Bedding for a damp stable

EB83

EB83

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Looking for some advice.
I've recently moved stables with my mare, we are on Sureflake shavings which are provided by the yard, these are small flake.
I'm finding that the bed is going dark and damp quickly, my mare is quite clean and her previous stable stayed dry and lighter with the same bedding.
She has moved into the stable my mare who I lost a few weeks ago was in and I did find the same issues with her although she was a box walker so never found a bedding suitable (used to basically put up with the bed or replace completely every 2 months!).
The stable is situated at the end of a barn with slats at the top half of the wall (its approx 12ft high) and situated next to metal doors, so am presuming these are contributing to the dampness.

What would people suggest? I'm considering Aubiose having watched Trina Cobs on F'book. Has anyone had success with this for damp stables?
Or wood pellets as an under layer, I have been on pellets previously and did not like the residue on all of my rugs & did not like the look of straw pellet beds.
Open to suggestions, currently spending £22 a week on shavings 😫
 
I have two mini Shetlands that share a stable, they have open access to it and yard / field area but for some reason always come into the stable to pee! I have found the best bedding for absorbency is Equinola, seems to compact the wet down and top layer stays dry, I do a full take out of wet once or twice a week, it doesn't make a really fluffy bed but easy to muck out with the tiny droppings they produce and bury / spread everywhere. If I want a fluffy bed I just use some large flake shavings over the top and to make banks.
I also tried fennington fibres and Fennington Fushion and wasn't impressed with either to be honest, so will be sticking to Equinola.
 
I use Laysoft. It’s excellent if you want to deep litter but also just super easy to muck out and very absorbent. I’m a person who likes to use a lot of bedding and I use max 1 bag per week doing a full muck out every day.
 
JesterandPatch said:
I have found the best bedding for absorbency is Equinola, seems to compact the wet down and top layer stays dry, I do a full take out of wet once or twice a week, it doesn't make a really fluffy bed but easy to muck out with the tiny droppings they produce and bury / spread everywhere.
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My two have constant access to an old stone barn (think slightly leaky roof and an open window at the end) and I bed them on Equinola. Like you say, the wet sinks very nicely so they always have a comfy dry top layer to lie down on. Because my two have a pretty big bed I operate a semi deep litter system and only muck out every month or so. So long as the original bed is sufficiently generous, I probably only put a new bag in every couple of weeks. They're just pottering in and out though - they don't poo in there and only spend a lot of time in when the weather is really awful.
 
EB83 said:
Looking for some advice.
I've recently moved stables with my mare, we are on Sureflake shavings which are provided by the yard, these are small flake.
I'm finding that the bed is going dark and damp quickly, my mare is quite clean and her previous stable stayed dry and lighter with the same bedding.
She has moved into the stable my mare who I lost a few weeks ago was in and I did find the same issues with her although she was a box walker so never found a bedding suitable (used to basically put up with the bed or replace completely every 2 months!).
The stable is situated at the end of a barn with slats at the top half of the wall (its approx 12ft high) and situated next to metal doors, so am presuming these are contributing to the dampness.

What would people suggest? I'm considering Aubiose having watched Trina Cobs on F'book. Has anyone had success with this for damp stables?
Or wood pellets as an under layer, I have been on pellets previously and did not like the residue on all of my rugs & did not like the look of straw pellet beds.
Open to suggestions, currently spending £22 a week on shavings 😫
Click to expand...
Hi I totally understand what a nightmare getting the right bedding is. My mare plops for Britain, super wet but does it mainly in one place.
I split my bed 1/4 which is for her toilet side deep litter, and 1/2 I keep clean every day but on Sunday fully take the dirty side out and put what I’ve saved for her toilet. If it’s dry enough to plop n wet on save it ! Is my moto. Disinfect mats a little everyday I save a lot of money.
 
My stables can be quite damp as they are big, old, open fronted carriage sheds. I use a base of wood pellets (dry) topped with miscanthus
 
EB83 said:
How many bags of pellets did you use and how often do you put in more?
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My stables are 16ft by 16ft and I have a very deep thick bed, to start i used 13 bags in each stables and then 2 bags of miscanthus on top. It became stable after a day or so and I put in a new bag every 10 - 14 days.
 
Pure Green Flax behaves almost exactly like Aubiose, but is much cheaper. I pay £10.50 a bale at my local feed store. I love Aubiose, so I was really happy to find the Pure Green Flax at such a good price.

One of mine has a a very open stable prone to damp, and the PGF works really well.
 
Can you use straw? If you can then I'd suggest a wood pellet base to soak up the wet and a straw bed on top. The wet will mostly drain through the straw into the pellets which you remove as needed (I find fluffing them up a few times a week helps them last longer) while your horse will have a dry warm bed to lay on. Straw is also a lot cheaper!
 
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