# Sawdust bedding OK?



## RayInTN (Aug 27, 2018)

I’m looking for your thoughts and opinions about sawdust being used for bedding material. I chose sawdust for Oliver and Havens 11x16 stalls mostly because of availability and cost. The sawmill located 7 miles away loads my 6x8x3 trailer with coarse sawdust(mostly pine) for only $25 per load. 
The sawdust is stored outside at the sawmill so it comes to us slightly damp, not wet, with little dust. Of course it does dry out when placed in the stalls. 
I tried pine shavings, but didn’t really care for the difficulty sifting it when cleaning. It also proved to be expensive. The large stud and equestrian center just up the road from us uses bagged sawdust and say they get good results.
Should I be looking at a different bedding material? I’ll add that our farm is at the base of the Smokies in East Tennessee so the horses are in pasture for a good bit of the time.


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## Whinnie (Aug 9, 2015)

I think there are certain kinds of sawdust that can cause concerns, like walnut. If yours is a mixture, be sure what is in that mixture and research for use on horses. My boarding barn uses pine sawdust and has for years with no issue.


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## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

As long as your sawmill not process anything with black walnut...
Any form of walnut is a no-no to me as is oak woods.

Pine, Spruce, and Douglas Fir are the only species of shavings that are guaranteed *safe for horses*. 
*Cedar* can be used, but it is not recommended. 
Some horses are allergic to cedar so caution if you use and watch carefully for reaction...good as cedar smells...:|
Sometimes a savings of a few $ is no savings if a vet call stemming from that savings is needed.

There are several "grinds" to shavings...
I despise large flakes but use the medium grind as it is a mix of shavings, thin & small and bigger pieces of "dust" combined it makes my stalls fluffy and dry.
Shavings bought are dried so very absorbent and processed so less dust factor = better breathing in a barn free of hanging dust in the air with every step the horse takes.
If I had a choice between a fine mix or large....fine is where I would go as exactly what you mention of ease of sorting manure from bedding material and better absorbency is what makes my stalls the way I keep them...dry.

Some places do large bags of pine shavings that are "clean" with no garbage, wood chunks, or metal pieces tossed in the bin . 
They bag and sell as animal bedding, promising only pine shavings...
By me there is a company that bags and sells for $5 a bag large enough to do your stall nicely bedded.
Look around, check your local Craigslist {Farm & Garden section} for people/businesses advertising animal bedding of pine shavings.
Also check different stores as bales come different sizes = coverage amounts.

Then there are companies who sell loose shavings, but again, space and place to store large amount and some loads can be very dusty and some not...but all are guaranteed safe for horses to be bedded in.
:runninghorse2:...


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## SilverMaple (Jun 24, 2017)

You need to be absolutely certain there is no walnut in the shavings, and that the sawdust doesn't contain shards of metal, sawdust from treated wood, etc. I found sawdust too....dusty... in the few months I used it when I couldn't get shavings. The wind blew it constantly and my horses both developed coughs.


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## heather313233 (Aug 28, 2018)

SilverMaple said:


> You need to be absolutely certain there is no walnut in the shavings, and that the sawdust doesn't contain shards of metal, sawdust from treated wood, etc. I found sawdust too....dusty... in the few months I used it when I couldn't get shavings. The wind blew it constantly and my horses both developed coughs.


So are pine shavings safe? That is all that I have found for bedding near me, but I will not use it if I'm not sure it is safe... TIA!


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## The Humble Horseman (Dec 5, 2018)

I just had this conversation with my dad a few weeks ago. There's a couple private barns in Indiana that I know use the larger grain Pine/Fir sawdust, and I was asking him about it because I only really see shavings around here (suburbs of a major city). He worked on a Western show ranch for about 10 years when he was younger, and said they exclusively used shavings from the local mill. 

It doesn't seem to be an altogether uncommon practice, but like the others have said you need to make sure it's quality sawdust and doesn't have anything in it that will bother the horses - which it sounds like you're doing because you're here asking! He told me that they avoided Walnut as it was "bad for the horses' feet", but I did not know that horses could be allergic to Cedar as *horselovinguy* mentioned above.


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## pasomountain (Dec 19, 2018)

We also use damp pine sawdust and have for years with no problem. The BO gets it by the dump truck load! Another great option are wood pellets--
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/tractor-supply-pine-pellet-stall-bedding-40-lb The barn where my other horse is boarded uses these and it works just fine.


