Wood pellets or straw pellets?

[Siobhanelizabeth]

Hi all

Which is preferred, wood pellets or straw pellets, based on ease of use and cost per week?

Thanks guys ?

 

[poiuytrewq]

I got on ok with wood pellets, I found they got a bit dusty in summer but tbh I find a lot of bedding gets a bit dusty on my yard as my horse is super clean so bedding turnaround is minimal. I like it in general, easy to muck out. Very clean and little to remove. I hated it with a box walker! It’s great if you can fork the poo off the top but it dehydrates and breaks poo up to teeny bits with a box walker and proved impossible to keep nice looking.
For my clean, dust allergy horse it will be what I use this winter.
Straw pellets I hated, absolutely hated. Dark, dirty looking very very dusty after just a few days and I needed so many bags to make a nice bed. Lasted all of a fortnight before I took the whole lot out, and that was a task in itself. Barrow after barrow load of dust in my face ?
Yet I see it regularly recommended on fb so I guess there are different brands

 

[poiuytrewq]

Sorry, In reply to your question ease of use, I suppose about the same, cost wise I didn’t pay for the straw pellets (if I had I’d have been gutted ?)

 

[Squeak]

I much prefer straw pellets to wood pellets. I find it a lot easier to not have to wet them before I put in the bedding and find they don't go solid in the bed as the wood pellets do. They also break down quickly on the muck heap and the farmers prefer them to the wood pellets.

I've not used the wood pellets for long enough to be able to compare costs but from what I've seen from buying them there's not a lot in it.

In the summer when my horses are out 24/7 it goes a bit dusty if it's really hot but I always thought that was fair enough and just put some water on them and they've been fine.

 

[Siobhanelizabeth]

I got on ok with wood pellets, I found they got a bit dusty in summer but tbh I find a lot of bedding gets a bit dusty on my yard as my horse is super clean so bedding turnaround is minimal. I like it in general, easy to muck out. Very clean and little to remove. I hated it with a box walker! It’s great if you can fork the poo off the top but it dehydrates and breaks poo up to teeny bits with a box walker and proved impossible to keep nice looking.
For my clean, dust allergy horse it will be what I use this winter.
Straw pellets I hated, absolutely hated. Dark, dirty looking very very dusty after just a few days and I needed so many bags to make a nice bed. Lasted all of a fortnight before I took the whole lot out, and that was a task in itself. Barrow after barrow load of dust in my face ?
Yet I see it regularly recommended on fb so I guess there are different brands

That’s really interesting, I like our bed to look nice hate the dirty even though it’s clean look...
most people use concord straw pellets I think, is that what you had?
Thanks muchly

 

[IrishMilo]

I’ve used wood and friend uses straw. The wood pellets are really dusty and the straw beds never look clean! My preferred bedding now is Laysoft, which is a cheap wood chip, with a few bags of shavings mixed in. The Laysoft is a great base as it’s very dense, and the shavings keep the bed soft and white.

 

[poiuytrewq]

That’s really interesting, I like our bed to look nice hate the dirty even though it’s clean look...
most people use concord straw pellets I think, is that what you had?
Thanks muchly

I’m not sure sorry. My husbands boss gave them to me! They were in clear bags so no branding

 

[oldie48]

I've used both but have stayed with the straw pellets mainly because they are better for the environment. They break down easily and I can put them on the garden without making the soil acidic. tbh I really don't care what colour the bed is and neither do the horses. I don't find it any more dusty than the wood pellets and cost is similar.

 

[Sandstone1]

Ive found the unbranded white horse ones the best.

 

[tallyho!]

If you pelletise then you have to make dust first so anything in a pellet is best avoided (seasoned asthmatic).

Everything is dusty. I've tried everything but there is one which seems a bit sharp and "sticky" at firstl as it's chopped rape straw and bedrap/bliss are actually ok after they've settled for a night. I only sneeze n snot when I'm putting a new bag down and my eyes don't water after that.

Used to use wood pellets... aaaaahtchoo!

 

[eggs]

I trialled straw pellets with a couple of horses and they were fine but beds always looked a bit dark and grubby. Switched other horses over to them and a couple of them started to scoff the pellets so had to remove them from their stables. Use wood pellets in winter but after bed is initially setup I put them in dry. Find them very easy to skip out and dig wet out every few weeks. In summer I use flax bedding as it is less dusty but does take longer to skip out.