Bedding advice? At a loss!

D

dark_prince

Well-Known Member
Joined
8 May 2012
Messages
353
Location
NW
Visit site
My TB has been on a bed of shavings with straw on top, but now that there is less grass, I think he's been getting hungry and eating all the straw on top. I come back in the mornings to find a mucky mix of shavings and a few bits of straw.

So I have been putting an extra net in his stable with a few handfuls of haylage, in case he has been hungry. This seems to work better and there is more bedding left than before, but at the moment I'm still using nearly 2 bales of straw a week!

I am contemplating putting him on a full bed of shavings. Can anyone give me advice or tips for this? I don't have rubber matting and am not in a position to buy new right now, but if anyone knows of anything?

Also, how many bales do you need for the start up and maintenance of a full shavings bed considering I would be putting it on concrete?

Sorry this is so dull.. :o getting fed up of the mess and amount of bedding he's munching through!
 
I am guessing from what you are saying that you are wanting to establish a deep litter bed with a shavings base if not using rubber matting? There is a fairly quick way to establish a reasonably sturdy base. Firstly you need to keep the shavings you are currently taking out in a muck heap and let them rot down a bit. Of this pile use the dark/black hot sticky stuff mix with fresh shavings and water and then trample (like you are pushing in the mud around a plant you have just planted) down on the concrete floor of the stable - it needs to be a good few inches thick. Allow this to dry undisturbed until bedtime, then you need a couple of bales of fresh dry shavings on top of this.

Bankings though traditionally used by many to stop a horse getting cast are actually an aid in the long term to using too much shavings. It allows you to throw up the loose shavings on the base onto the walls and the droppings roll to the bottom leaving the shavings on the banks to pull down later.

When you muck out initially try not to disturb the base and any high wet areas recycle into any thin base areas or places the horse may have dug down to concrete - using the sample trampling down method. Once it is established it will only need the wet areas removing and thicker areas spreading out to fill in to keep it level..

How many bales you need will depend upon the size of the stable, but most I set up need 6-8 plus the rotten stuff to get a really good bed to start with. I'll try working out how to upload a photo so you can see the kind of bed this gives you.
 
I'd agree with using deep litter, nicer for the horse and easier on your pocket!

However, shavings aren't the most absorbant, and they do get a bit smellier than some other beddings. I use Aubiose or Hemcore, but lots of people keep telling me wood pellets are super absorbant too...
 
I'm currently using shavings but not on deep litter, I do a full muck out every day. I started the bed with four bales of Bedmax which makes a three quarter bed about a foot deep with no banks. I use one new bale every 2days because the horse is wet and fully stabled. The floor is concrete and I don't use rubber mats because I hate the way wee and dust collects under there and rots, plus they're a pain to move when you move yards.
 
You'll need about 5 bales of shavings to start the bed off - but you already have a base, which is a good thing.

After that - 1 bale a week should do it. Perhaps 2 when the weather is particularly wet and nasty.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top