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## rambo99 (Nov 29, 2016)

Depending on the sawdust it can be awfully dusty. I used it one summer and the stuff coated my barn in dust i personally won't use sawdust way to dusty. I can get quality shavings by the trailer full for 30$ a load. I have a 11X10 stall i can access with truck & trailer to unload shavings into,can put 4 big trailer loads in stall.


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## AtokaGhosthorse (Oct 17, 2016)

The local equine vet has shredded paper, looks like BIG confetti, as bedding in her stalls. I was really surprised! She gets it from a local industrial paper shredding business.



Also, not to highjack the thread... but why not walnut? (I don't have a barn with stalls, and I use cedar shavings when I do need something like that). I could google it, but y'know.


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## rambo99 (Nov 29, 2016)

AtokaGhosthorse said:


> The local equine vet has shredded paper, looks like BIG confetti, as bedding in her stalls. I was really surprised! She gets it from a local industrial paper shredding business.
> 
> 
> 
> Also, not to highjack the thread... but why not walnut? (I don't have a barn with stalls, and I use cedar shavings when I do need something like that). I could google it, but y'know.


Because blackwalnut causes laminitis if horse's are bedded on it.


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## pasomountain (Dec 19, 2018)

Black Walnut Toxicity | HorseDVM Diseases A-Z Black walnut is very toxic to horses and the poison is absorbed through their feet. I remember doing yardwork for a lady who had huge black walnut trees in her front yard. She wanted me to pick up the walnuts that had fallen on the ground so they wouldn't ruin the lawn mower. They were still green and I noticed they had a nauseating smell that made me feel sick afterwards. So I don't want them around me either!


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## AtokaGhosthorse (Oct 17, 2016)

rambo99 said:


> Because blackwalnut causes laminitis if horse's are bedded on it.



Well. That sucks for everyone involved that's ever done that then. Glad I asked, just in case!


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## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

If you have a saw mill near you see if you can get bark chippings, they make a really great bed. You get no dust and no ammonia smell from them.


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## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

I buy the bagged version of pine sawdust. 
America's Choice mini-flake or Eco-flake. 
It is not too dusty and I don't use as much. Initially to bed a stripped stall(12×12) it takes a bag or two but it lasts longer as it is so much easier to pick through so I don't waste as much.

If it is truly Pine or Fir, no Cedar or Walnut and no junk plus you can buy it in bulk, I'd call it a win!


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## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

Someone mentioned pellets for bedding...
Make sure the pelleted stuff is for animal bedding not to burn in a stove...there is a difference.


OK...as for the Black Walnut exposure...
True story...
I know of someone who took a load of mixed shavings....
Small amount of BW was in that load...
From what I can remember.... {I was about 8 at the time and was a riding student only so not all details known}
The horses coffin bone came through some of the affected horses hoof sole...yes that serious.
I don't know if there was rotation or not, it just dropped and protruded = death to the animals.
It happened so fast all were caught off-guard.
Within a few hours of bedding stalls the horses were reacting and going down...
Once they had a second incident they realized crisis happening and the horses needed to instantly be in deep cooling mud and water for any chance to survive...
A emergency call was put to the fire department who responded with tanker trucks and they used the farm tractors to build a berm around the barn and flooded it with thousands of gallons of water hoping to slow, stop the destruction...
I know several horses were euthanized, some were lamed for life and the barn owners were sued for what happened...
The barn owners in turn sued the place that delivered the shavings as it was in writing it was safe and horse bedding clean...someone was out a lot of money not only for deceased horses but the vet bills for all the horses who had to be treated, the loss of use of some of those animals forever...
It was terrible messy...
Someplace I read about the oak being not safe but can't tell you exactly why...just don't, please don't take that chance.
As for Black Walnut or any Walnut...scary stuff to deal with and to me not worth the chance.
There are to many pine mills _exclusive_ doing loose load certified horse shavings to risk a unknown...
A bathroom sized garbage can of BW is lethal in a 20 yard load is my understanding...
Check with your vet...or ask your farrier..
Horrors, just horrors...:frown_color:
:runninghorse2:...


