wood shavings ,

[Mike007]

That's how the shavings we use are made. Absorbency seems to relate more to the type of wood used, rather than to anything else. I have actually found our sawmill ones to be better than commercial shavings, as occasionally we run out (holidays etc) and have to buy a 'normal' bale - the difference is huge. The 'normal' shavings soak up the wee on point of entry, so the bed is wet at the top. The sawmill ones let the wee go through then soak it up from the bottom - hence a drier bed.

If you want to produce and sell shavings for horse use though, I believe there's some kind of control on that, as the wood pellets produced for fires are cheaper than those for horses, and specifically say not for animal use - think it's a VAT charge or something.

Also consider that other local places (if you have furniture making companies etc in your area) probably already do sell their bagged up shavings for very little, to those that know about them - I've known of some places to give them away for free, as it costs them a lot per year to have them collected and incinerated otherwise. We pay about £5 for 8-9 bags, and that'll last us two weeks.

Thanks for a very interesting reply. I can see that I will have to do some experimentation regarding types of softwood. You are right about the VAT thing. Bedding carries full 20% VAT but Domestic fuel is only 5%.Its the same with straw. Bedding straw 20% ,Feed straw 0%. I dont think furniture factories are a concern around here and I have found that you can get some pretty nasty types of timber in the waste.

 

[Leaf]

I have some experience in this area and if you are chipping wood for your own use then you can do as you want but if you are to sell it than the moisture % does matter. Think of it like a sponge a sponge that has been wetted and rung out absorbs far more water effectivly than a dry sponge, equally a saturated sponge can absorb no more. Bedmax the market leader will dry to around 14%. If you just chip roundwood you will be at 50% moisture. If you bale at this % you will have a lot of mould spores which is not really acceptable.