Questions on pelleted bedding

[clanter]

@S1969

One 8 cubic ft bale of pine shavings is $6.19 (regular), fine is 5.5 cubic ft for the same price

competition here has the pine bedding (small. medium or large flake) at under $5 per bag, pellets the same (if bulk bought) Sure there are places that are charging the near $7 per bag but there are several feed store chains here that competed head to head

We at first bought direct from the mills, minimum purchase was half a truck load …we did that for several years. I do not remember what we paid for them then (1990s) but the cost now is pretty much the same as it once was as pine bedding shaving is actually a byproduct of the lumber industry rather than a manufactured to specific use product such as lumber or plywood.

[sascha]

@Pico_Banana

@Equibrit

The more pellets you use the easier it is to manage.

Remove manure and work urine in to the bed every day.

Really? I scoop out the urine spots everyday. I guess that’s why I go through four bags a week per horse (same as shavings).

I use about twice the initial bedding or more (12 bags for a 12x12 stall). That makes a deep enough bed to do semi-deep litter. I do NOT mix the urine with the bedding. It goes to the bottom and forms a pack.

Once a week (sometimes every other week in the winter if they’re out all day) I do my usual pick of poo, then scrape off the remaining bedding from areas I know have pee underneath and take out any pack that is ‘wet’ pack - dark and has an odour when disturbed. Level everything back and add 2 bags dry pellets on top to keep the top of the bed nice for the rest of the week. Movement in the stall breaks down the pellets and I only sprinkle if they get the least bit dusty.

About once a month I turn the whole stall over to loosen up any dry pack and catch any stealth wet spots I may have missed.

It’s a bit of work on wet pack removal and turn over days, but regular just pick days I’m out in under 5 minutes and my horse has a consistent soft bed that doesn’t stink. I do use baking soda after I remove wet pack.

[ecileh]

Thank you, everyone!

I bought 10 bags yesterday at TSC and am going to give it a try in one of the three stalls. I will report back.

[S1969]

@ecileh

Thank you, everyone!

I bought 10 bags yesterday at TSC and am going to give it a try in one of the three stalls. I will report back.

That’s a great way to do it - a side by side comparison.

My kids did this once upon a time for a 4H project; it wasn’t very scientific because I only have 3 stalls and each stall gets used as a run in. But, they put straw in one, pellets in one, and shavings in one. Measured the input and the output and timed how long it took to clean.

Pellets won in that competition, but again, not scientific enough (e.g. could have been 3 horses pooping in the straw stall throughout a 24 hour period.)

[Simkie]

@sascha

I use about twice the initial bedding or more (12 bags for a 12x12 stall). That makes a deep enough bed to do semi-deep litter.

About how deep does that get?

I generally bed very lightly, but have been managing an injured horse on a deep straw bed…which is awesome in a lot of ways, but takes forever to clean, produces SO much volume for the manure pile and is just really costly. I’m planning on moving her back to a deep pellet bed once I’m out of straw, but have to balance depth with not having her walk it out into the run. It’s tricky!

[sascha]

I’d say a good 6-8" wall to wall.

[sascha]

@Simkie

About how deep does that get?

Actually revising that. I think I usually start with about 12 bags and then the following week end up adding another 6 or so and THEN going on to the 1-2 bags/week routine. Sorry, it’s been a couple of years since I started a fresh stall.

[Simkie]

Thanks for the details!

[ecileh]

So far, so good!

I put 10 bags in the moderately messy mare’s stall about 10 days ago and am loving it. I take out less than 1/2 wheelbarrow a day and have not needed to add anything. The other two mares (one messy, one very neat) have had to have shavings added in in that time.

When we are out of the bags of shavings, I am going to switch the other two to pellets and see how it goes. My only complaint has been that the bags of pellets we bought (from TSC) seem to have aeration holes in them, so when I split the bag and tried to add water, it all wound up leaking into puddles on the stall mats. Solved that by spreading them out and then spraying with the hose–which might not work very well in deep winter.

[SharonA1]

There might only be holes on one side of the bags? That was the case with the brand I used (But, there was always a leak somewhere, anyway’ I didn’t worry about it because it got soaked up when I spread the pellets).