Another bedding thread!

airliner

airliner

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Apologies for yet another bedding thread. I didn’t want to take over anyone else’s thread!

I’ve been bedding on straw (wheat, long cut) with sawdust (from local sawmill) base and rubber mats on concrete. It’s been cheap, easy to acquire, and I have a local farmer who happily takes it out of my muck heap. However my horse has started to get progressively more gunky and his occasional “throat clearing” cough when he pops up into trot at the beginning of a ride has increased. My vet and I decided that I should try different bedding.

Right now I’m looking into chopped straw or hemp bedding options, but open to others. My main concern is the absorbency. The sawdust base is wonderful; without it I can’t use the long straw (due to the rubber mats). But I think that the sawdust is the main culprit of his respiratory issues. Especially because my horse has to roll and when doing so he paws and digs around beforehand so he always makes a big mess! God love him :rolleyes: I’ve tried straw pellets and he’s eaten them every single time, whether I wet them down a bit or not.

I previously only ever bedded on shavings (back home in the USA). Now I’m in Germany and it’s predominantly long straw. So now I am quite fond of the straw! Would love to use chopped straw but I’m wondering if I would still have to use the sawdust as a base? Any other recommendations and insights? Thank you!
 
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airliner said:
Apologies for yet another bedding thread. I didn’t want to take over anyone else’s thread!

I’ve been bedding on straw (wheat, long cut) with sawdust (from local sawmill) base and rubber mats on concrete. It’s been cheap, easy to acquire, and I have a local farmer who happily takes it out of my muck heap. However my horse has started to get progressively more gunky and his occasional “throat clearing” cough when he pops up into trot at the beginning of a ride has increased. My vet and I decided that I should try different bedding.

Right now I’m looking into chopped straw or hemp bedding options, but open to others. My main concern is the absorbency. The sawdust base is wonderful; without it I can’t use the long straw (due to the rubber mats). But I think that the sawdust is the main culprit of his respiratory issues. Especially because my horse has to roll and when doing so he paws and digs around beforehand so he always makes a big mess! God love him :rolleyes: I’ve tried straw pellets and he’s eaten them every single time, whether I wet them down a bit or not.

I previously only ever bedded on shavings (back home in the USA). Now I’m in Germany and it’s predominantly long straw. So now I am quite fond of the straw! Would love to use chopped straw but I’m wondering if I would still have to use the sawdust as a base? Any other recommendations and insights? Thank you!
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When rubber / eva stable mats were first marketed in UK, c.1990 onwards, they were sold as the bedding, horses not being nesting animals, and just to put in a bucketful of absorbent material (like shavings, diced newspaper etc.) as a ‘pee here’ guide.
Horses with respiratory issues were advised not to use even that, and obviously all stables were swept completely clean to air every day.
Attitudes change, humans like to see what looks like a cosy bed, and bedding manufacturers have proliferated….so, coincidentally, have respiratory issues in both humans and horses.
Sawdust manufacturers often state it is unsuitable as equine bedding, we use sawdust on cow mats in the cubicles where our dairy herd can lie, and the company we buy from are quite clear that sawdust is too finely milled for equine safety. I think horse owners who do use sawdust like this, do so only because it is cheap. Never, ever heard a vet recommend actual sawdust for horses.
We currently bed horses on long wheat straw on top of mats, but muck out every day and leave the bed thrown up to air. Find this more hygienic and less tiring/ time consuming than allowing build up. There is no more issue than if you were bedding straw onto concrete or rammed earth, as more traditionally done, but if you only want to remove droppings daily, then might be better with a properly deep litter - whatever material. Good luck!
 
I’ve just got 6 bags of Burlybed miscanthus bedding to try, it’s a little cheaper than shavings and more absorbent apparently…so will report back! It’s got good reviews etc and my mare likes a fluffy bed or she tends not to lay down much.

Straw pellets are great but yes they can eat them sadly! I’m also keen to try chopped rape straw Unibed…looks comfy and not too expensive either. We don’t have any stockists near me sadly so it would be a pallet job if I wanted it.

