# pelleted bedding?



## heyycutter (Sep 26, 2009)

the barn im moving cutter to in a couple weeks uses pelleted bedding. and the barn owner told my mom the horse is supposed to pee on it and then you leave it in the stall because thats how it works? i have no idea, my mom just tried to repeat what the barn owner said. ive always used plain ol shavings. how do pellets work??


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## ilovestitch (Dec 22, 2006)

I personally havent ever used pellet bedding but here is a website with alot of information about it 
www.guardianhorsebedding.com/pinepellets.htm


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## MollyK (Oct 14, 2008)

I used pelletted bedding for a while when I had my own barn. It costs a lot to get started (and I do like my stalls especially fluffy ), but it's cost effective over time. You load up the stall and wet the pellets so that they expand and are soft. When cleaning stalls, you pick out the manure, as usual, but you don't have to strip the wet spots because the moisture is absorbed into the bedding. From time to time you just replenish the pellets. I found it made for nice dry stalls. No more big wet spots on the sides of the horses in the morning.


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## heyycutter (Sep 26, 2009)

so your supposed to leave the pee in there? my horse is a bigggg pee-er, so i dont want the pellets to be saturated with pee. lol im sorry i find pellets so confusing. so your supposed to let it absorb urine and leave it in there?


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## SFMoneyMarket (Sep 20, 2008)

Nooooo wrong wrong lol.

I absolutely adore pelleted bedding. Best invention ever. You start out with about 3-4 bags of it. You put one bag in at a time, and take the water hose and hose it down heavily. Let it set for about 10 minutes, and if it's not soft enough, wet it down again. When you spread it out, it should be like sand sort of, it's okay if there are a few pellets here and there, but the majority should be fluffed out. You do this with each bag individually. You DO NOT leave the pee in there. You still scoop the pee out, but it minimizes the area that the pee takes up, and absorbs a lot of it. It lasts longer, and I usually have to put 1 to 2 bags in a week after the first time. It's really easy to clean, it sifts right through the pitchfork, it absorbs liquid, and it's really neat and tidy. Great investment.


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## heyycutter (Sep 26, 2009)

i guess the part that confuses me is, after you hose down the pellets, is the bedding wet? or does it like, dry i guess. i dont think i want my horse standing in wet sawdust like stuff all night


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## heyycutter (Sep 26, 2009)

iive alwayss used shavings lol


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## PiggyPablo (Jan 17, 2009)

I use Sweet PDZ...www.sweetpdz.com Awesome stuff. I've tried pelleted bedding before and couldn't stick with it...was expensive to maintain, my horse thought it was food!, and the stall didn't stay dry/smell better.


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## sillybunny11486 (Oct 2, 2009)

you dont leave them in there as pellets, you water them so they seperate. you dont soak the bedding you tampen it. after getting it the the right level, i used about one bag every two weeks. its was pretty cheep to maintain compared to shavings, which i had to add a bag every few days.


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## PiggyPablo (Jan 17, 2009)

sillybunny11486 said:


> you dont leave them in there as pellets, you water them so they seperate. you dont soak the bedding you tampen it. after getting it the the right level, i used about one bag every two weeks. its was pretty cheep to maintain compared to shavings, which i had to add a bag every few days.


I did exactly that. Different strokes for different folks :wink:


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## heyycutter (Sep 26, 2009)

but doesnt that mean the bedding is wet?


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## BaliDoll (Sep 21, 2009)

I think it's similar to cat litter.... from what I have heard. not wet, just absorbs the wet a lot better and clumps kind of.


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## heyycutter (Sep 26, 2009)

well, i guess as long as it works, its fine with me


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## themacpack (Jul 16, 2009)

We use WoodyPet and the inital set-up you are actually advised not to remove wet bedding. After that point, you do remove the wet bedding and replace with about 1/3 the amount you took out (because it expands).
I love the pelleted bedding. It makes sifting out solid waste SO easy it's ridiculous and we have not had a bit of odor issue since we started using it. 
I would advise you to look at the bedding in the stalls in use and see if it is a nice color/smell or if it is a dark red and stinky stuff. If it is dark/red or stinky, they are not using the bedding properly and it has become overloaded with uria/amonia.


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## heyycutter (Sep 26, 2009)

thanks for your help!


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## SFMoneyMarket (Sep 20, 2008)

No, it does not stay wet when you initially set it up. It just breaks down into a fluffier sand type bedding. Then you spread it out.


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## heyycutter (Sep 26, 2009)

oooh, i finally get it lol


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## Truteno (Sep 14, 2009)

i agree with anyone that likes the pellets, i'v worked with many different shavings at the barn i work at but the pellets are by far the easiest to maintain, easy to shift through and the horses seem to love it too.


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## heyycutter (Sep 26, 2009)

is it really that absorbent though? my horse is a hugeeee pee-er


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## Jillyann (Mar 31, 2009)

At my barn during the summer, we use woodypets pellets, and it is SUPER absorbent.. I have pictures of it somewhere of how much it can hold, when I find them, Ill be sure to post! We dont use it during the winter, because it will freeze solid! Thats the only bad thing about it. So we just use regular shavings in the winter. Around this time of year though, we do not get the woodypets wet. It would be far too cold for the horses to lay on, as it gets near 20F at night here. We just put 2 bags in, as well as a huge wheelbarrel full of straw bedding that my trainer/BO has, and were good to go! for a week.


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## farmpony84 (Apr 21, 2008)

I tried the pellets but maybe I didn't use enough... I wasn't happy with them...


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## HorsesAreForever (Nov 9, 2007)

My barn uses pellets! I miss my shavings, I feel like it looks better. But they seem to absorb really well. 

Sometimes we use a mixture of shavings and pellets.

