I can assure you that in the southern CA climate, it never does turn to mud. It is lovely, year after year.
regarding Southern Cal… wouldn’t this increase the fire risk?
I am on the very eastern edge of the Great Plains but we have to be mindful of wild fire risks
That is an interesting point. I can see it smoldering, but I don’t think sawdust (which is ultimately what it looks like) burns very well.
where I am in summers we often are in single digit humidity …we have removed most exterior wood replacing with JamesHardie siding since it is a cement product that will not ignite when exposed to direct flame or contribute fuel to a fire
The chance of a fire near us is very low, but it is just one of those things I do not want to chance.
When I see humidity in the 8% range I cringe as construction lumber that is kiln-dried lumber is at about 15% moisture
(also during those times of very high temperatures with very low humidity there have been barn’s compost piles catch fire from spontaneous combustion)
Pellet fuel (that stuff some people will use as bedding when they can’t get pellet bedding) is sawdust made into a pellet so sawdust burns quite well.
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Wood pellet fuel is a dangerous thing to use as bedding because you have no idea what woods were used in the pellets. Could be Black Walnut or other toxic trees. This is why each type of pellets are labeled “fuel or bedding” when sold. Local farm store sales folks often ask if the pellets are for bedding or fuel, to warn folks about possible dangers of wrong pellet uses. Folks may think they are saving money using pellet fuel, but Vet expense will off set that as horse tries to founder standing on it!!
I don’t think this risk is limited to just wood pellets. Anytime you buy a wood product for bedding that isn’t specifically marketed to horses you run the same risk.
My old landlord used to try to “fix” the mud around the barn by dumping a load of free wood chips from a tree company each winter. It would make me irate. Not only did it ultimately make the mud worse, black walnuts are very common around here and you can’t tell me they didn’t end up in the mix.
Luckily, the mini-flakes aren’t even pellets, they are truly “micro-flakes” and remind me of sawdust more than anything else. They are marketed for horses. Good points about using substitute wood bedding and not knowing from whence it came.
