Bedding inspiration needed- on rubber mats.

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maya2008

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I have to choose and buy something tomorrow as it rained and the world went back to soggy and horrible. They need to be able to come in to lie down somewhere dry. Those at my home yard have been doing so already, but that’s a different setup and we deep litter. Now got to pick an option for friend’s yard with concrete based rubber matted stables.

Wood pellets were always my choice in this situation, but feed store no longer stocks them. I have piggy natives so have a feeling they might eat straw pellets (they do eat straw), miscanthus or chopped straw bedding.

Muck removal is via farmer so figure cardboard is out. I’m allergic to aubiose and have a pony who gets skin allergies so read we should avoid flax.

Options I have considered:
- Something absorbent under a layer of straw they can snack on. If so, what to use as the base layer?
- Shavings? Will they be absorbent enough on their own or will the wee dribble down under the mats?
 
How about sawdust with straw underneath. It can be a bit dusty but once it's dampened a bit and with straw on top would perhaps be ok.
 
I used chopped rape straw they don’t eat it. It’s similar to miscanthus but I didn’t get on with that because it made me cough and smells funny. I do find putting either straw or wood pellets underneath/ in wet patch along with the rape straw the best combo.
 
I’m trialling straw pellets under straw in my beds this year.
I barely took any straw out of Darci’s bed at all this morning. The pellets worked so well. I’m yet to perfect Tali’s but there is so so much less waste.

ETA I trialled Tali on shavings and Aubiose last year as she’s quite dust sensitive but I didn’t find either were better than straw. We’re both so much happier to be back with straw.
 
To me the ideal bed has a fluffy non-absorbent top late and a dense, absorbent base layer.

So shiny wheat straw or large flake shavings for the top and sawdust or wood pellets for the base. You do need a horse who doesn't mix though.

Can you buy a pallet of wood pellets? Cheaper than from feed store and can be stored under a tarp. I buy from blazers and white horse.
 
Britestar said:
Check re cardboard.

My local farmer much happier to take cardboard than shavings.

Cardboard breaks down really quickly, shavings take forever.
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Correct, shavings take a VERY long time to rot down, then ‘choke’ herbage growth in any fields they get spread on as fertilising manure. My husband has no patience with horse owners who tout shavings as ‘dust free’, either, because there is ALWAYS a film of dust on everything every time a bale is opened, it’s visible in the air, you can even taste it (he’s 100% right, too).
Anyway, for many years we successfully used cross-shredded newspaper on top of mats for greedy natives; also made a super, deep, conformable, bed for a laminitis case.
They are surplus (unsold) newspapers, cross-shredded and baled in polythene specifically for animal bedding, bought by pallet load. It rots down much more quickly than shavings (gardeners even put layers of newspaper into compost bins, something beneficial in the ink?), it’s absorbent, warm, and horses don’t eat it.
Never had any issue with newsprint transferring onto their rugs or coats; our stable mats fitted flush to the walls (like carpet); could choose to put down sufficient to absorb where your horse is likely to wee (very absorbent stuff!), then fully sweep out everything in the morning; or increase quantities right up to a full laminitis bed, as said. Depends on how good your mats are, how warm your stables, your horse, what you’re trying to achieve.
Your muck heap will be very dense and compact, for sure.
Just chuck a bucket of water over the muck barrow before emptying on a windy day!
 
Jambarissa said:
To me the ideal bed has a fluffy non-absorbent top late and a dense, absorbent base layer.

So shiny wheat straw or large flake shavings for the top and sawdust or wood pellets for the base. You do need a horse who doesn't mix though.

Can you buy a pallet of wood pellets? Cheaper than from feed store and can be stored under a tarp. I buy from blazers and white horse.
Click to expand...

Sorry to butt in but may I ask how you muck out a combo of sawdust with shavings on top and keep the layers? I'm thinking about moving to this for one of my mares but I do a full muck out everyday so assume it would just get mixed in together?
 
Jambarissa said:
To me the ideal bed has a fluffy non-absorbent top late and a dense, absorbent base layer.

So shiny wheat straw or large flake shavings for the top and sawdust or wood pellets for the base. You do need a horse who doesn't mix though.

Can you buy a pallet of wood pellets? Cheaper than from feed store and can be stored under a tarp. I buy from blazers and white horse.
Click to expand...
Feed store scared my husband by going on about how all their other wood pellets had an additive in them and wouldn’t work for bedding…

Do you get the unbranded ones from white horse? They seem reasonable!
 
atropa said:
Sorry to butt in but may I ask how you muck out a combo of sawdust with shavings on top and keep the layers? I'm thinking about moving to this for one of my mares but I do a full muck out everyday so assume it would just get mixed in together?
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Don’t know, perhaps very sedate horses (most of ours have a regular dig and roll!) or a very compacted (wet?) base??
Was surprised to read horse owners consider sawdust bedding, tho’.
Sawdust is cheap, we use it at the back of cow mats in the dairy cubicles (scraped clean 2 x daily), but the manufacturers specifically state sawdust is too finely-milled for horses to safely tolerate into their lungs, can cause or aggravate COPD / breathing issues. They recommend broad-leaved shavings instead (although there’s some dust from those, too).
 
maya2008 said:
Feed store scared my husband by going on about how all their other wood pellets had an additive in them and wouldn’t work for bedding…

Do you get the unbranded ones from white horse? They seem reasonable!
Click to expand...

