Wood pellets PITA?!

[Sussexbythesea]

I only find them dusty in summer when it’s really dry and usually my horses are out 24/7 anyway. I hose the bed down occasionally to keep the dust down and run it down ready for next winter.

I don’t really have any of the issues re dust, heavy etc. Or maybe I just don’t notice it. I don’t throw the bed up just lift a bit at the banks and only sift through the top layer. I alternate between one dry bag placed in the pee patch when I’ve dug it out and then two bags thoroughly soaked in a wheelbarrow before tipping onto the bed and spreading over the top as a fresh layer.

 

[FlyingCircus]

I think possibly they are just not compatible with a box walker (is anything!?). Going to try and dig it all out regularly and start again, as it seems to be when some of it hasn't been refreshed that it gets dusty. Will just have to progressively run it down (I put 6 bags on rubber matting usually - 2 dry and 4 soaked to make a bed, then top up once a week).

 

[Sussexbythesea]

I think possibly they are just not compatible with a box walker (is anything!?). Going to try and dig it all out regularly and start again, as it seems to be when some of it hasn't been refreshed that it gets dusty. Will just have to progressively run it down (I put 6 bags on rubber matting usually - 2 dry and 4 soaked to make a bed, then top up once a week).

My oldie is pretty messy. I have rubber matting but I probably use double the amount to start a bed all fully soaked. Although I just add a lot more at first until the bed is the size I want. Then I only add dry to the pee patch and never move the rest as it forms a pretty solid base that isn’t kicked around. I probably add around 2 a week on average although alternate as per previous post. If the bed is too small it is churned easily and is much harder to manage.

 

[FlyingCircus]

My oldie is pretty messy. I have rubber matting but I probably use double the amount to start a bed all fully soaked. Although I just add a lot more at first until the bed is the size I want. Then I only add dry to the pee patch and never move the rest as it forms a pretty solid base that isn’t kicked around. I probably add around 2 a week on average although alternate as per previous post. If the bed is too small it is churned easily and is much harder to manage.

Problem seems to be that her bed is always touched/moved. I've experimented a little with more/less bedding but she gets it everywhere. It doesn't compact down because she literally wears a track into it and sends it all over the place. Wet ends up everywhere, poo ends up everywhere ? bit of a nightmare

 

[Sussexbythesea]

Problem seems to be that her bed is always touched/moved. I've experimented a little with more/less bedding but she gets it everywhere. It doesn't compact down because she literally wears a track into it and sends it all over the place. Wet ends up everywhere, poo ends up everywhere ? bit of a nightmare

Sounds a nightmare ?. When I had a younger horse and I was very time-limited and on a tighter budget I used to use minimal shavings on rubber matting. Wood pellets would work too. I used to bag up one bale of shavings into 7 black sacks on a Sunday and top the bed up daily after using a snow shovel to scrape up the worst mess and add one bag. Rugs stank but it was cheap and quick and not as stressful as trying to sift out hundreds of small chunks of poo.

 

[SEL]

My box walker was deep littered on them. When I left my old yard and had to dig it out the bed was huge, solid but remarkably smell free. I didn't have a problem with dust in winter but did in summer

 

[asmp]

Problem seems to be that her bed is always touched/moved. I've experimented a little with more/less bedding but she gets it everywhere. It doesn't compact down because she literally wears a track into it and sends it all over the place. Wet ends up everywhere, poo ends up everywhere ? bit of a nightmare

This is my box walkers bed after a night. He is on Laysoft, which is quite a heavy bedding so although he kicks the poo around it doesn’t get buried that deep. I’ve bought various forks to muck out but find it’s quickest with a pair of rubber gloves and a trug to skip out.

It’s no good for a digger though (our other horse), who has to be on stinky straw as he’d wreck the whole bed by digging a hole.