Wood pellets what's the best way to muck out??

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Bojangles

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After a very busy weekend laying down all the rubber matting. I ended up getting 4 new mats to fit into his new stable. Thank god my kind oh fitted them, as im just getting over a chest and sinuess infection on antibods!!! All from doing a spring clean in his new stable and without a dust maskd big mistake!! Never again will I be doing that!! So felt so bad over the weekend. Anyway I end up putting down 10 bag's of wood pellets and using bedmax for the banks ( now regrting useing this dam bad idea) I waterd them firstd and leftd overnight mostly all fuffd up nicely not sure on the thickness as Im used to seeing him on a very thick bed. How thick is eveyone's bed?? He in day out at night he does seem tid at the moment. Im just taking the poo's out and leverly off bed etc not sure when to take wet out or to mix it in?? I don't want to mess the bed up by going ott with it lol.

Also how easy is it to move if it's too dry?? As Im not sure if I used enough water??

Im loveing seeing a nice white bed, well not sure on how long that will lastd!! The bedmax wasnt such a good idea as it's a pain to muck out!!
 
Not sure how big your stable is, but I put 35 bags in mine when I started as i wanted a really thick bed and my stable is 14 x 16ft.

I muck out using a fork wider than a shavings fork, I don't shake as other you get tiny bits of poo fall off. I then go over with a narrower shavings fork for that final perfectionist touch!

When I add more pellets, I tip in a wheelbarrow, cover them totally with water (about 2-3 water buckets full) generally leave and tip them in next time I am mucking out.
 
35 bag's god that is a lot and a very deep bed then!! His is 12 x 16 Ive laid it down in a curve style??? Water in one corner hay in the other leaves a little of matting. The bag's are 15kg ones it suggest to use 8 bags for 12 x12. As its only the first couple day's I will see how it wheter or not I add more in??
 
What brand are you using?? Ive gone for Ecomax as I dont want to waste money on the one's that don'e work that good hope that the right move only time will tell ahh!!! I have got another 2 bag's so could put them in???
 
I also have rubber mats and when I started with the pellets I put 5-6 bags in. I take the poo out and the really wet stuff. If there's still a small bit of wet I just mix it in.
 
Ah well worth adding I am on a drying earth bed, so mine drain from underneath (so keeping the wet enough is my challenge as they go white and too fluffy!). I am used to a very thick bed and don't do the whole minimal bedding rubber mat thing :p

I am using liverpool wood pellets, so only costing £2.16 per 10kg bag, hence why I was happy to put in so many at the beginning.
 
Just started using pellets (on top of rubber mats) but using a small amount of shavings as well just for the banks.

My method is to add a kettleful of water to half a bag of pellets (in a rubber trug) and add to the bed where horse tends to pee (they are mares so always pee in the same place into the bank).

We are using about 3 bags of pellets per week (in total for 2 horses) plus a small amount of shavings.

Fiona
 
Ive just turn over all the bed and this cloud of dust came up didnt make cough is it normal for that to happern?? Does that mean the bed need's to be more wetter?? He is on a thickness bed as I dont like little bed's. I will see how we get on.
 
In dry weather, the wood pellet bed used to make me wheezy when I mucked out. The girls at my present livery damp the bed with a watering can before mucking out to avoid this.
 
I use Aquamax on fitted rubber floor. Our stables are big and I would put down 10 bags to start off with, adding a bag once a fortnight or so. I use hot water to wet it and it swells more quickly. The bed needs to feel slightly damp to touch when you've finished, with about 1/6 of pellets left whole (this is what they told me).

To muck out I use one of the forks designed for pellets - I get mine from Aquamax. They have a deeper bucket on them so you can bounce the poo in the fork and not lose it over the side. I fork off the poos, then I take the bed back to the walls sifting each fork load at a time. When i get to that day's wet bit I sift it in with other dry bedding and only take out the wet bits when they forms clumps. I find that by mixing the daily wet in with the dry I have to remove less clumped wet.

Having said all this, I am at the yard all day so am able to keep on top of it. When I've been away for a day the wet seems worse with big large saturated patches and then these come out entirely rather than mixing them in. As the horses are out now except for a couple of hours in the morning I have left the bed stacked at the walls and it has really dried out. If I was to put it back down again I would have to wet it more as now it is dusty where as before I had no problems at all with it being dusty / irritating.
 
Thanks Angelbones. That's what I done today mixed a bit of the wet into the bed. He is only in during the day. I did use hot water much to my poor oh half unhappness as he was the one mostly sorting out the bed due to me being unwell. Do you have banks?? If so is it with wp?? Ive done mine with Bedmax, which is now annorying me as it's harder to muck out!!!
 
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