Bedding For messy boys!!

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bumblelion

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Should probably have posted this in stable yard but no one ever really looks in there so sorry!!

Basically, I have two big messy boys and am looking to come off shavings as it cost me a fortune last year and takes so long to muck them out! Needs to be dust free also. I can buy in bulk as have storage. Over the years I'v tried many and they didn't work out and always go back to shavings!!
My main priorities are quick to muck out, dust free, easy to muck out and absorbant. I also do a full muck out every day. They both have quite big beds and have matts.

Thankyou
 
I have a messy horse, I feel your pain!

The easiest way to keep him clean has been to get EVA rubber mats (the big thick soft ones, like school gym mats) he has these all over his stable and then at the back he has a rectangle of shavings (I use Bed-Down Excel, which is shavings and chopped straw) that is big enough for him to wee on, I think it’s about 1m by 2m.

To muck out I usually just have to sweep the poo and churned up bedding from the front of the stable, take any bad wet out of the bedding and any poo.

In the last six weeks, I’ve used 4 bales of shavings :D
 
I've got THE worse ever for mess, he is awful. He can mess it up even with nothing but poo in his stable. I've now got thick mats and just put half a bale of straw down at night. Sweep it out in the morning. May get a small pile of saved straw - minimal though. I did have him on bedmax for a while after surgery but ended up back on straw as it was easier / cheaper.
 
Thanks for the advice! I don't think I could put a small amount of bedding down as they make even more mess and I find in the long run it costs more! Also because they're rollers they'd make their rugs filthy and one is arthritic so I like him to have a deep bed!! They've got matting down they've both got Equimats which I think are really good.

Any one else got any recommendations for bedding (full bed) for 2 messy horses which is quite quick to muck out????
 
I think you should try straw on its own, if the matts are there, then leave them there. I find straw the fastest to muck out, but then I have used it for so long, i could do it blindfolded. My sister has used shavings for the last 2 years, and has decided to go back to straw, as her horses tend to mix their hay into the shavings. and any benefits are outweighed. some people think straw is slow, but if mucked out every day/ every other day, then is totally a 5 min job to mucj out. hope i've helped, keep me posted.
 
One of mine developed a cough when on straw a few years ago so I changed him onto shavings. Although the year before last my other was on straw and was stabled next to him with side ventilation and he was fine! I do like straw though as it's so quick and easy to muck out! Plus the farmers prefer it IMO when taking the muck heap! Might sound a silly question but is clean straw easy to get hold of in bales? Not the packed type?
 
I swear by Ecobed. I used straw for years and found I was
filling our muck trailer with so much straw bulk that it required
emptying far more often than was actually necessary. I, too, have 2 very messy boys: two year old Shire geldings. The muck is much lighter in weight with the cardboard, than with straw. Also, the dust is almost non-existent. I've got both of their dams and another retired broodmare on Ecobed, as well.

Unfortunately, I just received a letter from the company stating
they are raising their price .50p per bale. Oh well, what else
is new?

Hope this helps...
 
I am in much the same boat as everyone else I think. What about straw pellets? TBF I haven't tried them yet so cant really PERSONALLY comment.... but I have heard a few people say that they are really good. I have 6, so also look to buy in bulk. I also have a variety - from 11hh fresh air fatties to 17.3hh 28yr old pensioner...

By the sounds of it they are a little like the wood pellets - but you dont have to wet them, they break down easily, provide a comfy bed, smaller muck heap, just take out the wet, dust free, deliver in bulk...

Personally atm I am buying shavings until we move and then am seriously thinking of giving these a go. I have tried pretty much everything else (easybed, shavings, mix of the two, dixons "dustless" etc, etc...)
 
When I bought my horse his prev owner said he was very messy. She had him on straw, with full rubber matting and a small bed.

When I got him home I kept the straw but gave him a full bed. He was much better but still dirty and going through too many bales.

I changed him to shavings on a deep litter but they are far too expensive and I found I was taking to much clean bed out.

