tell me about straw!

My tip would be: don't use straw! I found I had to do a full muck-out every day when I used it. Too time-consuming!
 
I used to take a barrow out a day :)

Some deep litter and leave the wet down but I didnt. If he is out, then leaving the bed up in banks I found helps the floor dry and makes straw dry as well
 
use rubber mats and then dont use too deep a bed of straw... on straw i always end up mucking the whole lot so easier on a smaller bed.
 
I used to take out a couple of barrows with my horse and around a barrow from the pony. I would pull all the soiled straw into the middle and toss the clean dry stuff up onto the banks. Then I'd get rid of the dirty straw and leave the banks up during the day so the swept mats could dry. In the evening I'd pull the banks down to make the bed and top up the banks with fresh straw. It worked well for me and didn't take too long once I perfected the technique!
 
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CharliesAngel said:
use rubber mats and then dont use too deep a bed of straw... on straw i always end up mucking the whole lot so easier on a smaller bed.
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Agree about the rubber mats but interestingly I found that my horse would completely trash a shallow bed so I too would have to take the whole thing out and start again. If I gave him a deeper bed (not deep littering though) he seemed to 'respect' it more and would be much cleaner and more settled. Didn't seem to make much difference to the pony though so it might be worth experimenting and seeing what works best in Sox's opinion ;)
 
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I love straw! Over the years here I've tried lots of different bedding and always go back to it. I don't muck out quite as much now as mine are out 24/7 and just come in for breakfast and tea. So more of a case of me just skipping out quickly. But, if they do come in then I used to get about two barrow fulls out of each. Storm is quite tidy and tends to poop in certain places which makes it easier and only wees in one corner (weird). Chloe treads it everywhere so hers can take half an hour to do properly! I would just see what suits you and Sox, try just skipping out daily if you are short on time and then the full monty at weekends if you have more time. Just see how wet it gets - don't want it smelling - but I find if I'm short on time rather than digging it all out a clean slice of straw works until I can get to it.
Hows he settling now btw?
 
If you are on concrete then you are going to end up with maybe 2 barrows a day, We have rubber mats and sweep out completely each day when they are in and it's about one huge piled barrow per stall.
 
Wally said:
If you are on concrete then you are going to end up with maybe 2 barrows a day, We have rubber mats and sweep out completely each day when they are in and it's about one huge piled barrow per stall.
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Yes my barrows look like a mobile muck heap!lol tis great fun (not) trying to clamber up the muck heap with it - more often than not I end up stuck!
 
I deep litter and clean out once every 2 or 3 months - once the bottom of the bed is wet and solid it doesn't smell at all, each day I just rake back the loose dry straw of the top bed and skip out the poos, relay the top and dress with fresh. Scully tends to box walk if anything exciting is going on outside, so loose beds of whatever depth get really churned up, the deep bed withstands this much better.

Re-establishing the bed after a clean out takes about a fortnight - that is when it smells :confused:
 
I lift straw beds daily, shake the poo out and skim the dry stuff and throw up in the bankings then take out any wet. Pull the bed back down and add fresh clean straw on top.

I had builders bag that I put straw in if a big round bale and if I took out a barrow or less I put roughly a full barrow of clean straw back in.
 
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I always find with straw the bigger the he'd the cleaner it is but would expect about a small wheelbarrow full.
Rubber matting helps for drainage though. Always leave the bed up to air the floor and put back down later.
 
Em 1 said:
I used to take out a couple of barrows with my horse and around a barrow from the pony. I would pull all the soiled straw into the middle and toss the clean dry stuff up onto the banks. Then I'd get rid of the dirty straw and leave the banks up during the day so the swept mats could dry. In the evening I'd pull the banks down to make the bed and top up the banks with fresh straw. It worked well for me and didn't take too long once I perfected the technique!
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This is what I do - but I also put clean straw on the main bed as well, at least five times a week.

His bed is always clean, he never stands in wet soiled straw doing it this way - but he does lie on poo, squashing it flat during the night!!
 
nat17 said:
On straw I poo pick the stable daily, and remove the wet weekly, as long as you had enough straw in it works well
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This is what I more or less do now. Our pair only come in for a couple of hours whilst I ride etc so not really needing to take the whole lot up anymore. Think they come in when it rains at night sometimes as in the morning their are Chloe and Stormy shapes in the straw.
 
While I decided to do what I did at my other yard. Big banks and a big bed! He's alot cleaner. I take the poo and pee out everyday and leave his bed up so the floor dries.
 
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