Pelleted Bedding

[Cherokee Rose]

After using shavings for several years..I have just started using the pellets and so far I'm liking them. Does anyone else use them and like them.... or can there be some problems with them. They sure are alot easier for storing and carrying...please share your thoughts...........Carrie

 

[Frankie]

I am a huge fan of Woody Pet/ Equine Fresh. I have been using it for several years and have no problems. It is easier to clean, less dust and smells way better.

I will say I do not use it for new foals.

Also add just a touch of shavings in the winter. I think it makes for a better warm bedding, but the horses may not care.

 

[wildoak]

I've been using the pellets for several years and love them - much less odor and easier cleanup. Through trial and error, I've decided what works best for me is to put the pellets down first, and then add about a quarter of a bag of shavings over them. Softens the bedding a little and keeps it from being so slippery until the pellets start to break down. I do not wet them as a rule, except sometimes in the summer when it gets so hot and dusty here.

Jan

 

[jayne]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE pelleted bedding. I have tried probably every different kind of bedding known to horse-dom, and can't believe it took me so long to come to this. It's like cleaning a giant litter box and the stalls are so clean, all the way to the mats. The pee spots are even easy to pick up.

I went to a pasture and waste management class put on by my local conservation district/extension office and the were strongly in favor of pelleted bedding as well. It is good in your compost pile and there is less of it to clean out of the stalls than, say, straw bedding. I have a clydesdale, two bigger donkeys, a pony and two minis and truly I only have one wheelbarrow full a day in the winter. In January and February I dump the stall waste on my veggie garden (so about 60 wheelbarrows full), leaving it fairly mounded then wait until mid-May when it's all nice and broken down and then it's rototilled in. I have a garden the neighbors envy every year.

The only downsides I have run across is that the pellets are kind of like ball bearings when you first put them in the stall, so I water them down just a little bit to start the breaking down process. Another downside is that if the construction demand is down, then they are not making as many pellets and you are competing with people who use them for their wood stoves and the prices go up and availability goes down. I make sure to buy mine in August when demand is low and you can often find sales. I use about 2.5 tons a year and it sits neatly on two pallets in the corner of my barn. Lastly, the wood in the stall waste somehow effects the nitrogen in the soil as it decomposes, so I found that I needed to add nitrogen to compensate. No biggie.

It will be interesting to watch this thread to see what other people think of it!

 

[susanne]

jayne,

The decomposition of wood does indeed deplete nitrogen from the soil, but this is minor in my experience. The small amount of sawdust from pellet bedding in my compost pile serves to break up the clay. My garden soil is friable even in the midst of winter.

I love pellet bedding...I use the regular wood stove pellets, so long as they are labelled 100% pine or fir. I tried shavings and hated how thye left standing pools of urine on the stall mats.

I have heard that someone is marketing a blend of pellets and shavings -- might be worth looking into.

A distributor in Canada mentioned that they have experimented with shredded coconut husks, which is supposed to be very cheap and very absorbant.

If we had a closed barn, I might experiment with shredded paper -- I've read that some people love it. Somehow it seems fitting for junkmail to end up as equine toilet paper -- I just don't want my personal information blowing all over the place.

 

[luv2ridesaddleseat]

I've heard nothing but great stuff about using pelleted bedding. The only thing that would bother me is having to hose them down a bit in the winter. I freeze in the cold. Just to have to lug out the hose and spray down my bedding would be a killer on some days.

 

[Watcheye]

We love the pellet bedding. Generally we put down some pelleted bedding first and then regular shavings on top. Works great!!

 

[Reijel's Mom]

I've heard nothing but great stuff about using pelleted bedding. The only thing that would bother me is having to hose them down a bit in the winter. I freeze in the cold. Just to have to lug out the hose and spray down my bedding would be a killer on some days.

Not sure how big your stalls are but I just use a watering can

.

 

[susanne]

I've heard nothing but great stuff about using pelleted bedding. The only thing that would bother me is having to hose them down a bit in the winter. I freeze in the cold. Just to have to lug out the hose and spray down my bedding would be a killer on some days.

Once you have a bottom layer of broken down pellets, you can add new pellents without hosing it down. The new pellets will wick liquid from the existing bed, plus the loose sawdust will prevent the "marble" effect when stepping onto whole pellets.

I would be roundly scolded if I moistened and broke up all the pellets. Mingus loves rolling on the fresh pellets -- I guess they massage his back.

On a dirt floor, the pellets don't need watering at all. The bottom layer of pellets mix with the dirt, "seasoning" the stall floor like a prized cooking skillet.

Ah, yes...the zen of stall bedding...

 

[eagles ring farm]

I love the pelleted bedding too

we do not wet it down when we start a new stall

we just put them on the mats and they are broken down within 2 days

and seem not to bother the horses then just add more as it gets low

The only thing to watch for is young foals trying to eat the pellets

they have to investigate everthing

When we have a young foal we keep some woody pet mixed with water

and broken down in one of the big rubbermaid horse troughs we have from

when we had full size horses then just add from there

The first week after a foal is born we usually use hay as bedding

on top of broken down woody pet

It is costly to get started if you have alot of stalls but in the long run

it is way cheaper (more per bag but use so much less)

And takes a lot less room to store compared to shavings

We used to go through 100 shavings every 2 months

now we only get about 2 pallets (72 bags) of pellets a year

 

[Relic]

We've used pellets for a number of years and l love them...a new bag down in a clean stall and the minis go crazy rolling and rolling over them. l don't wet ours it's usually flat within a few days and so much easier to muck out then if using shavings..l also dump pellets outside in the spring when it's muddy and that really helps a lot to cut down on mud around the barn doors.

 

[Cherokee Rose]

Thanks everyone for your insights..I see most of you do like the pelleted bedding and I'm finding I really do also...sometimes I just do things the same o'le way just because you think you should

Maybe I should do more thinking.... outside the box !!