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  Discussion on Corn Cob Pelleted Bedding vs Wood Shavings
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New Member:
ryan2959

Posted on Saturday, Nov 12, 2011 - 10:42 pm:

Please respond if you have any knowledge in this area. My wife and I are having a debate on this issue. We have concrete floors with rubber mats. Stall size: 12, 12x12 and 8, 12x14

My Position: Wood shavings are costing us a fortune. Not only the cost of the volume of shavings that is required but also the labor cost to clean each stall daily!! These two expenses are by far the two largest expenses in the barn. It's either find an alternative or move horses. I have talked to the people at "Best Cob" and they say that by using their product that I could very easily see my expenses in this area DrOp by 75%. They also say that there is no difference as far as comfort to the horse.

Her Position: She doesn't like the looks of the cob pellets. She has talked to a very highly regarded veterinarian (it's not a good sign when you are around these people so much that you develop a friendship) and he says that horses are much more likely to colic with the corn cob pelleted bedding. She also thinks that the pelleted bedding will not be comfortable for the horse.

I looked at older posts on this subject and there weren't many. The largest discussion was I think 7 years old. I'm sure that there has been a growing number of horse owners that have tried the pelleted bedding. Maybe Dr. O can tell us what he thinks of the likely hood of health problems from usage of this type of bedding.

I will look forward to the replies. Thanks
Member:
mrose

Posted on Sunday, Nov 13, 2011 - 10:52 am:

I have never used cob pellets, but knowing a horse's love of corn I'd be leary. Like you, bedding is our biggest espense. If I buy it locally it costs $12 bale or more; if I buy a few hrs away it is $5 to $7/bale but I have to pick it up and consistancy is a problem. Some bales are heavy and some light; and I find big chunks of wood and sharp sticks in the shavings at times.

I have resorted to using Mallard Creek shavings out of N. Calif. Believe it or not, if I buy half a load the cost delivered is less than $6/bale. They have several different types of shavings; the one I like (we have mats also) is a fine shaving with rice hulls mixed in. I can deep bed with this product and it stays nice on top; which is what I do for the older/lame/sick horses. For the others I keep just enough in the stall to absorb urine. Shipping varies of course depending on where you are. If you can find a similar product near you I highly recommend it. Or email/call Mallard Creek as they ship all over the US and if you can get a whole load and either split it with the vets or someone else, it would be worth it.
New Member:
ryan2959

Posted on Sunday, Nov 13, 2011 - 8:23 pm:

The Best Cob people say that there is absolutely no health risk with their product. They say that some horses will nibble on it at the beginning and that it has no nutritional value, it is considered roughage or filler.
Member:
judyhens

Posted on Monday, Nov 14, 2011 - 11:28 am:

I feel your pain! We have 24 horses and bedding is prohibitive. Luckily, our stable has sand as the footing, so we routinely don't have a problem. Also, all but a few horses are out in paddocks which helps a lot. They are healthy and we haven't had lameness problems. - Very occasionally, when we have hosted clinics for ex., we have bedded the stalls. A local board company sells their shavings in bulk (ie by the truck load) at a very reasonable price and they do deliver. Much cheaper than by the bag. However, you then have a little more labor shoveling the bedding than you would just dumping a bag. We clean stalls twice a day, but only have 4 horses with access to stalls. Labor is definitely our highest cost. Is is possible to put the horses in paddocks?

Blessings,

Judy
New Member:
ryan2959

Posted on Monday, Nov 14, 2011 - 6:59 pm:

I wish I could Judy. The show horses we have need to under light and heat to keep their hair coat slick. We are located close to the Iowa and Missouri boarder half way between Kansas City and Des Moines. Our summers can get as hot as 110 and our winters can go as low as -25. The broodmares can handle the outside just fine. Our barn is not designed with turnouts. We do have a few small paddocks to let barn horses out for a few hours but I don't have enough and they are only used with mild temperatures. Do you have any knowledge of pelleted bedding?
Member:
mrose

Posted on Monday, Nov 14, 2011 - 9:13 pm:

Ryan, we did use Woody Pet for awhile. It's a pine pellet. It was expensive, then became impossible to get locally, so I switched to stove pellets. I couldn't see much difference between the two. The stove pellets were untreated.
Member:
juliem

