# Wood pellet bedding - your opinion



## Nimble (28 July 2013)

Hi. I've just joined the forum and I have a virtually toothless 16.2 warmblood, roughly 39 years old who I have had for 10 years - he had what was thought was a tumour on his frog so his owner didn't want him anymore.  I took him on and luckily had his foot problem fixed with cryosurgery. 

So, that;s my back-story but I am asking Forum members to give me some insight into their experiences with wood pellet bedding. I am setting up a UK-wide wood pellet bedding company and would dearly love your feedback - good and bad - about products you have used to date. We already supply some of the established companies in the pellet bedding market but I figured we could sell direct thus driving down the cost to the end-user. How do you evaluate quality? Is a quality control system important to you? What do you deduce from differences in pellet colour between suppliers? Has wood pellet bedding helped your laminitic horse (greater foot support than, say, straw)? Any general comments or observations welcome.

We are a pellet supplier and not a pellet producer but I hope some of the general information below is useful to you when looking at pellet bedding for the first time...

A limited number of UK producers provide product for the bulk of UK suppliers. There are a whole host of overseas producers whose product is also entering the country (e..g Canada, USA, Europe). In the UK pellet bedding market the majority of the producers, with a few exceptions, are separate entities from the suppliers. Frequently it is the packaging that differentiates one from another, not the content of the bag. Product performance is often affected by how you manage your bed and the composition of the pellet: what it's made from, how it was manufactured and how it was stored, transported and handled post-production eg was it kept dry, was is screened for dust before bagging, etc.

It seems there is some general confusion about wood pellets with some people suggesting that wood pellets for bedding and wood pellets for fuel are not one and the same, which they often are. For many producers equine bedding is a sideline with their main business being the production of fuel for pellets. Fuel users order tonnes of the stuff at one go whereas horse owners are taking a pallet or two at a time. Large scale producers would not have enough of a market to justify production for bedding alone. It is convenient for some to suggest that wood pellet fuel is inferior but this argument doesn't fit with our vast experience of the whole UK pellet market and the knowledge that most pellets are produced for fuel, not bedding. However, there can be a good deal of difference in quality and/or content, irrespective of the end market it is destined for. For instance, there are several producers who use recovered wood (wood that has already been used to make something else) to make their pellets. These pellets can contain contaminants such as plastic chips, paint residues, etc. Poor quality pellets, and not just those made from recovered wood, may also just crumble to dust - and a dusty environment is the very thing you are trying to avoid, especially if you are trying to reduce the causes of respiratory ailments, COPD, etc.

Also, darker coloured pellets should not be viewed as inferior just because they are darker than the blond shavings we are all so used too. Often, it is the production of pellets at high temperatures that darkens the colour and high temperatures ensure the product is sterile.

Finally, some of the amateur absorbency test videos online are unscientific and do not portray each product equally. Every supplier has a suggested pellet bedding bag to water ratio and they often differ from each other - but in the videos the same amount of water is applied to each product. No wonder it can be suggested that some are wetter or drier/more dusty than others. If we all made a Victoria sponge but ignored the recommended ratio of solids to liquids we would not be winning any cake awards! Some products naturally make a crumble whilst others retain some of the pellet shape. This does not mean one is better than the other.

I hope this is some of the basics explained without an agenda. There is space in the market for a range of suppliers (big and small), the key is quality - that the product is safe for your horse - and the price fits with what you want to pay.


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## zandp (28 July 2013)

I've used Liverpool and Verdo brands and find they perform equally well as long as I use the recommended amounts of water for each different type, just as you say.  When I first tried Verdo I didn't do this and thought they weren't very good tbh but I read the bags properly this time !!

I use them because I have a very messy mare, previously only miscanthus worked with her but it still wasn't great and I'd need to replace the whole bed most weeks.  The wetness stays locked away from her feet much better with pellets, mucking out's quicker too.  QC is important, I want to know the wood's virgin so that my horses aren't exposed to any toxicities etc  I'm not too fussed about the colour difference between brands, I do want some clear indication from the colour that the bed's wet, Verdo seems to go nice and dark where it's wet and stay lighter where not, but I'm using a bigger bed now, than I did with LWP so that could be a factor.  I haven't noticed any difference in comfort - in the past I've used shavings, rape seed, miscanthus and straw.  The smell of ammonia is less with pellets than most other bedding which is good as I often go straight from the stables to work in the morning ! My horses are living out at the moment, coming in to be worked and the bed does seem dustier than LWP bed did  - but again the bed's bigger and it's obviously not as wet as it would be with being in overnight.

I do have one issue - why is VAT different - there's not added value to horse bedding, it gets **** and pissed on and then thrown away, fuel pellets are burnt so both are disposed of ? !!