I miss shavings because it doesnt cling to the hooves after you clean them [if groomin in stall] and it looks cleaner... the pellets just look like dirt... bleh but it works!


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## Appyt (Oct 14, 2007)

I don't stall horses as a rule so I do use the pellets as I want it to absorb and "Look like dirt" lol Also my barn is fairly open and pellets don't blow around like shavings do. I mainly use it in my old appy's stall as he has access 24-7 with a corral. He will pee in the stall badly if there is fluffy bedding.


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## MollyK (Oct 14, 2008)

OK, so here's a trick I learned when I had my barn. There are a couple of brands of wood stove pellets that are the exact formula as the horse pellets. (You have to read the label for ingredients; you want the organic ones.) In the spring, when Home Depot etc are getting rid of whatever stove pellets they have leftover from the winter, you can buy a pallet or two at a greatly reduced price -- and they're cheaper than the horse packaged ones anyway -- and keep your stalls very well tended. I used the pellets very thickly over my stall mats 'cause I didn't like the mats to get wet at all. (I hated using the lyme.) The horses could lie down really comfortably in the fluffiness. I think the only downside is that some horses will eat them ... in which can you have to go back to shavings.


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## Jillyann (Mar 31, 2009)

I found my pictures of the woodypets!

Here is before, with NO water added...











Here is after with about a gallon of water added..











You can clearly see how much it absorbs, and the finished 'fluffed up' product is dry to the touch, and can absorb LOTS more liquid!


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## shortbusgeek (Oct 23, 2009)

Good to know so many people like these! We're about to try Equine Pine, which has no additives whatsoever, and is made from leftover wood... no new trees were cut down to make it. Hopefully we'll have as good of an experience as some of you!


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## Jillyann (Mar 31, 2009)

Pellets are the way to go IMO!! They work great!


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## HorsesAreForever (Nov 9, 2007)

maybe thats our barns problem... she doesnt soak them... she just puts it in and lets the horses crush them down, and like the rest of you add more when needed. 

And it does look like dirt xD U have to agree LOL!


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## SFMoneyMarket (Sep 20, 2008)

Wow ^^ Apparentley she has never learned how to use them. You should definatley tell her because I can't imagine that the horses are too comfortable on them without being soaked. Not to mention, I've stood on them before wetting them, and it's like standing on marbles. Very slippery. I would definatley show her this and tell her she's doing it wrong.


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## Jillyann (Mar 31, 2009)

My BO does not soak them during this time of year, but she ads a huge amount of straw bedding in with them, so there is no slipping. But if you JUST put in the pellets, that would be very slippery.


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## filly50 (Nov 25, 2009)

*pellet bedding*

pellet bedding is very easy to use, just dump the bag out, moisten the pellets to break them into sawdust and spread them in the stall. I would say it takes about 6-8 bags for a 12X12 stall, but then its about a bag or two a week, and the clean up is really easy, just scoop out the clumps. I've seen it sold for up to $375 a ton, but Woodpellets.com is selling it for $150 a ton delivered. try calling them, their number is 1-800-pellets.


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## heyycutter (Sep 26, 2009)

thank you!
ive been using them the past 2 weeks, and they seem pretty good, still getting used to them though lol always have used shavings


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## jethroish (Sep 19, 2009)

filly50 said:


> pellet bedding is very easy to use, just dump the bag out, moisten the pellets to break them into sawdust and spread them in the stall. I would say it takes about 6-8 bags for a 12X12 stall, but then its about a bag or two a week, and the clean up is really easy, just scoop out the clumps. I've seen it sold for up to $375 a ton, but Woodpellets.com is selling it for $150 a ton delivered. try calling them, their number is 1-800-pellets.


 
$150 per ton delivered is GREAT, but I did not see equine pellets on their site. I just picked up a ton of equine bedding pellets locally in S. Indiana for $175 per ton. Can't find their web site right now, but I can get you their phone number if anyone wants it.


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## LolaGirl160 (Sep 12, 2009)

My barn used to use shavings then we switched to pellets. Some peple just put the pellets in the stall dry and as whole pellets, but we soak our pellets ing hot water first and let them expand and turn into almost sawdust. These work better than shavings because the are designed to seak up all the pee and stuff the once they absorb all they can you take them out of the stall. And its way easier to do the stalls with pellets cuz you can just take out what you need to and keep the rest without having to put more pellets in. With shavings sometimes you have to take out what you need and put in more. The pellets are way more less expensive and are easier. Sorry for rambling on. lol.


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## White Foot (Jun 4, 2009)

I found that they are too expensive and not worth it, just my opinion though. But then again I find paying $5 for a bag of shavings is crazy also.


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## White Foot (Jun 4, 2009)

PiggyPablo said:


> I use Sweet PDZ...www.sweetpdz.com Awesome stuff. I've tried pelleted bedding before and couldn't stick with it...was expensive to maintain, my horse thought it was food!, and the stall didn't stay dry/smell better.


I saw that at the store yesterday! And I almost bought it, but I figured I didn't want to spend the money on it. I think I will. It says it lasts 3-4 weeks and it's safe. I just didn't want to buy it because it was in small bags and I have huge stalls.


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## ~*~anebel~*~ (Aug 21, 2008)

A barn in my area has ended up absolutely infested with mites while using this bedding. At least 5/20 horses are covered in angry, itchy welts. A vet has diagnosed them with mites, but the BO is denying it. It started out with 1 horse having welts about 1 month ago and last week the other 4 developed welts, I'm assuming it's going to follow its pattern and more horses have it now.
I also find that barns with this bedding smell horrible even if they are well ventilated.

Personally if a barn I were considering boarding at used this bedding, I would not board there.


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