I've bought pallets of unbranded from WHE multiple times and they’re absolutely fine and good value. I used it as my sole bedding for about 5yrs until the price more than doubled. Then I swapped to chopped rape straw with straw pellets. I don’t like the straw pellets as much but they do break down better on the muck heap.

At my current yard on part-livery they’re on straw pellets only but their beds aren’t as nice but that might be due to the mucking out which is ok just not the standard I would have if I did it myself.
 
As an aside to the sawdust conversation - I have used it, but would only do so on the type of deep litter beds that rot down into the soil beneath, that we have at home. It is dusty to put down for the human in that situation but dampened enough by the time the horse comes in that it’s not dusty for them to use. I wouldn’t use it on a dry, clean concrete floor.
 
Sussexbythesea said:
I've bought pallets of unbranded from WHE multiple times and they’re absolutely fine and good value. I used it as my sole bedding for about 5yrs until the price more than doubled. Then I swapped to chopped rape straw with straw pellets. I don’t like the straw pellets as much but they do break down better on the muck heap.

At my current yard on part-livery they’re on straw pellets only but their beds aren’t as nice but that might be due to the mucking out which is ok just not the standard I would have if I did it myself.
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Husband panicking again…do you have to have a forklift present at your yard for them to deliver? I’m arguing for this option…
 
maya2008 said:
Do they eat it?
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Mine did have a mouthful or two when it first went down, but it's not appetising and he hasn't been snacking on it since. I'm also a convert - really easy to muck out, though it can make you cough when you put a new bale down.

I use slightly expanded straw pellets underneath in the wee patch. I can't use them uncovered because those he would eat (and has done, that was a fun day on colic-watch!). At the moment a bag of pellets lasts 10-12 days and a bale of miscanthus lasts 7-8 days.
 
maya2008 said:
Husband panicking again…do you have to have a forklift present at your yard for them to deliver? I’m arguing for this option…
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Most pallet delivery people will have one of those pallet-moving thingies to move it off the truck and as close to where you want it to be - however the wheels are small and they don’t work on e.g. gravel or soil. You need a hard level surface.

If that gets it to the ideal place then you’re fine. If not, then (like us) you have to move all the bags off the pallet yourself to where you’d like to store them. I use a wheelbarrow.

ETA so no, you shouldn’t need a forklift truck!
 
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My horse is on rubber matting.
I skip out the poos daily and dig out the wet once a week.
The system I have is to dig out the middle and one bank a week, then pull that bank of shavings to create the bed for the week ahead. I then empty a bale of shavings to replace to bank.
Then repeat a week later with the next bank.
I use the cheapest small flake I can find in the heaviest bag! So it's normally 21kg for a tenner.
Horse is a big lad who has casted before so he has enormous shavings banks which I dip into through the week to fork a little fresh across top of the bed every day.

I find that if you don't put too much in the middle, the weekly dig out is not too back breaking. But there's enough to provide a comfy bed to sleep on.
 
maya2008 said:
Husband panicking again…do you have to have a forklift present at your yard for them to deliver? I’m arguing for this option…
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No you don’t need a forklift but as above ground needs to be level and solid for their powered trolley to work. You will need to check out lorry size. My last yard was on a farm and there was a big area for lorrys to get in and out if it’s too small they’ll only deliver to kerbside. It was Palletways that did delivery out to hubs and then various companies are contracted to do the local delivery. It stores quite well outside but otherwise I used a wheelbarrow or trolley to move to a more appropriate storage area. There’s usually 65 15kg bags on a full size pallet.
 
maya2008 said:
Do they eat it?
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Mine will give any bedding a go, but miscanthus they didnt ever eat. Its basically finely chopped bamboo-like canes. Its not tasty as all.
They dont eat shavings or wood pellets.
I dare not try them on straw pellets!
Flax and chopped rape they’d eat. Long story but colic and lami from consuming almost 1 bag overnight had me never using it ever again.

Chopped miscanthus makes a great heavy bed, it doesnt stick to their coats much when laying in it, nor float around the yard like shavings/flax and other lightweight bedding does.
The only downside to miscanthus is its not very absorbent when chopped, but i put wood pellets underneath, it was a fab combo.

There is miscanthus pellets and they are far more absorbent than even wood/straw pellets - but sourcing a supply might be tricky as theyre not that common.
 
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Thanks all!

I’d decided I liked the idea of miscanthus if husband wouldn’t agree to bulk wood pellet delivery…then he went to the feed store and apparently they’ve just decided not to stock that either 🙄. Next nearest feed store did have wood pellets (Aquamax) so I told him to get some and we can order a pallet of cheaper ones. Our home yard has access for HGVs so can deliver to there. Not wildly level but I just need them on the ground so I can wheelbarrow to a better spot for storage.

I did compare the cheaper feed store wood pellets we’d managed to get with Aquamax as I was putting beds down tonight though. Much more in the Aquamax bags!

Ponies are beyond grateful to be in today. They’d had enough of the sleet thank you very much!
 
Aquamax have just increased their bag size from 15kg to 18kg. I do recommend Aquamax over any other wood pellet - they are far nicer, and make a much better bed.
 
If you do get convinced by the Aquamax and want a pallet of that instead - there's a code floating around on here for 10% off.

eta - 25YEARS
 
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