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## _GG_ (28 July 2013)

You may find this useful...

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?592118-Show-us-your-pellet-beds


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## poiuytrewq (29 July 2013)

_GG_ said:



			You may find this useful...

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?592118-Show-us-your-pellet-beds

Click to expand...

This is the thread that made me stop hating wood pellets as I learnt the better way of doing things! 
Is there any other difference between bedding pellets and fuel pellets other than the vat?


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## lachlanandmarcus (29 July 2013)

No it's just the VAT often altho if a firm sells several ranges the horsey one will normally need to be the more de luxe one to be dust free and no odd bits in it.


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## Nimble (29 July 2013)

lachlanandmarcus said:



			No it's just the VAT often altho if a firm sells several ranges the horsey one will normally need to be the more de luxe one to be dust free and no odd bits in it.
		
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Hi Lachlanandmarcus, I think I recognise you from the River Cottage forums! 

Yes, the VAT is 5% for fuel (as it is for all forms of fuel consumed by domestic users whereas it reverts to the standard rate for business users) and 20% for bedding. The vagaries of the UK tax system, and VAT in particular, could be a whole new thread. Remember the recent issue with VAT rates determined by whether your pasty was bought hot or cold!

If you knowingly sell or buy pellets for bedding but charge or pay VAT at the fuel rate of 5% you are breaking the law. I realise this is hugely frustrating. And if you thought that was bad you should Google the VAT rates on hay and straw - a livery yard doesn't charge VAT if they simply provide it to you but if they provide the food source with some form of care (one assumes filling and hanging a haynet) then they should charge VAT at the standard rate! I wholeheartedly agree that it should be simple.  Aaarrrgghhhh. 

There is a difference in pellet quality but this is not necessarily  because one lot is produced for bedding and the other for fuel. As for de luxe pellet beds verses standard pellet beds buyers should not assume that the standard offering is not made from virgin fibre. Where a standard and de luxe version is offered you will see the supplier often states that in both cases the product is made from virgin wood fibre. It's the composition (pine, spruce, etc) that contributes to the way in which the pellet performs, if it makes a crumble rather than a pellet bed, etc. Deluxe doesn't also mean less dust. Production standards at the factory, ENplus is the dominant one in Europe, and how the pellets are screened, transported and bagged all play a part in reducing dust. I categorically would not use recovered wood pellets (with all the nasties that I have seen in them) for my horse.

Finally, some old threads suggest that at least one supplier is aware that the customer is buying for bedding but he sells at the lower VAT rate. I cannot condone this stance and it makes honest suppliers look uncompetitive by comparison.


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## _GG_ (29 July 2013)

poiuytrewq said:



			This is the thread that made me stop hating wood pellets as I learnt the better way of doing things! 
Is there any other difference between bedding pellets and fuel pellets other than the vat?
		
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Glad it was useful. I thought that if enough people shared how they did it, there would be methods to suit everyone.


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## poiuytrewq (30 July 2013)

I was trying to mix dry pellets in to top up the bed as directed by the particular web site and my bed was getting smaller and smaller as they just never seemed to break down.


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## _GG_ (30 July 2013)

poiuytrewq said:



			I was trying to mix dry pellets in to top up the bed as directed by the particular web site and my bed was getting smaller and smaller as they just never seemed to break down.
		
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You were doing too good a job of cleaning it out then :wink3:


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## Paint Me Proud (30 July 2013)

i use Five Star wood pellets and they are excellent. My new horse is very clean so it takes me literally 5 minutes to take out the poop and small wet patch.
With him being so clean I am only putting one new bag down a fortnight. Saving me a fortune in bedding cost.


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## Alfiepie (8 August 2013)

Another vote for 5 star bedding although my local log supplier are thinking of going into wood pellets as bedding and gave me a bag of straw to trial - I Previously trialled LWP straw pellets - rubbish , they set like concrete and my lad tucked into them as soon as they were down and he doesnt even eat straw so I had a nervous night after a skip out wondering if hed get colic luckily he didnt but I went to 5star bedding and have been mightily impressed - the muck heap is way smaller than it was on shavings. -  one suggestion i would make is if its possible maybe spray with citronella/tea tree - as it would help with smell if deep littering , also very good in summer when  you have to bring horses in if you restrict their grazing  helps deter flies, ...   I would only ever use wood pellets for my horses bed - it is far softer for them to lie on, dry on top  even in pee places ( no/few stable stains)  less waste and very economical - the one downside to them in is that you have to buy in bulk ie pallet and have somewhere to store them and because they are so good we only go through 1 -2 bags a week as opposed to 4 bags of shavings previously. That said I have my storage in a shed at hime and take a few bags down to our paddocks when needed.


