Pellet Bedding and Freezing Temps??

[enjoytheride]

@S1969

Well, since they expand about 4x as much if you rehydrate them, you need far less bedding than if used dry. They are designed to be rehydrated.

We tested them once when my kids were in 4H; can’t remember the exact volume difference but it was significant. Not rehydrating them definitely results in lower volume - and, at least in my stalls and with the brand I use (TSC) they often never break down anyway.

Once I’ve started a bed I never rehydrate pellets. That’s what the horse pee does. As long as there’s enough already re hydrated bedding left behind I just add in a new bag as needed. It puffs up on its own in short order.

I’m not adding in three inches of hard pellets in a bare stall. I’m adding hard pellets into an already established cushy stall. I don’t see how that’s wasteful.

My mare I only add a bag every 2 or 3 weeks. She’s that tidy. My gelding I add a bag a week and swear a lot.

[S1969]

If your pellets are expanding then yes, you have enough moisture in the bed and it wouldn’t be wasteful. My horses are not locked into their stalls so they don’t tend to wet the bedding enough to make it expand unless it’s extremely wet outside - like nonstop rain. Which we have had some of this fall, and on rare occasions I use the dry pellets to rebalance the moisture in the stalls because they are too wet. But in the winter, there is no way my stalls would have enough moisture to break down the pellets. Sometimes even when they have been wet I feel like they need more moisture because some are still hard and not breaking down - if I had warm water in my barn I think it would help.

I think a bag a week is pretty average. Your mare must be trained to pee in her bucket.

[enjoytheride]

@S1969

If your pellets are expanding then yes, you have enough moisture in the bed and it wouldn’t be wasteful. My horses are not locked into their stalls so they don’t tend to wet the bedding enough to make it expand unless it’s extremely wet outside - like nonstop rain. Which we have had some of this fall, and on rare occasions I use the dry pellets to rebalance the moisture in the stalls because they are too wet. But in the winter, there is no way my stalls would have enough moisture to break down the pellets. Sometimes even when they have been wet I feel like they need more moisture because some are still hard and not breaking down - if I had warm water in my barn I think it would help.

I think a bag a week is pretty average. Your mare must be trained to pee in her bucket.

She pees in one spot in the back of her stall and poops in another spot. She would never think of stepping in her poop. If she’s in for an extended period of time it’s a poop tower and she’s very angry. My gelding poops will spinning in circles and then grinds it into dust. It’s hard to find any poop in his stall at all, and he’s 17 hands. We cuss a lot and strip his stall often.

[Cat_Tap]

What worked best for me was to replace their “wet spot” with dry pellets then cover with my regular “Premium dust free sawdust”. With the horses outside all day my all pellet bedding would freeze.