Alternatives to poo picking everyday?

Chinchilla said:
This is true.



(I had no idea poo hoovers were a thing, though. Wow....)
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it is great fun watching it all being sucked up into a large vacuum hose. I found the "rough" areas spread out in size if left. They were good in that they got a lot of poo in them but they started taking over larger and larger areas of the field.
 
Thanks everyone, its really helpful to hear the different methods and ideas. We own our own place, so I can't even take turns with a friend (like I used to when I was on a livery yard). It just seems relentless and a bit overwhelming. The acre field isn't too bad to keep on top of but the 2 acre is on a hill and it exhausts me. No easy answers I know!
 
cblover said:
Thanks everyone, its really helpful to hear the different methods and ideas. We own our own place, so I can't even take turns with a friend (like I used to when I was on a livery yard). It just seems relentless and a bit overwhelming. The acre field isn't too bad to keep on top of but the 2 acre is on a hill and it exhausts me. No easy answers I know!
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Find something to swap it for? Lifts in lorry / holiday pet sitting / videoing lessons? Everyone wants something, it is just finding a match. Ideally a teenager that is keen for something you can offer.
 
cblover said:
Thanks everyone, its really helpful to hear the different methods and ideas. We own our own place, so I can't even take turns with a friend (like I used to when I was on a livery yard). It just seems relentless and a bit overwhelming. The acre field isn't too bad to keep on top of but the 2 acre is on a hill and it exhausts me. No easy answers I know!
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Personally poo picking is so harm to my arms, I would rather do extra part time work elsewhere an pay for it than ever do it on a more than occasional basis.
 
http://www.grasssickness.org.uk/adv...-which-may-reduce-the-risk-of-grass-sickness/

Before you all go out and buy a mechanical poo picking machine :) - the Grass Sickness Foundation advises against using mechanical devises that have a brushing effect when mechanical poo collecting as research has shown that this could well be a cause of grass sickness due to the soil disturbance, as is soil disturbance such as laying drainage pipes, construction work and poached gateways etc. They feel that there is a link between soil disturbance and soil associated bacterium, Clostridium botulinum (type c) which can cause EGS. I don't know the ins and outs of these machines or how they work and whether they all have a brushing mechanism as I've never seen one at work, but just thought I'd let you know.

I collect my horses dropping three or four times a week with a snow shovel and use the side of my left foot to put it on the shovel and then deposit it into a wheelbarrow. I find it you keep on top of poo picking its much easier.
 
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BBP said:
I think best option is replace Clydesdale with smaller beast that does less poo! My guys are super easy to do. But seeing as that’s probably not an option you will be keen on, I would also suggest a local teenager once or twice a week to clear it for you for some extra cash.
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As the owner of 2 drafts I am constantly amazed (horrified) by the size of the poo piles. In the field next door are 3 x skinny 14h ponies who leave nice neat tiny piles. Next time I'm horse shopping I might need to view poo piles as part of the assessment process.
 
I always said I wanted to see their stables after a night in SEL, despite being about the same size it takes half the time to much out Frank than Mum's mare than that adds up :D
 
flying_high said:
Personally poo picking is so harm to my arms, I would rather do extra part time work elsewhere an pay for it than ever do it on a more than occasional basis.
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Which is feeling my age talking. Ten years ago, I thought I was invincible and would have scoffed. Now I have irreversible tendon and ligament damage to my arms. Manageable if I don't over use them. Physio said if I spent a year not lifting anything - lorry ramp / saddle / water bucket, might be cureable. Which is obviously impossible. Else is just management and avoiding repetitive actions which cause them to flare up.
 