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## RayInTN (Aug 27, 2018)

I am very aware of the dangers of black walnut contamination. I have researched bedding to death and in doing so I have become educated about good and bad. What I have found though is that no one agrees on the best type of bedding to use. My criteria for the best bedding for my situation is; absorbency, ease of handling, and price. 
I buy a lot of my rough lumber from this sawmill and they deal almost exclusively in pine lumber.
An interesting note, I have 3 huge black walnut trees in my yard along with maple and 1 pecan tree. No trees close to the pasture except a stand of pine trees.


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## heather313233 (Aug 28, 2018)

I just started using shavings and I love it. Very absorbent, clumps when wet, and low dust.


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## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

RayInTN said:


> What I have found though is that no one agrees on the best type of bedding to use. My criteria for the best bedding for my situation is; absorbency, ease of handling, and price.


What is the "best bedding" is going to be a personal preference, yours..period.
If you like sawdust, use it.
If you like large chips, use them.
If you like small and fine mix, use that..
If you like paper, use that...
Or if you like pelleted bedding...use that.

It is what you want, what you like, what is readily available and a price you want to pay...
_Personal preference, period._

Good luck with whatever you choose...
Happy mucking. :smile:
:runninghorse2:...


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## greentree (Feb 27, 2013)

I grew up in the heavily pine forested S.E. Texas. I’m old, so it was still in the development stage, lol. Now it is covered in strip malls and houses, but anyway...

One of our local barns used a small wood chip pine bedding. It was THE BEST. The chips were fairly consistently the size of about 1/3 of a feed pellet. Our soil was sandy, and the stalls had soil as the base, so urine disappeared. 

On my wood floored stalls, I was preferring a flake shaving, but now I like the pellets, and they break down into sawdust. They are much more economical for me than shavings, because the urine stays concentrated in a spot, and only that has to be picked out.

And yes @horselovinguy , it is personal preference, but so is everything else, so is that really an answer to the question?.


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## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

RayInTN said:


> I’m looking for your thoughts and opinions about sawdust being used for bedding material. I chose sawdust for Oliver and Havens 11x16 stalls mostly because of availability and cost. The sawmill located 7 miles away loads my 6x8x3 trailer with coarse sawdust(mostly pine) for only $25 per load.
> I tried pine shavings, but didn’t really care for the difficulty sifting it when cleaning. It also proved to be expensive.





RayInTN said:


> I am very aware of the dangers of black walnut contamination. I have researched bedding to death and in doing so I have become educated about good and bad. What I have found though is that no one agrees on the best type of bedding to use. My criteria for the best bedding for my situation is; absorbency, ease of handling, and price.





greentree said:


> And yes @*horselovinguy* , it is personal preference, but so is everything else, so is that really an answer to the question?.



Actually greentree...
After reading the excerpts condensed of Rays initial post and other responses...
I think he already made up his mind...answered his own question and made his decision.
There is no right or wrong..._there really is not._

Ray says he researched and read much, learned the danger woods to avoid..:thumbsup:

I know in winter time when bagged/bale shavings can get scarce you take the shaving/chip size you get whether you like it or not or go without. 
When I ran a 80 horse boarding facility you better have bedding to bed stalls when you have paying customers like we did...you just dealt with it no matter when mucking stalls.
I much prefer small or fine shavings over anything else, less dust as it can be very dusty and a irritant to breathe for horse & human using just sawdust but can muck a stall with any size bedding material. 
{you know that greentree you've mucked more than your share over a lifetime!}

I think "personal choice and preference" in this case* is *a fitting answer.
Honestly, if I had easy access to _*pine*_ sawdust and shavings guaranteed and a price of "Cheap or Free"...
It _would_ fit my wants, needs and going to have it.. just fine it would. :wink:
:runninghorse2:...


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## RegalCharm (Jul 24, 2008)

I boarded at 3 stables. 2 of which were breeding barns for QH & Arabians and all used sawdust as bedding over a 6 inch thick limestone (small chips we called bug dust) foundation. black walnut can cause laminitis in as little as a 1/2 hour from a horse just standing on it.. 

My dad used to gather the walnuts and let the outer hull turn black then hull them and spread the nuts out to dry. then crack them open for later use to eat or for Mom use in cakes and stuff. If you hulled them with out cloves they would turn your hands a very dark brown or black and it didn't wash off. It had to wear off. LOL


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