Coir horse bedding: what the studies measured.
In a cattle trial (Ahn et al., 2016), cocopeat absorbed about 1.5 times more water than sawdust over 12 hours, emitted less ammonia in the laboratory (13.6–22.5 mg/m² over 36 hours against 37.0 mg/m² for sawdust) and, with a fan, lasted twice as long before replacement. The same study recorded much more dust than with sawdust, linked to a high share of fine particles (below 250 µm).
A literature review on equine bedding (Masebo et al., 2025) lists absorbency, low dust, ammonia binding and comfort as the criteria for good bedding. It cites studies in which coconut bedding gave the lowest ammonia concentrations among the materials compared, and in which horses spent more time in lateral recumbency than on sawdust. The most cited comparative ammonia study of horse bedding tested wheat straw, wood shavings, hemp, linen, straw pellets and paper, without coir (Fleming et al., 2008).
Coir horse bedding: equivalents.
PT: cama de coco · ES: cama de fibra de coco
Sources: Ahn et al. 2016 · Masebo et al. 2025. Definition from the Carve coir glossary, where the full source list is given.
Related terms.
Coir pith: Fine, spongy material remaining after fiber extraction from the coconut mesocarp, containing short residual fibers…
Mattress fiber / short fiber: Shorter fiber fraction (typically 2–10 cm) separated during mechanical processing.
Coir dust: Very fine particles (<0.5 mm) generated during fiber extraction.
See also: Coir horse bedding · back to the coir glossary.
Sources.
- Ahn, G.-C., Jang, S.-S., Lee, K.-Y., Kwak, H.-J., Oh, Y.-K., Park, K.-K. (2016). Characteristics of sawdust and cocopeat beddings, and their usefulness according to the fan and pen location for rearing Hanwoo cattle. Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences 29(3): 444–454. doi:10.5713/ajas.15.0672. doi.org/10.5713/ajas.15.0672
- Masebo, N. T., Benedetti, B., Mountricha, M., Lee, L., Padalino, B. (2025). A literature review on equine bedding: impacts on horse and human welfare, health, and the environment. Animals 15(5): 751. doi:10.3390/ani15050751. doi.org/10.3390/ani15050751
- Fleming, K., Hessel, E. F., Van den Weghe, H. F. A. (2008). Evaluation of factors influencing the generation of ammonia in different bedding materials used for horse keeping. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science 28(4): 223–231. doi:10.1016/j.jevs.2008.02.008. doi.org/10.1016/j.jevs.2008.02.008