Pine pelleted bedding...pros or cons

[JMS Miniatures]

I found a company that has the paper shavings close to me so we'll experiment next year. Their shavings look pretty nice too.

 

[Roxane Martin]

I also use the pine pelleted bedding, but in conjunction with shavings. I use mainly in a run-in stall, 10 x 14 foot. I put a bag of the pellets in, and do not wet. I then top with a bag of shavings to fluff around. I really only initially put the bedding in the back half of the stall--they will spread around. I pick out the manure daily but don't mess with the pee. I have found that the pellets absorb the pee really well and cuts down on the odor as compared to shavings alone. However, note that when stripping the stall that the wet bedding will be HEAVY, much more so than shavings alone. I strip the stall about every 2 weeks. I like having the shavings on top for cushion.

 

[mmmorgans]

Is there somewhere in Canada to buy the paper shavings? I have never seen it!!!! I don't really like the regular shavings - and they are expensive. Straw has been hard to find this year. I like straw for foaling - but it is very labour intensive!!!!

 

[Katiean]

I do not have to bed my horses because I just moved them to a full care stable. However, I have guinea pigs. I used to use shavings and boy at the end of the week they could get smelly. They also would kick the shavings all over the rooms they were in. I switched to pellets and there is a lot less smell. No mess all over the room and This is gross, but, in the summer they would get maggots in the wet spots in 3 days. Not with the pellets. As they expand they are too heavy to allow bugs to grow. We clean the cages once a week now unless there are babies. Then we clean 2x's a week and we have no bugs, smell or mess. I think it would be the same for the horses.

 

[albahurst]

Thanks everyone for your responses. Looks like paper shavings and the pellets are everyones favorites. I have no clue where to get paper shaving so may go with the pellets. There is a company like 20 min from me called Guardian and they have both pellets and your regular shavings. With them it says use 5 or 6 bags for a 12X12 stall and you only need to add 1 or 2 bags a week and they say you don't have to strip the stall. But with them they recommend using 1 or 1.5 gallons of water for each bag and that just seems an awfully lot to me. I've seen the pellets at TSC called Equine Fresh and a 40 lb bag isn't cheap and they say 9 bags for a 10X12 stall add 1 or 2 bags a week and they just say mist the pellets and strip every month, ahh no.

I used the shavings at TSC and was not happy with them. I believe the white bag is the flakes and the yellow is the fine. I used the fine.

Thanks!

I love the paper so much, I became a distributor. If you PM me, I can give you the contact for the midwest manager and he will be able to advise you where to get them.

 

[Bonny]

I only used 2 40 lb bags in my 12x15 stall to start,with a big mare in it . I used the equine fresh pine pellets from TS. I picked everyday, and shoveled out the wet. Weekly I add 1/2-3/4ths a bag of pellets. I dont bed deep here in the summer at all, and our winters are mild.

I add the pellets mist with a hose and rake to spread. I wont leave them unmisted, they feel like walking on marble..I dont want to slip

I also found even though they are misted , they dry fast, I only mist enough to make them break apart...

My mare wets and poos in one place so makes clean up easier...

I love the smell of the pellets.

 

[Barnmother]

I have used shavings, good quality ones (not TSC) they work ok for me, but they are dusty and they are hard to sift out good ones, hence more to the manure pile and longer to decompose. When I ran a large (60 stall) boarding stable we took out three 5 x 8 dump trailers or waste a day.

Then we were told that all waste was going to have to be hauled off the property and using shavings and doing that was going to be cost prohibitive. We switched to pellets, I am pretty sure it was the ABM brand.

They worked great but caused the stalls to appear darker. Yes we did wet them lightly to start them breaking up when we first added them in. The stall cleaner loved them, I loved them. They were easier to store, easier to clean and 1/3 the amount of waste to remove from the barn. The majority of the boarders hated them. They said they weren't deep enough, they always looked dirty. (Mind you horses that live outside don't get fluffy shavings or their stalls cleaned.) We had mats in stalls or had wood floors. The horses didn't appear uncomfortable. They were certainly dusty! I never noticed an odor problem.

Moved to Montana and pelleted bedding was hard to find. I was concerned about using it with miniatures because I was told they would eat anything not nailed down so I returned to shavings. They are dusty, and again the manure pile started to grow and we had to haul it off each spring.

I have now found a source for paper bedding, it is the same price as bagged shavings ($5.49 bag) and I love them, they absorb well. I am curious to see how they do in the manure pile. It appears they are recycled phone books, white and yellow pages.

I actually work at a lumber mill and can now get free bulk shavings but I think I will stick with the paper at this point. My husbands only complaint is that his boots seem to track the paper shavings into the house worse than any other product we have ever used.

 

[Nathan Luszcz]

Softwood stove pellets?! Wow... you must go through five times as much as we do in a year, if you burn them.... plus all that creasote. Doesn't sound very economical to me! or safe...

 

[wildoak]

I've seen the pellets at TSC called Equine Fresh and a 40 lb bag isn't cheap and they say 9 bags for a 10X12 stall add 1 or 2 bags a week and they just say mist the pellets and strip every month, ahh no.

I might use that much in a full sized horse's stall, but for the minis I initially bed the stall wtih 2 bags, then add a bag a week. I do have mats which helps tremendously, and I use a little shavings over top. Most of the mini stalls here are 12 x 7, foaling stalls 12 x 14 (they start with 3 bags). I very rarely strip stalls anymore, just pick out religiously and freshen as needed.

FYI, the paper shavings I've tried had a website... papershavings.com, on the bag.

