your thoughts on wood pellets ?

I've been happy with them for the last 3 years.

I can't afford 'nice' beds with my two, wet boys unless I use straw (which is both hard work and dangerous to my health).

With wood pellets I can afford to have deep beds. They are smell free, dry and extremely easy to work with.

On the minus side - if you insist on bankings, they don't work very well. They are often only available in bulk and you need to store them. You need to adapt your mucking out style to get the best out of them. If you don't like them being crunchy for the first two days, or if you are in a very dry climate - they need dampening.
 
Do you think I could leave my shavings as the bankings rather then having to bin the lot then use pellets for the base ?
 
I was advised by a company to use their product as a base and if I wanted bankings and the traditional 'white' look you get from shavings, i can put those on top :) not tried yet but am sorely tempted. I have one on Duobed which I love, but my other is horrendously dirty and is currently on straw. I wondered about using pellets as the base with Duo on top?
 
staceyn said:
Do you think I could leave my shavings as the bankings rather then having to bin the lot then use pellets for the base ?
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Pellets mix fine with any bedding. Quite a few people on my yard use the odd bag of pellets to boost the absorption of their main bedding.

It breaks down to a soft sand, so mixes in easily.
 
If you email Liverpool wood pellets company they'll sent you two big bags as a sample to try. Still got mine in the spare room though so cant give you feed back! sorry! x
 
I love them and tend to use them in winter. Very quick to muck out and minimal wastage. When my cob comes in at night his feathers can be wet but the shavings tend to dry his legs and feet really quickly.

I have rubber mats underneath too.
 
lcharles said:
If you email Liverpool wood pellets company they'll sent you two big bags as a sample to try. Still got mine in the spare room though so cant give you feed back! sorry! x
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Do you just email them and ask for a sample? (I'm never very good at that sort of thing?)

I've been playing with the idea of moving to pellets as well so it would be good to test drive before I commit to buying a pallet!
 
I tried one of mine on wood pellets, and hated them :(

However, my new boy is very wet, and I have been considering getting some to use as a base & topping up with shavings, as they were incredibly absorbent.
 
If you want the beds to remain nice and clean looking, I find you have to use around 3 15kg bags a week. But that still only works out at around a tenner. My favourite bedding though is megazorb. Two of the horses are on it here and it really is the best bedding ever, though I think it is best with rubber mats. It works out more exensive than wood shavings but I find it easier to use as it does not need dampening. I don't like mixing in dry undampened wood pellets as it looks horrible when you have a dirty horse. Fine with the two clean ones though.
 
I have used them - my mare is very clean - hardly ever wees in her stable and poos in one corner - but my gelding is a minger:mad:

They work really well for both of them - but especially my boy - they are a base and then there is straw on top. The pellets soak up the wet really well and make his bed less smelly and there is a nice bed for him to sleep on - he like to lie down and have a good kip :D It also means that muckign up is quicker in the week - weekends when I have more time I can lift the wet pellets out - without the pellets he is always a minimum of 3 barrows of wet bedding a day......*sigh* with the pellets its more like 1 and half :D

There are lots of things to consider about using them but they are a good economical option:)
 
Also been considering using them. One of our horses is very wet and we currently use deep litter shavings going through 4x £6 bales a week. Has anyone mixed them into the base and then just put shavings on top as required?
 
use them at work, love them! Have used them as a base with shavings, with shavings bankings and now alone with rubber mats. One bag a week keeps them topped up, and they are so absorbent the wet stays in one small area (even with the one who turned peeing into an olympic sport!). I lift the wet every day as the only downside is that they are very heavy when sodden.
 
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