Posted on Monday, Nov 14, 2011 - 11:45 pm:

I use the pellets and find the stalls are easier to clean. The barn where I have a horse in training also uses them to save on labor costs. Much easier to clean than sifting through shavings. I don't have my own horses confined under normal circumstances, so I don't know how long they would get dusty with confined horses.
Member:
canter

Posted on Tuesday, Nov 15, 2011 - 7:00 am:

My barn uses the wood pellets too. They are OK, but not great, IMO. Definitely easier to sift manure through them, but I find they don't absorb urine as well as shavings and the pee sinks beneath them and spreads before being slowly absorbed so wet spots are harder to clean up. I like the look and smell of shavings better and my guess is they are more comfy for the horses, but the wood pellets do seem to be less dusty.
New Member:
klmcbri

Posted on Tuesday, Nov 15, 2011 - 8:32 am:

I have 3 horses at home and I use the wood pelleted product in bags. I buy a pallet at a time and save on the cost we pay $4.85 per bag. I use bags because it is easy for me to store. I like the pellets and have no issues with the cleaning, however I also use a bedding shaker which make the job very easy. Just shovel out the wet area and then clean using the sifter, each stall can be cleaned in about 10 minutes, unless it is really wet or frozen.
Member:
gramsey1

Posted on Tuesday, Nov 15, 2011 - 10:09 am:

I have had a little experience with pellet bedding, not specifically wood stove stuff. But, we got better performance from the material if we did the following:
Lay the bag flat on a cart or wheelbarrow. Cut an X pattern on the bag. Pour in about 1 gallon of water.
Wait about an hour. The pellets will breakdown, puff up and become more absorbent and soft.
There is a finer fork designed for this material.
Works good. But, I don't think it provides as much cushion as medium or course shavings. Course shavings are harder to pick.
Member:
judyhens

Posted on Tuesday, Nov 15, 2011 - 10:45 am:

No, Ryan, I have no knowledge of corn cob pelleted bedding. Is it substantially different from the wood pellet bedding? Interesting discussion. - Once we had a mare with severe founder who had to be stalled on soft bedding. We lived on the coast at the time and humidity was horrible. The ammonia smell was a constant battle. We were using up bags and bags of bedding. Vet suggested an interesting solution: Dig out the stall completely, add a lot of sand, level it, add a thick layer of peat moss, then shavings over the peat moss. The peat moss absorbed a LOT of urine, made for less work, extended the life of the bedding, and the stall smelled fresher. (We typically only clean 2 X day since we work....). Higher up front cost, but much lower cost in the long run. The bedding no longer had to absorb so much - the peat moss did the trick. I have no idea if this is a good idea in general, but for that one mare it certainly worked. Anyway, just another thought.
Good luck!
Member:
mrose

Posted on Tuesday, Nov 15, 2011 - 11:10 am:

At one point we did something similar to what Judy suggests, but we are concrete flooring with rubber mats. I used stove pellets, moistened and fluffed as Guy say, on the bottom then fluffy big shavings on the top. I did this for my mare Libby who was rehabbing from surgery for several months. It was very expensive however (at least here.) I also used PDZ on the wet spots. I love PDZ in the winter when horses are in a lot more.
Member:
judyhens

Posted on Tuesday, Nov 15, 2011 - 11:38 am:

Good idea Sara, nice to share ideas about rehabbing horses...although - Praise the Lord - we haven't needed to recently. I did find some articles on peat moss and horses and it is said to absorb 10 - 20 Xs its weight in urine. Ryan, here is a link to some of the advantages:
https://www.equisearch.com/horses_care/health/senior/eqpeatmoss2467/
Although initially a higher cost, long term reduction in labor and bedding might make it cost effective to put under the bedding. Since we haven't had to do this since the 90s, I have absolutely no clue about the cost of peat moss now. I think we got it from Home Depot or Lowes. It could be so expensive now that it is cost prohibitive. If not, it might be an alternative.
Good luck!
Judy
Member:
judyhens

Posted on Tuesday, Nov 15, 2011 - 11:46 am:

P.S. I forgot to mention that we only had to replace the peat about every 6 months. The article in the above link says the same thing. So... not a major recurrent cost. Just FYI.
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