Jan

 

[chandab]

I DO use wood stove pellets, but only those labeled 100% pine or fir with no additives. Here in the NW, land of the Douglas Fir, this is the norm --

I use the wood stove pellets too, the brand I get is just pine pellets, nothing added, and they are the same price or cheaper than the pelleted bedding. [Plus available locally, the bedding pellets are available about 150 miles from me.]

 

[Nathan Luszcz]

"I've seen the pellets at TSC called Equine Fresh and a 40 lb bag isn't cheap and they say 9 bags for a 10X12 stall add 1 or 2 bags a week and they just say mist the pellets and strip every month, ahh no."

That's what I did, and it worked VERY well. Ended up being VERY cheap! And nice fresh bedding every month was quite nice too.

Seriously, 10 (7 initial, 1 per week) bags per month, how do you beat that?!

 

[Make A Wish Miniatures]

I use the paper shavings and love them,no dust and they fluff up really nice . This is the first year I will be using them for foals. I buy them from my Vet.

 

[Tab]

I love it, other than the expense factor. I use it when transporting minis in our van, as bedding under straw/hay for a broodmare stall. I do not soak it first, it lasts quite awhile if they break it down by trampling it. Breaks down to a great consistency. They try to eat it at first but it tastes quite gross to them. I haven't had any who eat it after the first taste.

 

[mydaddysjag]

I have 8x12 stalls that have stall mats. In each stall, I use 3 bags of equine fresh from tractor supply. I pay $6.49 a bag for the pellets. I have not stripped my stalls since october, and honestly, add 1, maybe 2 bags a month, per stall. My trick? I only bed the back half of the stall. By bedding the back half of my stall (a 6x8 area) I have my horses "litter trained" and they also still have room to lay down in their bedding, but at the same time, they have clean rubber mats up front to eat off of. I dont like them pooping where they eat, and this prevents that, as well as saves on bedding costs.

So, for me, per stall, I spend $19.47 for initial bedding, then $12.98 a month after the first month. Over a period of three months, ive spent $45.43 to bed a stall. My horses are all stalled at least 12 hours a day, as we put them in when it gets dark, and they go back out after breakfast.

With shavings, I was using 4 bags per week at $5.29 per bag. Each week thats $21.16, so over a period of three months, I would spend $63.48 on shavings. Plus, using shavings, my barn stunk, my horses would have pee spots on them, the stalls never really looked clean, I spent twice as much time cleaning the stalls, and it was a pita.

Honestly, the amount they say to use on the bag is rediclous. If I were to fully bed an entire 12x12 stall, I wouldnt use more than 6 bags tops.

 

[barnbum]

I am one that LOVES using just good ol shavings

, I like them to be fairly fine but not rediculously as then they can get dusty if too fine. When using the finer shavings I have never had problems with absorbing the wet spots. Since the shavings are finer it is easy enough to pick stalls everyday. The stalls smell great and it is fluffy and soft for my horses, I know that they prefer it over pellets as well by the way they act when bedded. I used the pellets at first and will never go back!

I prefer shavings with straw on top--but there hasn't been good straw for a few years--so I use shavings too. I have never tried pellets.

Shavings aren't all the same though. I was buying some from a Memmonite farmer/dealer and they were great until recently--they had chunks of wood and toothpick kind of pieces. They have finer shavings but they are way too dusty. TSC has two kinds; I tried the flake first--but it wasn't absorbant and they didn't go through the fork easily. So--I tried the fine and WOW! Perfect! They are amazingly absorbant and there's no dust.

I clean stalls every single morning--just leave as many clean shavings as I can. I add more daily. I sprinkle powdered lime on wet spots. No smell. I have dirt stalls, except where mats are for feeding. The stalls are big so I keep the shavings where I know they pee and sleep and I don't put them very deep.

 

[JMS Miniatures]

Thanks guys. I think next year at shows I'm going to test what I like. I just did not like the TSC fine shavings but the Guardian and the S4 shavings look really nice and also S4 has the paper shavings and the Guardian has the pelleted shavings.

 

[Jens]

We use pine wood pellets from the brand Vermont Wood Pellet. They aren't dusty at all and you don't wet them first. They are very high quality and absorbant! They are $6.00 for a 40 lb bad or you can buy them for $250.00 per pallet and there are 50 bags per pallet. I'm not sure where everyone lives but they sell all around New England. We use 2-3 bags for an empty stall that is about 11'x11'.

 

[~Amanda~]

I'll have to look into paper bedding in my area. I've never heard of it before, but it seems like something to consider!

 

[Mini~Madness]

I love equine fresh... It has cut my cleaning time in half and the stalls look and smell cleaner than with shavings. Let me just say its an A++++++ product in my book. I'm for anything that makes my life easier and the horses in my life tidier.

(null)

 

[brasstackminis]

I have used the pelleted pine bedding in piggy stalls...those horses peed soooo much that it was the ONLY thing that would keep the stall dry! I did NOT wet them...the horse did that fine all by herself! I just used the pellets dry...the bits that were not super wet after cleaning ended up being the soft stuff. I also use Dry Stall. It is tiny, drying and a good smelling thing...about the size of scoopable kitty litter. The stalls instantly smell great and it is also very absorbant as well. So when I had my mini boarded at a self care place in a 10x10 stall, I used the pelleted pine bedding in the pee hole and regular shavings on top. When I cleaned the stalls, I uncovered the pee hole, scraped out the yucky pellets (now a blob) and then sprinkled dry stall on the wet ground. Worked great, best of all worlds. Dry Stall is my secret weapon aginst the stinky! Pelleted bedding is absorbant and the regular shavings are easy to get and fluffy. Oh and because the shavings take longer to absorb, the pee would flow through the shavings to the pellets so there was minimal shaving use.