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## Alfiepie (8 August 2013)

_GG_ said:



			You were doing too good a job of cleaning it out then :wink3:
		
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when you skip out you can leave damp in and mix this with dry pellets - I also put dry pellets in his pee patch and then mix into rest of bed and the damp I use a banking which dries out after a few days and can be used again - very very economical - try doing that with straw shavings/sawdust !!!


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## Alfiepie (8 August 2013)

forgot to mention - after a few days of wee and poo the lovely pale bed is brown anyway so pellet colour isnt an issue the absorbancy is.... I  judge how good they are by how long I can get away with a skip of poo before tackling the big wet patch and the smell on entering the stable - 5 star pellets hold up well on all counts - I think one of the major factors /barriers to people buying pellet bedding is having to buy in quantity - suppliers should do a trial pack with enough for a standard stable and maybe 4 or 5 extra bags... remember when using pellet bedding for the first time many users tend to skip out too much  so need a trial that would last a month and make that comparable in price to what they would use as a shavings bed ie ? 3 x bales a week at approx £7.50  a bale that way the potential customer  wouldnt be put off into having to shell out a lot of money up front for a trial product Im sure once a customer has been on a decent pellet bedding for a month they wont look back .


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## _GG_ (8 August 2013)

Alfiepie said:



			when you skip out you can leave damp in and mix this with dry pellets - I also put dry pellets in his pee patch and then mix into rest of bed and the damp I use a banking which dries out after a few days and can be used again - very very economical - try doing that with straw shavings/sawdust !!!
		
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Oh I know that..I say in my OP that I never brush out the wet or something along those lines...I thought the wink would let people know it was tongue in cheek!


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## Cragrat (14 August 2013)

I used LWP year before last.  They were wonderful for 3 horses, and horrid for the 4th.  He stirred the bed up each night, breaking the piles of droppings in to little pieces and mashing them in.  After 3 nights, it looked like an old indoor riding school - brown and smelly.  The only option was to periodically re- start his bed.  I have deep beds, on the others I only removed the damp patches weekly, but he stirred quite a lot of his damp in as well.  I went back to straw, and somehow the straw holds the droppings in piles better, though quite a lot a get buried, when I find them it is still possible to remove them. His bed looks and smells much better, and is quicker to muck out, on straw.

I'd like to go back to wood pellets, but I need some ideas on how to deal with a 'mashing machine'!


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## _GG_ (14 August 2013)

Cragrat said:



			I used LWP year before last.  They were wonderful for 3 horses, and horrid for the 4th.  He stirred the bed up each night, breaking the piles of droppings in to little pieces and mashing them in.  After 3 nights, it looked like an old indoor riding school - brown and smelly.  The only option was to periodically re- start his bed.  I have deep beds, on the others I only removed the damp patches weekly, but he stirred quite a lot of his damp in as well.  I went back to straw, and somehow the straw holds the droppings in piles better, though quite a lot a get buried, when I find them it is still possible to remove them. His bed looks and smells much better, and is quicker to muck out, on straw.

I'd like to go back to wood pellets, but I need some ideas on how to deal with a 'mashing machine'!
		
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Did he leave it looking anything like this? 

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?592118-Show-us-your-pellet-beds

my mare is stupidly messy. I get a few poos on the top, but the rest all trampled into the bed, It still only takes me 5 minutes to sort and 1 new bag a week to maintain. The only reason she doesn't dig up the wet is because I leave it there until it comes to the surface which is once a week.

As you'll see from that thread, I found LWP awful with her.


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## NOISYGIRL (15 August 2013)

LOVE wood pellet bedding, used them for a long time at the other yard I was on mainly due to cost.  Since moving to another yard, they supply lovely shavings so am using them, and as I am saving on other costs  I can afford them now.  I do however prefer pellet bedding


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## Cragrat (15 August 2013)

_GG_ said:



			Did he leave it looking anything like this? 

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?592118-Show-us-your-pellet-beds

my mare is stupidly messy. I get a few poos on the top, but the rest all trampled in

As you'll see from that thread, I found LWP awful with her.
		
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My lad is FAR worse yours left some droppings still recognisable as droppings- my idiot stirs the whole lot up, so everything is broken up and scattered or buried.

Interesting though that you found LWP worse...I am thinking of keeping the idiot on straw and the others back to pellets, so might try something else.


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## _GG_ (15 August 2013)

Cragrat said:



			My lad is FAR worse yours left some droppings still recognisable as droppings- my idiot stirs the whole lot up, so everything is broken up and scattered or buried.

Interesting though that you found LWP worse...I am thinking of keeping the idiot on straw and the others back to pellets, so might try something else.
		
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LWP were bleedin awful to be honest. Really poor absorbancy compared to five star.


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