I’ll let you know how we get on with the Burlybed!
 
I use a mix of Burlybed Lite which is the red bag and some lightly soaked straw pellets underneath their usual pee spots.

The Burlybed is lovely and fluffs up to make a nice big bed with 4 or 5 bags and isn't overly expensive. I buy 10 bales at a time and this covers both my stables, one of which is massively oversized due to my ever growing youngster, and I usually end up using 4 bales per stable, with 2 left over as a back up if needed. I'm also lucky that I manage to save quite a bit of bedding from my boys as they are very particular in their toileting habits.

It is mega absorbent too, as both my lads have the one spot where they wee and one where they generally poop - it makes mucking out heavenly as I know exactly where the poop and wee will be and if it's in any different places, I know something must have been happening on the yard/they're not quite right for whatever reason.

I have found however, that is is minorly dusty after putting it down and fluffing it up, but Baggs my older lad has COPD and he copes fine with it - no issues or coughing at all.

If you were wanting to stick with the straw, I'd look into straw/wood pellets as an option for the base. You can give them a light sprinkle so that they fluff up but still retain a decent amount of expansion for when they get wet, they can be popped underneath the straw as a replacement for the shavings and they are pretty cheap to buy (I pay £6.99 for an 18kg bag that holds up to some serious peeing from my two boys aha!). The one downside that I can see is that some horses do eat them, so you would need to be sure that they have a decent coverage at all times, especially as your lad likes to dig a bit before going down in his stable x
 
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AppyLover1996 said:
I use a mix of Burlybed Lite which is the red bag and some lightly soaked straw pellets underneath their usual pee spots.

The Burlybed is lovely and fluffs up to make a nice big bed with 4 or 5 bags and isn't overly expensive. I buy 10 bales at a time and this covers both my stables, one of which is massively oversized due to my ever growing youngster, and I usually end up using 4 bales per stable, with 2 left over as a back up if needed. I'm also lucky that I manage to save quite a bit of bedding from my boys as they are very particular in their toileting habits.

It is mega absorbent too, as both my lads have the one spot where they wee and one where they generally poop - it makes mucking out heavenly as I know exactly where the poop and wee will be and if it's in any different places, I know something must have been happening on the yard/they're not quite right for whatever reason.

I have found however, that is is minorly dusty after putting it down and fluffing it up, but Baggs my older lad has COPD and he copes fine with it - no issues or coughing at all.

If you were wanting to stick with the straw, I'd look into straw/wood pellets as an option for the base. You can give them a light sprinkle so that they fluff up but still retain a decent amount of expansion for when they get wet, they can be popped underneath the straw as a replacement for the shavings and they are pretty cheap to buy (I pay £6.99 for an 18kg bag that holds up to some serious peeing from my two boys aha!). The one downside that I can see is that some horses do eat them, so you would need to be sure that they have a decent coverage at all times, especially as your lad likes to dig a bit before going down in his stable x
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Oh dear I may have over ordered...I've now got 7 bags of Burlybed for setting up my stable 😂 It is quite a large one though...I'll keep what I don't need aside!
 
Bobthecob15 said:
Oh dear I may have over ordered...I've now got 7 bags of Burlybed for setting up my stable 😂 It is quite a large one though...I'll keep what I don't need aside!
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To be fair when I first used Burlybed I ordered 15 bags as I was used to bedding not lasting very long - safe to say that it lasted a hell of a long time aha!

The great thing about Burlybed is you can make the bed as big or small as you like. I like big-ish beds but have to be careful as Rabbit my youngster has a particular talent for hiding his poop (even though he poops in one spot, he'll bury it to the extent that I have to upend the entire bed to find it all!), and if I make his bed too big mucking out becomes the horse equivalent of scaling Mt. Everest 😅

I do believe that Burlybed recommend between 6 and 8 bags to completely start a fresh bed on their website however ;)
 
I use dust extracted chopped straw on mats on concrete. I find it slightly less absorbant than sawdust, but it is (or was when I started using it during Covid) cheaper so if I have to take a bit more out I don’t feel as though I've lost anything. I find it more similar to shavings than long straw to muck out and I can make the horses a nice deep bed to keep them warm in winter - the younger one loves lying down in his bed. Plus I can stack it on the yard and not have to keep it under cover, and the bales are easy to carry - I top up with a new bale about every 3 days. Downside is all the plastic waste.
 
