bedding for a gross gelding

[motherof2beasts!]

I am sure this has been done to death but couldn't find any recent. My gelding was previously grass livery but we have moved to being in overnight, which he appears to like!

He is very dust sensitive so pellets we couldn't continue with, currently on shavings, however he is so wet i feel like im chucking so much every day. He poops neatly in one place but drinks/wee's a lot so im chucking pretty much his whole bed daily.

I am looking at Auboise, Bliss or Rapabsorb but not sure which one to try first, what are peoples opinions on these, or is there an even better option?!

 

[TotalMadgeness]

Have you considered https://www.cavierabedding.co.uk/caviera_products/cavianthus/? I also find flax bedding is good for my very wet gelding...

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

If he is drinking and weeing a lot, I would want a Cushings test. That was the first symptom that my mare showed. She had a base of Megazorb (paper pellets) with shavings on top

 

[motherof2beasts!]

He doesnt drink/wee an abnormal amount, he does "play" with his water unfortunately too!

 

[motherof2beasts!]

Have you considered https://www.cavierabedding.co.uk/caviera_products/cavianthus/? I also find flax bedding is good for my very wet gelding...

no but I’m tempted , how many bales makes a good bed?! Is it soft?! Do you remove wet daily ?

 

[hollyandivy123]

dry wood pellets in his wee patch, so soak up?

 

[TotalMadgeness]

2 or 3 bales make a good bed in my experience. I remove wet daily and use 1 - 2 bales a week to top up. Depends on how long the horses are in their stables (winter is overnight from about 3pm to 7am, summer is during the day between 7am and 4pm). I've tried other things like wood pellets, bedmax shavings and nedzbedz pro but they aren't as good.

 

[motherof2beasts!]

2 or 3 bales make a good bed in my experience. I remove wet daily and use 1 - 2 bales a week to top up. Depends on how long the horses are in their stables (winter is overnight from about 3pm to 7am, summer is during the day between 7am and 4pm). I've tried other things like wood pellets, bedmax shavings and nedzbedz pro but they aren't as good.

I have ordered !

 

[PurBee]

I have ordered !

I too really liked miscanthus bedding when i could get it. Where i am the only source now is large chips of it, so not good for absorbancy…in 12kg bags for 7.50 each…..i need 6-8 bags to do a stable from scratch at least.
Compared to rape shavings miscanthus smells less ammonia if doing a deep bed, which you arent i know, but i did. It’s less dusty than most beddings so better for airways. I really rate miscanthus, if its chopped up small and dust extracted.

 

[SussexbytheXmasTree]

I hated miscanthus. I didn’t find it that absorbent and it smelt funny. In addition nothing has ever has ever made me cough as much as that when putting a new bag in. It really caught the back of my throat. Maybe all brands are not equal I used Easypack. Also unless the bags are huge there’s no way 2-3 would be sufficient except to kick about easily and make very wet. For a wet horse you need a thick bed as otherwise you end up taking out more IME.

If a horse is just very wet and not a bed digger or trasher then I’d deep litter or semi deep litter.

 

[TPO]

I used a different brand of "dust extracted" Miscanthus (Burley bed) and it was so dusty. It made anyone around it violently choke when mucking out or adding a new bale.

How is the caviera for dust?

I have a horse with mild asthma so dust free is the most important factor. Another horse is also very wet so absorbency is also important

 

[Tarragon]

Why not try wood pellets as a base under a different and less dusty bedding?

 

[OrangeAndLemon]

Why not try wood pellets as a base under a different and less dusty bedding?

I was going to say the same. It's what I do. I use Laysoft on top. I find the wet easily drains through and the larger shavings prevent the dust coming up from the pellets.

 

[The Xmas Furry]

2 or 3 bales make a good bed in my experience. I remove wet daily and use 1 - 2 bales a week to top up. Depends on how long the horses are in their stables (winter is overnight from about 3pm to 7am, summer is during the day between 7am and 4pm). I've tried other things like wood pellets, bedmax shavings and nedzbedz pro but they aren't as good.

5 to 7 make a starter bed in a 12 x 10, anything less and you are shovelling the lot out daily! At least 8 in a 12 x 12
Eg, my mini 32" shetland had 5 bales down to start her winter bed off last week in a 10 x 12, she's very clean indeed. 5 bales doesn't cover the whole box decently, but is ok if 3ft back from door from side to side. I take out the wet at a weekend. If you let the bed compact down, it's very easy to manage after a few days by peeling back the dry and shovelling out the wet layer, sweep and leave up for a bit and then put older bedding in the gap.

Apart from straw in a 10 x 12, or even a 12 x 12, I dont know of any bedding that makes a good bed by using only 2 or 3 bales ?

