Bit of practical advice please....

L

LisaJane

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Feb 6, 2008
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What's the best bedding in terms of the least waste? I have a very mucky mare on straw bedding who buries her poos, and I get rid of c. 3 barrows per day. Which I have no problem with except it is sooo much to get rid of!

I have never used wood chip, shavings, cardboard etc., any ideas what is the most efficient and least wasted?

Many thanks for any advice!
 
I find that Liverpool wood pellets produce the least waste - I take out 1/2 a barrow a day sometimes 1 barrow where as the same pony of straw was 1.5-2 barrows a day.

It does take a bit of getting used to but i wouldn't swap back now! (and it's cheap)
 
I also use Liverpool wood pellets they are great! Once the bed is settled and compacted then the poo just sits on top ready to pick out and the wee is soaked up. I remove the really wet patches once a week and top up with 1/2 to a bag.
 
I'd stick with straw - it's cheap, easy to work & you can keep a clean bed. Other bedding I've seen &/or worked with with dirty horses never let me keep a bed that looks how I like at a cost I can afford so I'd rather keep takeong extra barrows of straw out. Two to three barrows is normal for my big lad too &I can live with that for a lovely clean deep bed each night.
 
Thanks Carthorse, ideally I'd stick with straw but I have to get rid on a weekly basis and three barrows a day is a lot to 'lose'!
 
You might find that with her burying her poo's already, shavings or pellets will end up really churned up, and you'll be no better off (having seen a mare turn her bed of shavings over and bury her poo's, I know it can happen).. Does she do them every where, or have certain spots? You could experiment on how you do her bed, maybe start from a third up the stable and leave a 1-2 foot gap at the back, and see whether she changes her habits?
 
Hi Long time no see !! How's Elvis ?? Ive got my dirty boy on pellets and wouldnt go back to straw. He used to poo everywhere and trample it in and then wee ontop. Pellets are so much easier and the clean goes through the fork and the dirty stays on top. Shavings just clump together and I can seem to get any to fall through the fork.
 
Nedz Pro for me its brilliant. You do need to start with a deep bed which can seem a bit costly but its really absorbent. The wet just disappears underneath completely and is always looks clean and dry. It takes me 5 minutes a day to pick up the poos with gloves and I just take the wet out once a week. I use 1/2 to 1 bale a week top up and my mare has a lovely deep bed.
 
Wood pellets for me too, I have a very messy boy, I think he playes football with his poos in the night, have always used wood pellets and wouldn't consider anything else, one word of caution though, be careful which you choose, I tried a different brand this year as they appeared to be much cheaper, having used them since the end of September I now know why!
 
Mine are all grotty too :giggle: I agree that straw is possibly the best as anything else will churn up. Alf buries his poo too! Have you considered semi-deep litter? I take out about a barrow a day and top up with fresh. I basically take the wettest parts out and the poo (throwing your bed up against the back wall is a brill way to get the poo out and keep the straw) and leave the not-minging bits then put fresh on top. Every few weeks I take a good few barrows out so it doesn't end up too deep. I keep all five of mine like this.
 
clashnoir said:
Ditto.
Saves me a fortune.
Sometimes I give him a whole bale of shavings and it lasts all week!
Just pick up poo then sweep out.
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Isn't it smelly? I know loads of people who do this and the rugs are wet and smelly because the horse has to lie down basically in a puddle of wee :frown:

Each to their own, but personally I hate seeing it :frown:
 
Shavings absorb it and it the stable floor has been prepared properly there ought no be any pools of wee. Shredded newspaper absorbs even better. But has to be newsprint, office paper is too shiny.
 
Thanks all, much appreciated. Has anyone used cardboard at all, specifically Ecobale? I have done a bit of research and it looks a distinct possibility...?
 
I got a free sample of cardboard (and paper, and pellets, and hemp) when I was making decisions last year.

Personally, I thought the cardboard was disgusting - wet, (but wierdly, NOT QUICK to absorb), heavy when wet, and smelly.
I used to use paper on a yard I worked for - hated it.

I use pellets now - I pay the little extra for the premium ones, they absorb all the wet REALLY quickly, but I hardly throw any pellets away when mucking out day to day - three horses only fill one normal size barrow. Every now and then I dig for a wet patch, remove 1/2 a barrow of wet, and replace with new bag.

My muck heap is 90% droppings, 10% pellets.
 
we have a box walking mare who used to reduce her bedding to a brown mess and it had to be taken out daily. She was on straw, then shavings, and now on rubber mats with a bucket full of shavings on top which is quick and easy to clean out.

but the floor needs to slope to the back with a drain otherwise you get wee coming out the front of the stables etc.

Some horses don't like to lie on the mats - the 4 donkeys do but Molly and Rosie don't. Molly never lies down at all, Rosie will if she is on deep litter.

Deep litter is the only other thing that seems to work.

I used to use newspaper - we had a shredder and made our own but you need a lot of paper to do it! It's amazing how much paper goes into one bag. It was very absorbant and they liked it - we had it on top of the rubber mats - the shredder made long strips like spaghetti - the commercial stuff that is really really fine shred blows everywhere and makes a fine mess. We used to put it straight onto the garden as mulch to keep the weeds down.

It does rot down, but it is quite heavy to shift as it absorbs all the wee and gets quite weighty. To buy a shredder to make your own is quite expensive as well.
 
Wally said:
Rubber mats and a sprinkle of wood shavings or sawdust.
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Similar...I used two bales of shavings to start and now just add a bale a week to make bankings and pull down through the week.
Take out poo and wet patches daily. I do have to fling it against stable wall though as she is a poo burying pony :redcarded:
 
Another who uses shavings and rubber matting, easy to manage, small manure pile that is mostly poop, and not had any trouble with puddles of pee. It gets absorbed easy enough. Cheap and easy to keep.
 
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