SEL said:
As the owner of 2 drafts I am constantly amazed (horrified) by the size of the poo piles. In the field next door are 3 x skinny 14h ponies who leave nice neat tiny piles. Next time I'm horse shopping I might need to view poo piles as part of the assessment process.
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Maybe poo size is directly correlated with bone measurement; I know a small 13.3hh cob with about 11" cannon bones for whom 3 poos is about 1/2 of a barrow. :eek3:
 
cblover said:
Thanks everyone, its really helpful to hear the different methods and ideas. We own our own place, so I can't even take turns with a friend (like I used to when I was on a livery yard). It just seems relentless and a bit overwhelming. The acre field isn't too bad to keep on top of but the 2 acre is on a hill and it exhausts me. No easy answers I know!
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Get a field vac and use a vehicle to pull it. There are 2 kinds 'poo hoovers', one has a huge tube which sucks up the waste and collects it in a tub which has to be emptied onto the muck heap and the other has brushes which sweep the field. The 2nd one is the kind which *might* be linked to grass sickness. We use the first kind and cross-grazing with sheep to manage our fields.
 
Chinchilla said:
Maybe poo size is directly correlated with bone measurement; I know a small 13.3hh cob with about 11" cannon bones for whom 3 poos is about 1/2 of a barrow. :eek3:
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Poo output volume is related to the amount of fibre eaten IME. So when I had two large fully clipped horses living out in winter, with access to adlib low nutritional quality hay, they ate a MASSIVE amount, and correspondingly poo'd a massive amount.

If you have a metabolic horse, on a restricted diet, and a controlled amount of soaked hay, same size horse will do far, far less poo.

Dropping size IME is related to frequency. One of my horses does 4-5 a day, and can go 10 hours with none, normally. But those done are HUGE.

Other horse does smaller piles but about 8 a day.
 
I have just taken on a new horse, 16.2, and he does at least 18 poos a day ! Unbelievable. Ive got two horses on two acres, expensive South East, so do it daily. Fields have been rank though due to no rain and poo and wee everywhere. I would love to live somewhere that had more land.
 
Chinchilla said:
Maybe poo size is directly correlated with bone measurement; I know a small 13.3hh cob with about 11" cannon bones for whom 3 poos is about 1/2 of a barrow. :eek3:
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my Fell poos like an elephant, I had a 12h Exmoor who did the same.

when I used to have to do it I either paid someone who did it by hand, or used a paddock maintenance contractor. I've too many RSIs from working with horses and there are just certain things I wont do now if I can help it.
 
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ycbm said:
I really think you are fooling yourself about how far it spreads, sorry. Bits of poo in the links of a chain could travel the whole width of the field before dropping out.

It's not a good way of managing worm control to rely on chemicals. They are losing their effectiveness and we have no more in the pipeline.
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I'm not fooling myself, I manage my land VERY carefully and walk it daily, if you harrow correctly at a very slow speed you do not spread the droppings widely. I also have a veterinary related degree, have studied equine worming at degree level, do my own egg counts and hatch my own eggs. I know this system works.
 
flying_high said:
Dropping size IME is related to frequency. One of my horses does 4-5 a day, and can go 10 hours with none, normally. But those done are HUGE.

Other horse does smaller piles but about 8 a day.
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I really notice the difference with my 2 on the yard, the WB does about 8+ poos overnight, all small ones. Welsh does 4 gigantadumps.
 
I don't poo pick. just harrow once or twice a year. 2 horses on 2 acres in the summer and 5 acres the rest of the year. we also spread the muck heap on the hay field.
 
milliepops said:
I really notice the difference with my 2 on the yard, the WB does about 8+ poos overnight, all small ones. Welsh does 4 gigantadumps.
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Gigantadumps :D:D yup - that's my two. Seriously looks like some sort of dinosaur / elephant has been through the paddock. If I didn't poo pick it would be covered in 48 hours. I think my two missed the lecture on toilet areas too. They go EVERYWHERE.
 
I hate poo picking! Would only get done on small very restricted turnout unless I was forced to by yard rules - even then Last yard I was on where it had to be done I paid for them to do it.

One of the selling points of current yard. We have 50 acres between 16 horses and paddocks are rotated 3 times a year and harrowed and rested.

Stud where my youngster is also has good acreage, so harrows, rotates and also cross grazes with sheep.
 
