How to Use Wood Pellets for a Stall Litter

Wood pellets are an efficient and inexpensive means to provide a dense and absorbent bedding in a horse stall. Wood pellets help minimize the horses' exposure to moisture and odors from waste. A stall bedding of wood pellets acts as a better cushion for the horses' hooves than bulk bedding materials.

Things You'll Need

  • Wood pellets
  • Bucket
  • Manure fork
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Instructions

    • 1

      Clean the horse stall until only the concrete, wood, dirt and rubber mats are visible.

    • 2

      Empty between three and five bags of wood pellets, depending on the size of the horse stall, in the center of the floor and use the manure fork to spread them outward to cover the entire area. The wood pellets will expand when wet, so don't add more even if the horse stall appears barren at first.

    • 3

      Use the bucket to distribute three gallons of water across all of the wood pellets to initiate their expansion. The water dissolves the resin sheen on the wood pellets to give them a fluffy appearance and consistency as they expand to approximately three times their original size. This process takes about 20 minutes. The wood pellets will continue to expand at a slower rate during the first week of use. Dust from the wood pellets is minimal when they are moist.

    • 4

      Turn the expanded wood pellets with a manure fork to further break them down and distribute moisture among the lot.