Wood pellets v shavings?

[Crazy_cat_lady]

Am considering switching H from shavings to wood pellets as YO has all the rs ponies on it and they do look easier to muck out.

Just wondering how people have found costs and ease of maintenance? I like quite a deep bed and am putting in on average 2 1/2 to 3 bags of shavings a week, I wouldn't want to deep litter as hate the back breaking clearing it out. He tends to either poo/ wee in one side or there is churned up poo everywhere!

 

[MillionDollar]

I tried them and hated them! I went from using 1 bale of shavings per week to 3 bags of pellets, costing twice as much. The dust was horrid and the horses rugs became filthy. I know lots of people like them but I did not like them at all.

 

[teasle]

Offer to muck out a riding school pony to see how you like it.I love them, use one bag a week, and water the bed in dry, hot summer weather which is when they can become dusty.

 

[MillionDollar]

I should add I tried Verdo, which I have since heard that they aren't as good as other brands!? I'll still stick to shavings and straw though

 

[eggs]

I have had mine on wood pellets for a number of years and wouldn't switch back. I use Five Star Professional for Eden Wood Products (having tried just about every make out there) and buy a pallet at a time which works out under £3 for 10 kg.

I have large stables (12' wide x 20' deep) with rubber mats. To start a bed I put about 20 bags (soaked) in the back half. I skip out daily but only take wet out if it really does come to the surface. The trick is to deep litter it and let a firm base develop. I put a bag of unsoaked pellets in each stable on Sunday and another bag on Wednesday in during the winter and one bag of soaked pellets in a week during the summer.

It is certainly true that your bed is unlikely to look as white as a shavings bed but I can live with that for the speed of mucking out and cost effectiveness of wood pellets as a bed.

 

[milos]

Prefer pellets

 

[Ali2]

When mine were stabled they were on pellets. Loved them. So quick and easy to muck out, very little waste and far cheaper

 

[Lottiedots]

Ive recently switched from shavings to wood pellets.I use Aquamax. I have found them very good. I have a really wet gelding and its the only bedding that i have used that works. I put 3 bags in to start with on top of what he had left in his stable ( or you can start from scratch about 6/7 bags) You wet them down and then just add one dry bag a week. I take out the poos which sit on the top so really easy to clean and then the idea is that you mix the wet into the dry. If i have a really wet patch i take some out. You dont get a fluffy bed if thats what you like but I also add 1/2 bag of shavings every now and then to bulk the bed up. Its saving me so much time mucking out and you dont get the strong ammonia smell.

 

[vallin]

I really like them, but IMO they work best when deep littered as a proper base forms and they don't churn up.

 

[Spring Feather]

I have been mulling over using pellets but they're not that commonly used over here, and I've never seen a pellet bed in my area at all. Can someone please post a photo of pellet beds for me please? :smile3: