Sounds like you should use the coir, you already use it for pets. I personally like coir better, but it isn't available cheaply here in Pa. I don't think using peat to make compost is what most folks use anyway. Peat can't compost down any more than it already is. It is know for drying out unless mixed with soil and even needing that ground to be mulched, that is my personal experience only, though. Coir makes good mulch.

Coir is too light for a mulch and too expensive, but what I added to the compost pile from the pets did increase the yield. I bought jumbo sized bags of coir in a pet store, but I still buy cheaper sheared wood for my browns. Coir is not really a brown, but it does really increase the bulk/yield and the plants seem to like it a lot. I can't say I would buy it, if I did not have the pets, but it does beat peat moss. And peat is looking like 40 dollars for a large bag. I use compost or the sheared wood for a mulch if I feel I need to mulch. And for potted plants, but I was not using peat in my compost bin anyway at those prices. It's more of a potted thing, but then when you transplant or dump the plants, then all more coir for your bin. I think coir would blow away here as a mulch, I have western facing garden, and strong winds always blow away stuff. I do wish I could get it cheaper in nursery sized bags instead of pet sized bags.