Hog fuel is ground or shredded cedar or fir bark.  It can be used as fuel, but is often used in turn outs for horses and other livestock in wet areas, to keep the areas from becoming mud holes.

I had six units delivered to my house yesterday morning so we could spread it in the horse turn out area.  The corral got smaller as we built the barn so I decided the little pasture, which does not have much grass in it anymore, was going to be included in the turn out area.

What is a unit?  A unit is seven and a half yards.  What is a yard?  A yard is one scoop of the shovel on a tractor, or more precisely, it is one cubic yard.

My new friend Eileen, who raised Bashkir Curlys for many years, said she used hog fuel in the turn out area for her horses.  She put the shredded bark into the designated area a foot or more deep, and it has lasted 10 years without needing to be added to.  I’m going to try it.

I would have been smart to make larger gates so the trucks could have driven into the areas and dumped the hog fuel right where I wanted it.  Instead I had them dump the hog fuel just outside the fenced area and I will have to move it.  Not too inteligente!  I hope to get some help spreading the mounds of hog fuel!