I find it easier to poo pick twice a day. Saves heaving heavy barrows about.
I have 4.5 (can't really count the foal as a 5th one yet :D )
Most days I get the fuzzies in 1st thing, then dog and I toddle off pulling barrow. Takes me 10 to 20 mins max from picking up barrow to putting barrow back empty, depending on which fields they are in.
Fences get checked then too. Does mean that if I'm in a tearing hurry on odd occasions, I can leave till next visit.

Poo picking quicker than mucking out :)
 
I will say that having seen a couple of very big paddock sweepers at work (friends with a contractor with big kit :p) I'm not sure that they disturb the soil any more than a lot of chain harrows do? I wouldn't be doing either if my paddock had history.
 
The best thing I did was to stop using those god awful rakes they supply with the poop scoop and swap it for a plastic child's rake from Tesco. It's a wider, wooden handle that doesn't twist in your hand and cause the pain in your wrists and elbows.
 
_HP_ said:
The best thing I did was to stop using those god awful rakes they supply with the poop scoop and swap it for a plastic child's rake from Tesco. It's a wider, wooden handle that doesn't twist in your hand and cause the pain in your wrists and elbows.
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I inherited a couple of Equinespeedskips with two ponies I rehomed - best things ever. Short rake that doesn't involve wrist action, and a scoop that has a robust steel spine that you can lean your whole weight on. When the spring steel rakes fell apart I replaced them with cheap short handled garden rakes off ebay.
I hate the Cottage Craft ones, they give me the equivalent of RSI, and picking up by hand would do my back no good at all
 
Oh god yeah, those long handled useless rakes are awful, I can't get on with them at all. Almost forgot they existed! I have also replaced my speedskip rakes with short handled gardening rakes, much better than the original wiry ones.
 
JillA said:
I inherited a couple of Equinespeedskips with two ponies I rehomed - best things ever. Short rake that doesn't involve wrist action, and a scoop that has a robust steel spine that you can lean your whole weight on. When the spring steel rakes fell apart I replaced them with cheap short handled garden rakes off ebay.
I hate the Cottage Craft ones, they give me the equivalent of RSI, and picking up by hand would do my back no good at all
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Yep, I invested in them some years ago - best thing. When the rakes that they came with broke I bought something very similar off Amazon for about £4 each. I think they are called shrub rakes - sooo much better at flicking the poo in to the skip.

I also use a quad bike with a trailer attached so no pushing wheelbarrows through the mud.
 
The best thing we ever invested in is a paddock sweeper. It lifts muck from short or long grass into the hopper and we tow it with a dumper. It is a smaller unit than the commercial ones. It is called an equine powered brush by sch.
 
I gave up poo picking when I had a back injury about 9 years ago. I only have my own horses, on my own land, so have total control. I egg count regularly. Two of the horses never have any eggs, my old cushings guy always does have a burden so he is wormed once a year, occasionally twice. There are a lot of arguments now for refugia i.e. allowing a reasonable worm burden to remain on pasture, making sure these are non-resistant eggs. At the level of worm competition, these individuals can compete with the resistant ones so keeping that population in check. If you remove all the non-resistant worms, the resistant ones can take over. There is also plenty of evidence that a much larger worm burden than we would normally consider to be healthy is actually healthy - one paper cites 10,000 epg as being a reasonable figure. Obviously that gives people the heebie jeebies, but it's likely that we will see an increase from the current '200epg' as being the baseline in years to come.
So, OP, I would just stop poo picking. Make sure you still have egg counts done, at least to begin with, and treat if necessary. If your horses aren't shedding any eggs, they've either got really effective immune systems (like two of mine) or there are no horse parasites left on your pasture.
 
I don't think it has to be a Do or Don't scenario - my summer tracks would have very little left to graze if they weren't kept reasonably clean, ditto the small paddocks but the 3 1/2 acre field and the (what is normally) foggage don't get done, nor do they get done in winter, it is too muddy to get a barrow in and out.
 
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