 

[Sprogladite01]

I have a 7 yr old welsh sec a who has psychogenic polydipsia - he's essentially a compulsive drinker (he'll drink approx 100 litres a day at least if we don't ration him). Vet tested him for cushings etc - all clear. Bed so wet it literally had lakes of pee oozing out of his stable every morning - beyond gross!

After a lot of trial and error the best thing I've found so far is a "base" of wood pellets then topped up by aubiose - very deep bed right up to his door. With this set up, I can skip out during the week and get rid of the horrid wet stuff underneath once a week. It's a horrid job but it's manageable which it definitely wasn't before!!

 

[motherof2beasts!]

Why not try wood pellets as a base under a different and less dusty bedding?

Maybe I was doing them
Wrong but they were very very dusty when I did this!

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

He doesnt drink/wee an abnormal amount, he does "play" with his water unfortunately too!

And yet he is 'so wet'?

 

[motherof2beasts!]

And yet he is 'so wet'?

Urm yes is that ok ?! He doesn’t drink excessively but when he does wee , man he wees then kind of spreads it around so the bed is all damp bar the banks, He also plays with water.

 

[TotalMadgeness]

psychogenic polydipsia? Now that's a thought! My horse seems to drink out of boredom and his bed is really wet. If we use Nedz Bedz Pro then we're using about 3 bales a week with him. Flax is less but I think it is because of the better absorbency.

 

[motherof2beasts!]

psychogenic polydipsia? Now that's a thought! My horse seems to drink out of boredom and his bed is really wet. If we use Nedz Bedz Pro then we're using about 3 bales a week with him. Flax is less but I think it is because of the better absorbency.

He’s only recently started coming in overnight , was out overnight. He is a bit mad for his Himalayan lick which doesn’t help ! However today only 1 barrow out instead of 3 so maybe the novelty is going. I’m hoping the new bedding ive ordered is good as have to get by the pallet. Is bliss flax ?!

 

[Tarragon]

Maybe I was doing them
Wrong but they were very very dusty when I did this!

Did you wet the pellets when they were first put down? And what sort of bedding did you use for the top layer and how deep did you make it?
I find that the pellets just make a very good solid layer at the bottom which you then treat almost like deep littering. So, you are mucking out the top layer as you would normally, but leave the pellet layer alone until the wet area has become saturated. Remove the really solid area, add new bags of pellets and mix with what is left, then reapply top layer.
I do appreciate that is isn't everyone's cup of tea. My beds never looked as "smart" as the usual sort!

 

[motherof2beasts!]

Did you wet the pellets when they were first put down? And what sort of bedding did you use for the top layer and how deep did you make it?
I find that the pellets just make a very good solid layer at the bottom which you then treat almost like deep littering. So, you are mucking out the top layer as you would normally, but leave the pellet layer alone until the wet area has become saturated. Remove the really solid area, add new bags of pellets and mix with what is left, then reapply top layer.
I do appreciate that is isn't everyone's cup of tea. My beds never looked as "smart" as the usual sort!

yes I wet them in the bag then sprinkled when down , others at the yard use them and said “only remove when red”, well his wee patch was red every bloody day ! Then getting that out seemed to unsettle the rest making it dusty, so he got a bit wheezy ! I used hunters on top so started with 6 bags of pellets and 1 hunters on top , he seemed to like digging down into the pellets !

 

[motherof2beasts!]

2 or 3 bales make a good bed in my experience. I remove wet daily and use 1 - 2 bales a week to top up. Depends on how long the horses are in their stables (winter is overnight from about 3pm to 7am, summer is during the day between 7am and 4pm). I've tried other things like wood pellets, bedmax shavings and nedzbedz pro but they aren't as good.

Well it’s arrived , only 2 days in but so far love it , only throwing just under half a barrow daily , no ammonia smell and damp and not moving around as much!

 

[TPO]

Well it’s arrived , only 2 days in but so far love it , only throwing just under half a barrow daily , no ammonia smell and damp and not moving around as much!

What is the dust like with that bedding?

 

[motherof2beasts!]

What is the dust like with that bedding?

i didn’t notice any any my gelding very dust sensitive , can’t have hay also appears to approve !

 

[jehsb]

I have recently changed my wet gelding to HempBedz and it is so much more absorbent than shavings. I have found a deep bed works better, i dont usually take the wet out everyday as the patches of it are so much smaller than on shavings, where it would spread across most of the bed.

 

[TotalMadgeness]

He’s only recently started coming in overnight , was out overnight. He is a bit mad for his Himalayan lick which doesn’t help ! However today only 1 barrow out instead of 3 so maybe the novelty is going. I’m hoping the new bedding ive ordered is good as have to get by the pallet. Is bliss flax ?!

Bliss is rape straw like Nedz Bedz Pro - also very absorbent!

 

[TPO]

i didn’t notice any any my gelding very dust sensitive , can’t have hay also appears to approve !

Thank you!