Wood Stove Pellets...

Not sure if this is the right place to put this :?

Anyway, currently at the moment in the bunnies litterboxes we are using shavings (the same kind we bed them in) and we are having to change these about 2 days or so - trust me, we don't mind changing them when needed....- and we've only been using the shavings because we haven't gotten any more kitty litter.

So, we were thinking, instead of using kitty litter, to use wood stove pellets (the kind that you would actually burn in a wood stove). I was just wondering if anyone here as any experience with wood stove pellets? My main question is, is it easy to compost? Could you burn it after you've taken the pooh from it?

Me and my sister are working on composting and making a "greener" (i guess you could call it?) rabbitry. We're going to compost as much things as we can and then burn the hay/dry shavings..yah that part's not so green....but we don't have any other way to dispose of that and we don't want to compost it. Any suggestions on what we could do for that, besides burning it?

For the manure, we're going to get a large garbage can and put it in there, with some dirt and lots of worms. By spring time we'll have great manure to sell/give to people who need it for plants/gardens.

So any tips on composting, experience with wood stove pellets? What brands are good, do you think?

There's a local store here that sells just wood pellets...not sure what brands as I've never been there before, but I'm sure I could look them up and give them a call to ask.

Thanks!
Emily

Wood stove pellets are a fantastic alternative to traditional litter materials. There's even a few testimonials from OntarioRabbit here.

All in all, it's very economical and there's little to no odour at all.

I've only used the brand Firemaster as that seems to be the only brand available where I live.

A quick search on Google suggests that some farmers who keep horses also use it as an alternative bedding and throw the refuse into a compost. There's more promising information regarding wood stove pellet composting here:

• Cat Litter Composting
• Horse Bedding Compost - this gets a bit technical with the C:N ratio but if you're intending to sell the manure this might be an interesting read
• Wood Stove Pellet Ash - probably not what you're looking for but you did mention burning the stuff and the ash seems to be quite fertile. It also mentions the acidity of the soil which may be relevant in selling the product (and ensuring that it works as intended).

Hope that helps.

[EDIT] I found this on this website about horse manure and better composting:

Another option that is gaining popularity is the use of wood pellet bedding. Wood pellets are a byproduct of the lumber industry and consist of wood fibres that have been sorted by size, compressed, heat treated and sterilized to remove tars, oils, hydrocarbons and other allergens. When water is added to the pellets they expand in size and can absorb 9 times more liquid than regular shavings. Using wood pellets can reduce the amount of waste you are removing from your barn and lower the costs of stall bedding.

In addition, wood pellet bedding composts much quicker than shavings or straw which often do not fully compost or take a long time to decompose. As wood pellets expand with use, the product that ends up in the compost system has a much smaller particle size that breaks down quickly and easily.

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I don't know about other people, I used stove pellets fine for a few months but then poor Rory and Skyler started getting runny noses- first Skyler, then Rory a couple weeks later. I took the stove pellets away and they got better. Put them back in, and they got the runny noses again. It appears that they both developed an allergy after being exposed for a few months so I don't use them anymore. I do however now have like 8 gigantic bags of stove pellets in the entryway! I miss using them because they were so much cheaper than Yesterday's News...

Cat litter really shouldn't be used for bunny litter boxes.

I use a pelleted wood bedding from my local feed store. It is called "Terriamego" or something like that.

You can get Yesterday's News at Walmart for $6 (well, I can) for a 13lbs bag....but I used that whole 13lbs bag in one pour in the bunny litter boxes (and I only have 3 bunnies and put down a thin layer). I don't like YN because I have found metal & plastic objects inside of bags...but I had to buy it on short notice because Walmart ran out of wood stove pellets and the feed store was closed.

Yeah, cat litter can be really bad for them if they eat it. It absorbs water, and in the intestines that is very likely to lead to obstruction. They use it at the humane society here (although I don't put it in the boxes when I help out) but I really don't like it at all.

I use Marth brand wood pellets, which I buy at the pet store. It's a more farm-oriented pet store, which is why they sell them. I have composted them while visiting at my bf's parents' house, just dumped them, poo, and the newspaper I use to line the bottom of the box into their dry compost bin. I've actually been looking into the use of rabbit fecals as manure lately. The poos themselves can be put right on plants, but urine-soaked bedding needs to be composted for a few weeks first because of the high ammonia content. You can of course compost the poos along with the urine-soaked bedding for a few weeks as well. If you have a big compost bin, I think it would be ideal to use wood stove pellets. Rabbit waste makes excellent fertilizer and the pellets just turn into sawdust when wet, so it would be good base for compost. Also, any hay in the litterbox will be composted, and I would think the smell of your rabbits could keep wild rabbits out of the garden, maybe.

Thanks for the replies everyone!

All of that sure does help!

Yeah I hated using the cat litter; they didn't eat it, but I just didn't like using it. I hope they won't be allergic to the wood stove pellets...I guess we'll just have to see.
Amy, I'm not sure if they sell Yesterdays' News at my Wal-Mart. I can check on the website. I'm sure it's in the cat section..and I hardly ever go in there lol. So they may have it.

Yeah this summer I put some manure on a rose plant I was taking care of, and the roses bloomed so big and beautiful! My mom and her boyfriend love flowers, so they'll be happy to have some good quality manure to put in the dirt.

Thanks for all those links of information, 4cm! I think we have the brand Firemaster, down here too. You're right above me (by a few hours) so I'm sure that brand is down here. I've heard of it before at least.

I'm off to do some more reasearch and see what I can find that's cheaper in bulk, and what brand names I can find.

