Wood Pellets.... Yay or neigh??

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ILikeThemHairy

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So, the new horsey is going to need bedding. Ive always used shavings before but these wood pellets sound like snazzy little things. Has anyone used them? How have they worked out for you? Im thinking a 750kg pallet will do me for the winter... ?
 
Definite yay! Have a very wet messy gelding was using 3 bales of shavings a week and that was just cutting it! Feet were getting thrushy from standing on wet bedding but since using pellets I can maintain a nice dry bed with 2x 20kg bags a week! Took a while to work out best way to manage it but will never use shavings again
 
Yay and Neigh!

Got a pallet from Liverpool for the start of winter. For horse number 1: older boy, always been very messy in the stable, they have been fabulous - suddenly he has a gleaming white bed from which you can pick the poo and little patches of wet so so easily. Horse number 2: young chap, fundamentally cleaner, poo all in a patch, but his bed seems to get wet so quickly - every 2 days it's a horrible mess and I need to take out loads.

My conclusion at the moment is: for horse 2 it's about the same effort as shavings. For horse 1 it's far easier, as he was ghastly to muck out before. So I'll stick with it.
 
No no no! I hate them! My horse is seriously wet but i was convinced he would be fine on them, biggest waste of money ever dont reccomend them at all. Only good thing i found is they take 2 seconds to muck out but other than that they are horrible and i would never even consider using them again
 
I love them. For my very clean older boy they are super cheap (bad a week at £3.70) and stay lovely and dry/soft. Filthy younger boy, they are easier to muck out and cheaper, he goes through 2/3 bags a week but would be on 2+ bales of shavings!
For both of them I find less wastage, and had to recently use shavings for a couple of weeks after yard move and couldn't get over the smell!!
 
Definite yay, and the 10k bags from liverpool are lovely and white if you maintain the bed so it stays that colour. Otherwise you can just skip out during the week which takes 5 minutes and then do wet removal at the weekend. I find that works really well, and if you established the bed well to start with you only need to add 1 or 2 bags to make up for what you remove.
 
I don't like them, they were really heavy to muck out and hurt my back and they didn't look comfy for the horse. Also our mare was really wet and they just didn't work on their own. What did work though was a pellet base with shavings in top and just getting the wet out once a week.
 
Defo yes
Have tried couple suppliers - some are better than others in terms of the absorbency. Love how quick they are do each day - I tend to take wet out twice a week and not disturb to much. Took me couple weeks to work out how to manage them.
Shavings I find seep the wetness and go mulchy - where pellets contain the wet far more in one place.
Straw does not absorb the wet and stinks to high heaven you can smell the wet on the horses and rugs as far more as well - disgusting.
Would never go back to any thing else again - and I was seriously old school with proper banks and up to door etc.
 
googol said:
Definite yay! Have a very wet messy gelding was using 3 bales of shavings a week and that was just cutting it! Feet were getting thrushy from standing on wet bedding but since using pellets I can maintain a nice dry bed with 2x 20kg bags a week! Took a while to work out best way to manage it but will never use shavings again
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This could be me!^^

You Wont Forget Me said:
No no no! I hate them! My horse is seriously wet but i was convinced he would be fine on them, biggest waste of money ever dont reccomend them at all.
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Why?
 
I use them along with my shavings

my mare is very messy & wee's at every opportunity excitement, nerves, for the sake of it even though a trickle comes out! :rolleyes:

one good thing is she always goes in the same spot! so i simply put the pellets down in that area and it lasts about 3 days which helps my shavings last longer as she always has a deep bed as im soft :o and it seems to work well for me
 
There aren't enough words for how much I hate them.

They don't make a proper bed, they're a faff and take too much time farting about to get them down, they look horrendous, and they smell vile!
 
cinnamontoast said:
Why?
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I used 13 bags to make first bed and within a night the wet had all been absorbed and there was a big solid bit in the middle of his bed with the rest soft, i tried leaving wet in for a week but it just didnt work so resulted in taking wet out every day and needed 4 bags a week. They dont look comfy, they arent - my horse lies down every night on shavings or straw but your lucky if he lay down once a week on this - It is extremely heavy to remove and i just hate it! Also worked out a lot more expensive!
I think if you had a horse who wasnt as wet it would be a lovely bed but never again will i waste my money
 
spottypony said:
I don't like them on their own but they work well mixed with shavings.
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This is my experience, has took me a fair few weeks but have now found a system that works for my gelding. I have a big messy lad and he used to stink to high heaven on straw and shavings was too expensive.

