
 
I have my ID on mats and pellets. This week I dug out my banks. They have been in place for 2 years and I promise you they were firm as can be, dry right to the bottom and had no smell or dust coming off them even when I was forking them out. I use deep litter banks and they do firm up quite quickly.

If your pellets are still pelleted once you tip them in you arent using enough water. I tip one bagfull into a wheelbarrow and then pour 2/3rds of a bucket of warm water on and leave them to swell and break up. Once Ive tipped them into the bed and forked them over there are no obvious pellets left and the resulting fibre will chuck up easily onto a bank and stay there.

Im sure I read that OP is going to use 14 bags to ostart the bed. If they are the same size as mine (20kg) your horse will need a ladder to get into the stable! I would definitley recommend using the wheel barrow method at least to start off with rather than emptying great numbers of bags into the stable and then hosing just in case you have used to much and cant get the horse in without banging his head!
 
I don't think I like them over summer.

Now mine are living out it's startling how quick the wood pellet beds have dried out and gone dusty.

I will be using shavings in the stables for summer, when bringing in to ride or get ready for PC etc, but will resume using pellets over winter.
 
Mine have gone dusty too. I have a severe dust allergy and strangely they don't affect me.

I haven't had to yet, but I have a watering can if they get too bad.
 
Patches said:
I don't think I like them over summer.

Now mine are living out it's startling how quick the wood pellet beds have dried out and gone dusty.
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Thats why one of the reasons why i dislike them. Dusty when dry and when damp the bedding is mixed with urine :( Either way not very good for the respiratory system and a haven for bacteria when damp
 
teddyt said:
Thats why one of the reasons why i dislike them. Dusty when dry and when damp the bedding is mixed with urine :( Either way not very good for the respiratory system and a haven for bacteria when damp
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We did some experiements with a few different types of wood pellets as I'm very dubious over the source material of the cheaper brands (scrap wood/old pallets that can have had anything stacked/leaking onto them/MDF with toxic glue etc). Put pellets into glass containers, dampened and then left for a couple of days. It was quite scary how quickly mold spores formed in them all. And the smell was nasty. After seeing the results I wouldn't ever want to put my horses on wood pellets - they might be cheap and easy to use but too much risk of long term damage IMO. It puzzles me - if you posted on here about bedding down on sawdust then most people who say no way, yet people seem quite happy to bed down on wood pellets, which bascially turn back into sawdust (and damp sawdust at that!).
 
mrdarcy said:
We did some experiements with a few different types of wood pellets as I'm very dubious over the source material of the cheaper brands (scrap wood/old pallets that can have had anything stacked/leaking onto them/MDF with toxic glue etc). Put pellets into glass containers, dampened and then left for a couple of days. It was quite scary how quickly mold spores formed in them all. And the smell was nasty. After seeing the results I wouldn't ever want to put my horses on wood pellets - they might be cheap and easy to use but too much risk of long term damage IMO. It puzzles me - if you posted on here about bedding down on sawdust then most people who say no way, yet people seem quite happy to bed down on wood pellets, which bascially turn back into sawdust (and damp sawdust at that!).
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Im taking you wetted with water? Urine would be far worse too.

One maker has done a test re dust and shown the results to be significant between brands. Pellets made from virgin wood were obviously better but not many brands are made from virgin wood!
 
Thanks again peps. I did look into other type's of wood pellet's and I have read some bad review over the cheaper one's. As I suffer quite bad with sinuess peoblems last thing I need to be dealing with is a dusty bedding i have used these's one's Ecomax without any problems so far just not setting up a whole new bed finger's crossed it stay's the same!!

I was also put off with the other make's because of what was also put into them etc. These's one's are £7 for a 15kg bag I have been using one bag every other week that was going onto his deep litter base. I didnt want to risk getting the cheaper one's for only to find out that they are not good like the Ecomax one's and having to use more bag's which would be wastefull and costd too much.

I have used a tugger bucket to soak them in and use warm water. I think I will lay down 8 bag's for the first couple of day's and see if more is needed. In the summer he come's in day time and out at night otherwise he get's fat!!!!! I think rubber matting will be best too.
 
I suffer from Asthma and perennial rhinitis (in addition to sneezy from dust, hayfever and general allergy to horses)

I have been using liverpool wood pellets with no problem. I am on earth floors and my beds are constantly drying, so therefore to keep the pellets from going bright white and dusty I occasionally use a watering can (once a week max), however I've found that if I add pellets that I have soaking in a wheel barrow to the point where I covered the pellets in standing water, this is damp enough to eradicate all dust.

Its easy to tell when a wood pellet bed needs more moisture as you can easily move through it when its too dry, whereas a good bed has more body, but is not wet to the touch.

Reference bacteria - wood is a natural anti-bacteria material. So therefore I would refute that the wood pellets are more likely to cause problems than other types of bedding (i.e. straw!).
 
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