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  Discussion on Corn Cob Pelleted Horse Bedding
Author Message
Member:
quatro

Posted on Wednesday, Feb 24, 2010 - 6:53 pm:

Just another new thing for Levi.
He has been confined, and of course has hay available at all times.
We recently had a little melting, and Cody's stall flooded, so I thought I would try the pelleted bedding to possibly soak up the little lake.. Well, it froze, before the bedding could absorb anything.
Levi, being the horse he is, lives for food, came into Cody's stall and thought he died and went to pelleted food heaven. I caught him eating the pellets.
My barn worker, said he had only been in there about 5 minutes or so, and there was still quite a bit on the ground.
I called the company and they said not worry. Of course, me, I worry! It is designed to expand with moisture, He did not choke, and would have by now, but could it get in his intestines and expand. It is made from ground corncobs, and then compressed into pellets.
Always something. Anyone else have this situation with pelleted bedding?

suz
Member:
vickiann

Posted on Wednesday, Feb 24, 2010 - 7:49 pm:

Never a dull moment with keeping horses!

I hope that this works through Levi without incident and I don't blame you for being concerned.

If one of mine did this I would keep a little closer watch of the horse than usual in the hours ahead and until it has had enough time to work through the system.

I would think that it is not digestible so would like to see it present in the manure. Hopefully he didn't eat too much of it.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Feb 25, 2010 - 7:09 am:

Hello Susan,
I too think their is little danger. Usually mastication is going to get it to expand prior to swallowing if it had not already expanded. When we have used pelleted bedding it comes with the instructions to lightly spray them them to help break them down. They expand and fall apart before the horse is put in the stall.
DrO
Member:
dsibley

Posted on Thursday, Feb 25, 2010 - 10:56 am:

I used the corncob bedding for about a year. Some of the horses would eat just a small amount when I first put them in their stalls, but I would make sure there was grain and hay to keep them busy instead. Once their bellies were full, they lost interest.
I have had better luck with pine pellets. They don't seem to get as dusty after they break down, and the horses are not interested in using them as an alternate source of nutrition. They also seem to absorb even better than the cobs.
I have a horse here who came in with a bad case of thrush; she's also a very very messy mare. I switched her bedding from shavings to the pine pellets and it seems to be helping her somewhat.
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