Bedding & Muck Heaps

[angelfben]

I've been pondering how I'm going to go about managing a muck-heap at the new yard.

I know it can cost anything up to £200+ to have them removed, especially as I use shavings so no good for spreading! So I came to a few ideas based on what people have told me happens on their yards:

1) Build a standard muck heap, have it removed twice a year and adjust my livery fees accordingly to cover the cost.

2) Have a "muck trailer" and take this away myself every week, therefore avoiding the costs of having it collected. But where can I take it? And will I still have to pay to have it disposed of?

3) Find a 'muck heap friendly' bedding and try and make this a yard policy. Would you be very miffed if you weren't allowed to use shavings? I'm hoping to do part & full livery with bedding costs included.
What beddings would be suitable? I've looked at Nedz Bedz Advance, but I do like a nice big 'fluffy' bed with banks.. the pelleted beds just look so uncomfortable, and I worry about the lack of banks

4) Have 2 muck heaps, 1 for straw and "muck heap friendly bedding", and 1 for shavings... charge a premium for anyone who wished to use shavings, to contribute to the removal of the muck heap. Use the straw muck heap to spread on my own land to keep costs down.


Any thoughts? Advice?

 

[jordanross]

Hi , well i have my horse at home and didnt want a muck heap near my house so i bought some strong rubble bags to start with and was going backwards and forwards everyday to the re cycling centre(local tip). you can put it in the gardening skips!

obviously it became a hassle going daily so since having my tailor i stll bag it but go each saturday, so it only costs me the petrol to and from . its only 3 miles away so 6 miles a week aint bad

 

[DanniHiggy]

we bag ours up and sign post it to the gate to the yard sayying "free horse manure" and people always want some! and if anything people want to pay for it and people keep sayying we should have a "tip box" which can go to ILPH or something...its working anyway

 

[angelfben]

The problem is I'm going to have at least 8 horse to clean up after, and potentially up to 22 depending how brave I am and how many stables I fill. I'm going to have a fair bit of muck to shift

The other issue is there are also all sorts of regulations in place with regards to muck removal, as it is now classified as a controlled waste so if it isn't used to spread on land, it can only be disposed of by a registered carrier

 

[eventerbabe]

when we got our yard, one of our conditions of lease was having quick rotting bedding. After a bit of research, hemp bedding seemed to be the quickest to rot. We have 2 muck heaps, bedding and muck and then an adjacent bit for hay waste. have you any local farmers? they might want to take your rotted muck our muck heap is disposed of by our landlord (a gentleman farmer) and he uses it on his fields and in his veggie garden.

 

[angelfben]

I was looking at Hemcore but it seems to be difficult to get hold of since they went into administration, and no-one seems to know if they are going to continue the bedding side of the business

I could give Aubiose a shot, but is the lack of banks not a concern with regards to them getting cast?

 

[darwin51]

you could contact your local allotment secretary - I have an allotment, and on the odd occasion when someone delivers a load of muck, it vanishes in minutes!