I used straw pellets under straw last year. My girls are quite clean so just put a thin layer where they pee and it absorbed really well. Because of the depth of straw they would never have found the pellets to eat.
I’m also on mats and concrete.

I used Aubiose one year for my dust sensitive mare but she would roll and you could see the dust rise. It wasn’t dusty when put down but either from the mud coming off her legs and drying or it breaking up it did create dust.
 
I’m using chopped rape straw and think it’s a great bed. Nice and stable and supportive, quick and easy to muck out.
Can’t really comment on dust but I can’t say I’m noticing much. If anything I find topping up my geldings straw bed tends to make me sneeze more than the chopped rape straw.
 
Bobthecob15 said:
I’ve just got 6 bags of Burlybed miscanthus bedding to try, it’s a little cheaper than shavings and more absorbent apparently…so will report back! It’s got good reviews etc and my mare likes a fluffy bed or she tends not to lay down much.
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We have a couple of horses with respiratory issues, and off course low dust is a high priority for all horses.

Burley Bed Miscanthus was the dustiest bedding I have ever used. It badly affected the humans mucking out. We end up wearing masks and taking frequent breaks to leave the stable for fresh air and water.

The stables were done first thing every morning to give it a minimum of 12 hours for the dust to settle. Thankfully I only ordered a small pallet to trial and it was used up very quickly. It did not even work as a good, absorbant bedding for the clean horses. The bedding was no match for the dirtier horses so a lot ended up on the muck heap very quickly.

I highly recommend Aubiose. It is more expensive but it work outs cheaper overall because it is more economical to use. It is around £13-14 per bale.

We have occasionally used Easibed and it is lower dust too, although slightly less absorbant than Aubiose, but still a good bedding in its own right. It is £10-11 per bale.
 
NR88 said:
We have a couple of horses with respiratory issues, and off course low dust is a high priority for all horses.

Burley Bed Miscanthus was the dustiest bedding I have ever used. It badly affected the humans mucking out. We end up wearing masks and taking frequent breaks to leave the stable for fresh air and water.

The stables were done first thing every morning to give it a minimum of 12 hours for the dust to settle. Thankfully I only ordered a small pallet to trial and it was used up very quickly. It did not even work as a good, absorbant bedding for the clean horses. The bedding was no match for the dirtier horses so a lot ended up on the muck heap very quickly.

I highly recommend Aubiose. It is more expensive but it work outs cheaper overall because it is more economical to use. It is around £13-14 per bale.

We have occasionally used Easibed and it is lower dust too, although slightly less absorbant than Aubiose, but still a good bedding in its own right. It is £10-11 per bale.
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Thanks will keep this in mind!! aubuoise is £16.80 a bag at the only store near me that does it 😂

If the Burlybed doesnt work out for me I’m going to order a pallet of Excel bedding (Bed Down) I’ve got a couple of trial packs and it’s lovely bedding…mix of shavings and chopped straw x
 
Bobthecob15 said:
Thanks will keep this in mind!! aubuoise is £16.80 a bag at the only store near me that does it 😂

If the Burlybed doesnt work out for me I’m going to order a pallet of Excel bedding (Bed Down) I’ve got a couple of trial packs and it’s lovely bedding…mix of shavings and chopped straw x
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If you are able to buy in bulk efeed delivers and offers a slight discount when ordering over forty bales.

Caviera are worth a look at too. They also deliver and I am sure that they offer a discount for bulk orders too. I have purchased chopped straw from them previously.
 
Just a little progress update since it's been a few months! I have been using a chopped wheat straw bedding since October of last year and absolutely love it! I just ordered a pallet of chopped rapeseed straw to see how I like it since the difference in price wasn't too crazy. Will report back once I start using it ;)
 
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