Sawdust as horse bedding?

[spanisheyes]

There was a time when I would have gasped in disbelief at the thought of bedding my horses on sawdust. We have all been told that it is dusty and dangerous.

But at the weekend I was mucking out and my old neighbour popped round. He used to be a joiner before retiring.
Ive recently started using wood pellets and he basically said I was being fleeced.

Apparently if you get pine sawdust from a sawmill it is virtually identical to wood pellet bedding. Not dusty but clean and nice. And a lot cheaper.

Is this true? Anyone bed on sawdust?

[anastasia55555]

im making a guess that your not from the UK??
correct me if im wrong.

shavings/ 'sawdust' are very poplular as bedding in the UK, they can be quite dusty, but most places sell dust extracted shavings. although for horses with allergies it is still not a good idea.

[anastasia55555]

maybe sawdust and shavings arent really the same thing but get called the same sometimes?! hope i have got the right end of the stick lol!

[chloe]

I used sawdust last winter and it was brilliant - not at all dusty (I tested it tons of times by vigorously forking it into the air and it just fell straight back and settled again immediately). If I could get it again I would! Only issue is the wet bits are heavy to remove (I semi deep littered so poos out every day and wet when it reached the surface) but since that only happened every other week it didn't put me off.

[mojo]

I would be careful getting shavings direct from a sawmill as it may have sharp bits in it. I think I would always pay a bit more and get the stuff specially for horses.

[anastasia55555]

maybe thats the difference (maybe im being dim lol!!)
sawdust - straight from mill
shavings - may have been from a mill, but with use for horse in mind when dust extracted and packaged.

i too would be wary, as you said spanisheyes it could be very dusty from the mill

[spanisheyes]

Thanks for the feedback but it seems that Im too late.

My lovely helpful old neighbour contacted some sawmills for me and these days big contractors take the sawdust.
The only places that let you bag your own are the small mills that cant guarantee no hardwood.

My neighbour says hardwood is dangerous, it can cause nasal cancer but pine sawdust from fresh timber is fine.
Not dusty but like sand.

Good luck if you can get it but the big boys have spotted a profit round here and no cheap bedding for me!

[Anne_Oxfordshire]

I used to live on the continent and we used to bag our own sawdust at a sawmill which we used as bedding for the ponies. It was a horrible job filling the bags, but it made great bedding. No complaints about it at all. It was dusty when you first put it down but no more than any other new bedding. Once it had settled it was fine.

[Spirit of Wales]

Myself and my liveries have used sawdust now for the past 18 months and its brilliant and not in the least bit dusty. I buy mine direct from a sawmill and have never had a problem with sharp pieces, having hard wood in, etc - just clean fresh sawdust. A good sawmill is a must and let them know its for equine use.

It makes a lovely deep litter bed, ideal for banking up, or even a shallow bed on rubber mats to soak up urine. I will never go back to conventional bales of shavings or wood pellets. A big thumbs up for sawdust. Oh and it lessens the muck heap and composts very well.

Price - extremely reasonable. I had 5 tons delivered in a silage trailer, tipped into my barn and it cost me £140 and will last right through to late summer of 2010, when I will top up with another 5 tons. (A bale of shavings or bag of wood pellets costs from £4.50 upwards so costs alot more than my sawdust)

Modified: Ask a local farmer as they often use sawdust for bedding in cattle sheds, they may be able to give you a contact of a sawmill, thats how I got my contact and the farmer even goes and collects for me.

Spirit of Wales

[rosisotherhalf]

I'd be cautious about using sawdust as bedding both for the health of the horse and you.

If you can guarantee that the sawdust is from proper "wood" only, then that is fine. However if the sawmill is handling/cutting/working with MDF then walk away. MDF gives off a very fine dust when machined and is carcenogenic to both you and horse. No amount of extraction will get rid of all of it and given the way we chuck bedding around when mucking out, the dust WILL fly.

[spanisheyes]

Thanks rosisotherhalf, I think you have to be so careful with the source of it as you say.

[Liz]

Another thing to be wary of is red sawdust. The wood used to make this can be very irritating to many horses. Also if sawdust bedding is not kept VERY dry and clean it can overheat which can cause feet problems and may combust.

[portiabuzz]

interesting responses, at first glance would have said its a no no...?

[Trouble]

I tried a bag of sawdust/shavings from a sawmill last year. i was having regular nosebleeds every day after just one or two muck outs....so I dreaded to think what it must be doing to his lungs.

So now we are on normal shavings, and no nosebleeds!

[Lisanw]

I use to collect from a local small sawmill - you did need to keep an eye out for any sharp chunks, but they were easy enough to spot...I used to use it as a base layer for my very wet gelding with normal shavings ontop - worked well but agree, source is important!