Emily

Hope you find what your looking for, with the bad economy I have been trying to cut all costs down and managed to get wood shavings in big bales, for bedding horses at the farm supply, for only 8 euro and it lasts about a month when I was paying 8 for a small bag for small animals that was only lasting a week, it's amazing what you can find when you really look around.

irishbunny wrote:

it's amazing what you can find when you really look around.

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I definitely agree with this! Like at PetsMart and Petco, they sell Yesterday's New for Ferrets in the ferret isle, YN for rabbits with the rabbit supplies, and then if you only go to the cat litter section...there is a big 30lbs bag for $17 when you get 13lbs for the same exact price in the other isles, if you get "species specific" YN.

That's true!
I found that Wal-Mart here does sell YN, just no price listed.
I'm still searching about the wood stove pellets.

Emily

The brand of wood stove pellets that we use in Midwest Rabbit Rescue & Re-home is called "Pestal". We buy it at a Tractor Supply store which can be found in rural areas of MIchigan.

It is a compressed sawdust pellet used for horse bedding. We add warm water and mix it up so it turns into a soft powder. It is more comfortable for the rabbits to sit on and it still absorbs all of the moisture and ammonia smells too!

It is very economical and not harmful to the bunnies as the kitty litter is. I hope this has helped.

Laura

BlueSkyAcresRabbitry wrote:

I think we have the brand Firemaster, down here too. You're right above me (by a few hours) so I'm sure that brand is down here. I've heard of it before at least.

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That's what I have (Firemaster). They must be a large company.

@ SnowyShiloh: Problems with wood pellets was that it gave a strong odour when the batch was quite fresh. I stored some away and over time the smell dissipated and I was able to use them at a later date.

We use Equine Fresh or Equine Pine. It's the same thing basically and like stove pellets or woody pet. It costs about $5 or $6 per humongo bag. It's very absorbant for the pee and if you put a screen over the top, it's easy to "sift off" the poos and save that litter sometimes.

Bo B Bunny wrote:

We use Equine Fresh or Equine Pine. It's the same thing basically and like stove pellets or woody pet. It costs about $5 or $6 per humongo bag. It's very absorbant for the pee and if you put a screen over the top, it's easy to "sift off" the poos and save that litter sometimes.

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This sounds like what I use too, mine comes in a huge white bag, I love the smell of it when I clean the cages.

Bo B Bunny wrote:

if you put a screen over the top, it's easy to and save that litter sometimes.

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It is very easy to "sift off" the poos with the screen, and scoop out the wet portion of the wood pellets, without wasting the unused pellets.

The Humane Society used to dump out the entire litter box, until they saw me scooping out only theexpired waste.

Bo chewed his screen all up..... not sure what to use now but it DID save a lot of pellets.

I use Equine Pine too. LOVE it!! Went from Carefresh to this and it saved me a ton of money. Pennie, are you having trouble finding it? The TSC in my town has been out for over a month and they have no idea when they will get any in. They say that it's due to a lumber shortage. Luckily the TSC in a town about 30min from me had some. I bought 15 bags :coolness:

I use Wood stove pellets in my litter boxes and love it, even with a dirty litterbox when you dump it it still smells like sawdust. I'm not sure what kind I use but I get mine from Dell's farm supply and its about $3.49 for a 40 pound bag. I think it's called SPF, don't take my word for it though. LOL

~Hayley

RexyRex wrote:

I use Equine Pine too. LOVE it!! Went from Carefresh to this and it saved me a ton of money. Pennie, are you having trouble finding it? The TSC in my town has been out for over a month and they have no idea when they will get any in. They say that it's due to a lumber shortage. Luckily the TSC in a town about 30min from me had some. I bought 15 bags :coolness:

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YES! We were having a horrible time! Now our TSC did have the same thing in a bunny litter kinda bag in that section, but I didn't like nearly as well (and neither did the bunnies..... Clover kicked it all out of her pan LOL).....

Lucky for me, some of the people who work there are friends of ours so they treat me well! I asked the manager to put me down for a couple of bags when they got their next shipment and they phoned right away when it came in! My son drives by there every day and I do most every day.

I miss WoodyPet and Equine Fresh was ok too, but this is good stuff regardless. Bo likes to dig around in it and Clover doesn't throw it out. That alone makes life easier!

I don't blame you for getting 15 bags. Two bags lasts me a long time, but I would have ordered more if I thought I needed to. I hate Care Fresh and I still use it (or a fleece blanket) in part of Bo's pan for his feetsies, but that's just for comfort...
With the weather getting better, it won't be as hard on the wood industry to supply those things, but when Fall hits again, I'd be sure to have plenty - people are buying wood and pellet stoves to heat with right and left out here...... 2 of my neighbors heated soley with those this winter. And the building industry doesn't look to improve for awhile - no building, no wood shavings/pellets/etc.

Bo B Bunny wrote:

YES! We were having a horrible time! Now our TSC did have the same thing in a bunny litter kinda bag in that section, but I didn't like nearly as well (and neither did the bunnies..... Clover kicked it all out of her pan LOL).....

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I had to buy a bag of aspen to hold them over until I could get my hands on more pellets....Alaska would proceed to kick ALL of it out of her litter box as soon as I changed them, guess she told me LOL!! And the smell from the aspen was AWFUL! Chris was the reason I got so many bags. He complained non stop about the pee smell, the aspen had zero odor control. When we found the pellets I was only going to buy 5 bags, but Chris said "I don't think so, we are getting as many bags as we can store, I can't take that smell anymore!".

Emily, I would try the pellets, wood stove or horse bedding if I were you. I think you'll like the change!

Oh I know! Bo sometimes pees on his little blanket in his litterbox (or the carefresh) eventhough it's in half for his feet to jump into it...... and I have to change it or it STINKS!

Tony is full buck and definitely smells if we don't use something like the Equine Pine! it's nasty!