Many stables that switch from shavings to straw pellets tell us the same things after the first month. Here is what to expect.
Absorption and dry boxes
Pellets soak up several times their own weight in liquid and hold it in the wet spot, whereas shavings spread moisture across the bed. The result is a drier surface, less ammonia smell and a horse that comes out cleaner in the morning.
Less material, less time
Because only the wet spot and droppings are removed, the clean bedding stays in the box. Daily mucking out typically takes less time, and weekly top-ups are a bag or two rather than a wheelbarrow of shavings.
The manure heap
This is the part stable owners notice most. Pellet bedding produces a smaller, denser heap that composts in a fraction of the time shavings need. Farms and manure contractors accept it more readily – and some pay for it.
Storage and handling
A pallet of 15 or 16 kg bags takes very little space compared to bales of shavings for the same number of bedding-weeks. Big bags of 500 or 1000 kg suit larger yards with a loader.
Dust
Straw pellets are pressed and screened, so fines are removed before bagging. Once watered, the bed is practically dust-free.
What to watch
The first set-up of a box needs more bags than a weekly top-up – plan for 8–10 bags per box. And pellets must be watered to open up; a bed of dry, whole pellets is not what you want under a horse.
Curious how the numbers work for your stable? Contact us – we are happy to calculate a season’s need and quote a delivered price per truckload.