I've recently changed him to wood pellets. Go on google and type in Liverpool wood pellets. They are highly recommended, easy and far more absorbent then shavings. They are also cheaper, if you order make sure you say it's not for horses as it's less VAT :p

They can be ordered in bulk and I put 1 bag in per week. His bed is lovely and soft and it takes me 5 mins to muck him out. You can also mix it with shavings.

To bed down it's a bit bizarre. You have to open the bag and pour a bucket of wate onto the pellets. Allow them to absorb it and dry up then mix them into your bed. When you muck out you can mix the wet into the dry bedding and it dries up, so you only remove the wettest parts. Also, as the pellets break down you will only be removing the poo so you won't lift clean bedding.

They are fab and I won't be changing back to any other bedding now :)
 
milesjess said:
When I bought my horse his prev owner said he was very messy. She had him on straw, with full rubber matting and a small bed.

When I got him home I kept the straw but gave him a full bed. He was much better but still dirty and going through too many bales.

I changed him to shavings on a deep litter but they are far too expensive and I found I was taking to much clean bed out.

I've recently changed him to wood pellets. Go on google and type in Liverpool wood pellets. They are highly recommended, easy and far more absorbent then shavings. They are also cheaper, if you order make sure you say it's not for horses as it's less VAT :p

They can be ordered in bulk and I put 1 bag in per week. His bed is lovely and soft and it takes me 5 mins to muck him out. You can also mix it with shavings.

To bed down it's a bit bizarre. You have to open the bag and pour a bucket of wate onto the pellets. Allow them to absorb it and dry up then mix them into your bed. When you muck out you can mix the wet into the dry bedding and it dries up, so you only remove the wettest parts. Also, as the pellets break down you will only be removing the poo so you won't lift clean bedding.

They are fab and I won't be changing back to any other bedding now :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for advice! I will look into them, heard of them a lot on here actually. Are they different to say hemcore where that needs watering but also deep littered? My two need a thorough muck out each day, tried deep littering but they moved the bed about too much and it didn't work!!
 
Hmmm..we're on wood pellets and tbh if I was showing my (grey) mare this season they would be driving me insane. They are better on a full bed, but you'll still get really filthy rugs and they can look horrible if the horse is really dirty. We had a mare and foal on them and it was disgusting if they had to stay in due to bad weather, even tho they were regularly skipped out.
I really like rape straw if you can get it...mucks out like flax or shavings but is quite absorbent and great on mats. The only reason our yard changed was because it is a bit difficult to get hold of. I'm sure a farmer would do you a deal if you can store in bulk.
A full bed of wheat straw is also surprisingly good on mats, altho the downside is the bigger muck heap and more mucking out time. A friend has just gone back onto straw for his livery yard, and says that he and the clients are much happier :)
 
I use miscanthus on rubber matting.

I have one that is very messy in its stable, but find the miscanthus very quick to muck out, very absorbant, can be deep littered or mucked out every day. At the moment I use one bale per stable per week. It also rots down really well.

I buy in bulk, and at the moment one pallet which is 36 bales works out at £6 per bale delivered. I expect you could get a keener price if you were prepared to take more pallets at a time.

What I particularly like about it is that the droppings tend to sit on the surface rather than sink in like they can do with shavings x
 
Thankyou for your advice. It's so hard as I'd like something like straw preferably as it's so quick and easy to muck out, it's just the dust in it that's the problem! Is barley straw less dusty? Also does anyone know what the straw pellets are like? Thankyou and sorry to be a pain!!
 
I have rubber matting, just cheapish ones and give them a bed also. I use 1 bale shavings per horse a month at most and I bring home all the shredded paper from work. I work in a small office and we produce enough to keep my 4 ticking over plus then I'm recycling. It biodegrades so can just go on muck heap and be spread on fields once it's broken down (the amonia speeds this up). It does get wet quicker but it's free and very absorbant. On straw my wet girl (Cushings so drinks and tiddles a lot) has puddles in my badly draining stable but on paper and shavings mix she doesn't and I just lift out the wet paper each day.

Has to be cross shredded ie in little pieces, the long stuff is hard to muck out. Mucks out a lot like shavings and looks quite pretty, expecially if the company uses different coloured paper!!

Most big offices or law firms will be able to supply this for free.
 
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