Wood pelletts vs straw or miscanthus?

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Thistle

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I just looked at the LWP website and noticed that they now do straw or miscanthus pelletts.

has anyyone used them and what are the benefits? I see they are slightly more expensive than wood.
 
Have used all 3!!!! Wood pellets are ok if you don't mind the pong of eau de pee following you everywhere. I have a very wet horse and found the stable with pellets in never smelt fresh. Miscanthus wa good but more expensive. Have always used straw in the old days, am going to go back to staw after a 20odd year break as I have a very dirty horse, he scatters his poos everywhere, is very wet, has permanent thrush and when I pick out his feet in the morning the wet shavings are packed into his feet. Hopefully I will be able to get some straw for next year, I will try that!!
 
My wood pellet bed never smells , thats also why I use wood pellets as cat litter as it disguises the cat wee smell best ( discovered that in the days I did not have to buy horse bedding so used to buy it the expensive way packed as cat litter ).
 
I think it is management [and horse] I have a non smelly bed on wood pellets as long as I use plenty [only one bag per week is recommended, but I use two ], I pick out any wet but the walls do get a bit of poop and then when it is warm weather a load of sand flies hatch out, which is not nice.
I spoke to a manufacturer of miscanthus pellets, but they were going to be a lot more expensive, ie as much or more than shavings.
 
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I used wood pellets for just under a year. They were very good for disguising smell, but on the other hand I found it quite heavy to muck out and hated the colour of it (permanently the colour of mud) taking into account my mare was exceptionally clean.

Although I would like to note - my views stem around a particular brand that I used and so I am not trying to paint each brand with the same brush. My friend used another brand (can't remember name now) but it was a lot lighter in colour and weight.

Having moved yards I am now back to rubber matting and shavings and much prefer it. Have never used straw pellets or LWP.
 
With foaling, I'm back on straw and while I love the look of it and the foal all snuggled into it, I can't wait to get back to wood pellets again; so much easier for my bad back.
 
i have used wood pellets for the last 3 winters now, mine are all out from march/april till oct/nov so no bedding in summer. i found the LWP seemed to be both darker and dryer, ie dustier (i tried both the ecconomy and premium ones). i now use corley wood pellets and find them much lighter and seem to be more absorbant and a little lighter colour (not that the horses care). i do use more than 2 bags a week each horse, having to use 4 bags (10kg bags) for my 17h WB and around 2-3 per week for the others. they are on rubber matting underneath but still have a good bed on top. i pick out the poo each day and then leave the wet every other day. i find this keeps the smell down to a minimum and keeps the beds clean. much easier than rapeseed straw / shavings/ straw / paper / cardboard. think i've tried them all !
 
Interesting reading the positive comments on the wood pellets, my stable management is good, I muck out thoroughly every day but I still found the wood pellet stable never smelt very nice, naybe I was using them wrong? :confused:
 
Piglet - I was beginning to think I was the only one who found wood pellets a complete pain. I've tried every which way to manage them, tried with 3 different horses and 2 different stables and they either turned to dust or became a soggy morass in a couple of days without topping up with vast amounts of new bedding (much much more than 2 per week!!!). They also gave me a sore throat and cough.
Maybe they just don't work in some stables, perhaps the microclimate is just not suitable - we've had quite an assortment of bedding over the years, know how to handle bedding properly and other things have worked well including straw and the hemp/miscanthus type chippings.

Yet other people who are good at their stable management seem to manage just fine with the pellets!
 
I use wood pellets from Corley Bio Wood for my wet mare I put a 10kg bag in each week, muck out pooh and wet daily have no issues with smell...I can't rate it high enough, when I moved onto my new yard everyone thought I was mad using wood pellets now the whole yard are converts!! :D
 
A friend of mine tried spelt wheat pelletts this winter. She is very demanding regarding the state of her horse's stable.
Her horse is barefoot aslo (he ran a 90 km endurance race this spring, with no hoof boot), and she says that he has nver had such good hooves because this bedding is very hygienic.
Knowing my friend, if she says she is satisfied, I think that most people would be. :D
 
Sorry to hijack but what's miscanthus? Also, apart from price, what's the difference between wood pellets and megazorb? I'm looking to move from shavings as they just aren't absorbent enough, but am a little worried about ability to create banks with megazorb or pellets.
 
I couldn't cope with wood pellets at all when I tried them for my two. Didn't like the lack of banks and the colour of the bed (one of mine is a grey and it was not a great combo)

I have had most success cost vs quality wise using chopped straw (eg Bedsoft, Dixons Dustless, Sundown etc.) as it fluffs up brilliantly and is dust extracted. I have kept these beds as semi-deep litter (lifting wet every 3 days) and only have to top up the bed with 0.5 to 1 bale of bedding each week. When I tried wood pellets I was having to add 3 bags per week per stable.
 
Thanks for the support guys on the wood pellets, I thought I was the only one who had a problem with them. :D :D :D
 
Piglet said:
Interesting reading the positive comments on the wood pellets, my stable management is good, I muck out thoroughly every day but I still found the wood pellet stable never smelt very nice, naybe I was using them wrong? :confused:
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Could be the variety of pellets, some are lighter and fluffier than others, but if you remove pee and poo there should be no smell!
 
For hd poster who said pooh gets in the banks and eventually flys hatch my secret to remove ALL pooh is a tip I got from here is use a garden sieve, does not take long sieve the pooh areas after you have taken the big dollops and removes it all.
I remove wet every day and do have banks uses 2 15kg bags a week but at 3.40 a bag is still reasonable never smells and is so easy!
 
I have tried wood pellets for a whole bed but didn't really get on with it. I sometimes put them under a straw bed in the p** part where it gets really soggy and just take them out every few days. This worked for me with a very messy pony who I wanted to keep extra clean for showing, just added a sprinkle of clean straw every day and pick out the worst..
It funny I love rape,auboise or hemp beds, used them for years and its great for the garden.
 
Lannerch - I'm really pleased you like my garden sieve idea! It works really well taking out all the smaller poo bits - especially when my dirty horse box walks too!

By the way - what make of wood pellets do you use? I'm paying just under £6 for an 18kg bag so I'd be interest to find a cheaper make!

Piglet - try a different brand! My tb not only box walks but pees for England! I skim off the top of the wet bit every day and probably take all the wet out every other day and providing I cover the wet patch with clean and dry bedding then there is no smell at all! And this is from a horse whose rugs would be dripping with wet when I had him on shavings so I'm definitely a convert! Equally so - you cannot be too fussy about all the tiny bits every day but providing you have enough bedding in the stable then it's not a problem!
 
I only have experience of chopped miscanthus (I think, not my beds) and didn't like it much. It was sharp and scratchy and kept leaving splintery bits in me! But apparently it rots down über quick and the beds never smelt at all. Mare now is on straw and it is lovely, but I don't muck her out!!
 
I used chopped Miscanthus this winter from EasyPack. Loved it for my mare who is clean and dry in the stable but suffers from a cough on dusty bedding.

Whilst the stuff made me cough and choke when it first came out of the bag, once down, it doesn't make my mare cough, nor affect me strangely. I've also used Rapport, the hemp bedding. Miscanthus is similar but I found that where with Rapport the quickly formed wet patch rose to the top of the bed with Miscanthus it held it within. We were going 3 weeks without topping up as I just wasn't removing anything other than the poo.

But, with my Shetland whose in a rather small stable and wees for England, it didn't work as I was having to remove the whole bed after 3 nights useage.

He's now on shredded newspaper which works really well. I take out the 3 soggy clumps each morning and the rest stays dry.

So I guess it depends on your horse!
 
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