His stable is fully rubber matted, he has about two thirds of it with the wood pellets down at about 10 inches deep, i take the wet out twice a week (Tues & Sat), put the slightly wet (but not stinky) on his banking's. On a Saturday i put whole pellets down in his wet area, and two bags of pre-soaked pellets down on top of his bed along with a small amount of shavings. Throughout the week i poo pick twice a day (am & pm) and sprinkle a small amount of shavings on top.

I find the shavings lighten the bed and make a better consistency. His stable does not smell, his rugs are dry (and i know he lies down) and his feet are dry i.e. no thrush.

I know it sounds like a faff, and tbh at first i thought so too, but he is so much cleaner that although i like the idea of a big deep straw bed he is far better on the wood pellets.
 
I am using them as a base under straw. It is working out brilliantly. The beds no longer smell and the beds are alot drier in a morning when i muck out. I was only going to try it out in a stable that has 2 ponies in but i now have it in all 3 stables as i love them. I don't think i would want to use them on their own as a bedding but under the straw bed i am finding them fantastic :D.
So a YAY from me.
 
Sorry to hijack your thread, but I'm considering moving to wood pellets too. My main question (and sorry if this has been answered elsewhere, but didn't see it anywhere) is can they be deep littered (e.g. not getting wet out until spring) or not?
 
casinosolo said:
Sorry to hijack your thread, but I'm considering moving to wood pellets too. My main question (and sorry if this has been answered elsewhere, but didn't see it anywhere) is can they be deep littered (e.g. not getting wet out until spring) or not?
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Yes, they work best & are most economic deep or semi deep littered :D
 
micki said:
I am using them as a base under straw. It is working out brilliantly. The beds no longer smell and the beds are alot drier in a morning when i muck out. I was only going to try it out in a stable that has 2 ponies in but i now have it in all 3 stables as i love them. I don't think i would want to use them on their own as a bedding but under the straw bed i am finding them fantastic :D.
So a YAY from me.
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This is what I have done. My girl is very wet and I used to take 3 barrows of straw out every morning, using this system the most I take out now is half. I would like to use just the pellets but I'm certain she would hate it, she just loves to roll in and kick around her new bed of deep straw.

So yes, it's a YAY from me.
 
I'm using shredded egg box bedding for one of mine. Its extremely absorbent, better than any other bedding i've tried.

I get mine from Walmsley premier bed near Leeds
 
I've used pellets for 4 years now, a deep littered half bed on rubber matting. They're always dry though not white, my horse lies down every night and her feet look wonderful. All the poos stay on top and I mix the wet in with the dry, it never seems to smell unless I put new stuff in and then it's a gorgeous pine scent. Mine come from Corley Biowood.
 
Good:
I needed absorbent bedding because the boy had thrush. It's crazily absorbent.
I needed comfort so he could lie down, he's obviously laid down every night so far and to me, it feels like sand, like a tempur mattress for horses, moulds to him!
The stink was frankly embarrassing me! There is now no smell at all and no wet patches.
It takes minutes to muck out and wasn't wrecked when I left him on for a day and a night this week. Normally, I had to add two bales of shavings a weekend that was mean and a rubbish small bed. This stuff has just expanded daily.
I can just sieve it to get out the poo, so no bedding is wasted.
He's on (mostly) box rest and is horribly messy so I wanted something that would last. I haven't had to add any more yet-tomorrow will be a week it's been down.

Bad:
Blow me, it's heavy! I mixed it up a bit yesterday and nearly did myself an injury! Solid stuff!
It's a swine to source unless you get a big delivery.
People think you're mad and want to know why you have sand down!!

I'm very new to pellets, but I honestly can't see me going back to anything else given the economy, comfort and practicality.
 
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