Bedding - thinking ahead to winter (sorry!)

Aimzz

Aimzz

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Thinking ahead to my horse coming in more and I can't decide what to do about her bedding.

I am on a yard that I share with my friend; just us and a horse each. Her horse has developed respiratory issues and the vet recommended he come off straw bedding. The issue is, our stables share a decent amount of air space, so I was told I need to change mine too.

I have been using straw pellets since, but I struggle with finding it difficult to keep it looking nice (I know that's a me problem, the horse doesn't care), but I find her poo mulches down into little pieces after she's walked around and it bothers me that I can't keep it as clean and tidy as I'd like. Also, when it's new, she does take some mouthfuls and I'd really rather she didn't. It's great in regards to absorbency and she's pretty good in that she only wees in one spot.

Has anyone tried a straw pellet base with miscanthus on top? I am also considering just a full miscanthus bed, but I'm trying to be as cost effective as possible. I'm open to any suggestions though. I just need something cost effective, ideally not very palatable, looks nice/easy to keep clean and as dust-free as possible. I tend to deep litter and take out the wet as and when needed (usually once a week).

Any thoughts appreciated.
Thanks!
 
I use chopped rape straw for my dust sensitive mare and find it looks neat and can leave the wet in till the end of the week and is more cost effective than other options as local farmer sells directly. She is very tidy for a mare though which helps!
 
I currently use BedMax so big shavings but I’m finding it too slow to rot down but it’s not dusty. If you don’t have plans to use your muck heap on your garden in the near future they’re a good idea!
 
We use Aubiose in our open stables. They are expensive per bag but we've found them to be more economical when used properly (big thick bed and only take the wet out when its red, usually once a week in the winter). The only other more absorbent bedding we have found was when we got free sawdust/shavings from the wood yard that let a unit at the yard we were on. That yard has shut down sadly.
 
Aimzz said:
Has anyone tried a straw pellet base with miscanthus on top? I am also considering just a full miscanthus bed, but I'm trying to be as cost effective as possible. I'm open to any suggestions though. I just need something cost effective, ideally not very palatable, looks nice/easy to keep clean and as dust-free as possible. I tend to deep litter and take out the wet as and when needed (usually once a week).
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Yes I have and it works well. I now have wood pellets in the pee spot and the rest miscanthus.

The only thing I would say is that it's all very dusty when mucking out. It settles and is lovely after a bit, but I wouldn't muck out with horses in, particularly if one has respiratory issues.

I have never dared deep litter. M horse is wet and the pee patch is just under the surface every morning. It's deep but not massively spread out thanks to the pellets.
 
I founf the same thing with pellets. I think they are amazing if you have a horse that never stands or walks in its poo but if they do, as you say it breaks up and is amost impossible to get out. I'm going back to straw this year. I had to use shavings last winter which cost a fortune but had a horse who coughed. The two i have in now are fine so it seems silly to spend money that I dont need too.
 
I haven't tried it yet, but that's exactly what I plan to do this year. Previously used pellets underneath straw but moving to miscanthus, as straw limited supply this year
 
I use Burlybed (the red bag) for my boys and find it works wonders! It's miscanthus based and you can get various types such as one with aloe vera, and they're all minimal dust which is fab :)

Baggs my 20 year old likes a good wander around his stable as he's a nosey sod, so he'll grab some hay, walk across the stable, nosey at what is going on in the yard, walk back around to his haynet, grab some more hay and repeat the process. So his bed can get rather mucky and I find this stuff works wonders. He also likes to wee in the same place and I can leave a bed down for up to two months without needing to dig out the wet patch. When I do take out the wet patch, it's all nicely clumped together and although a bit heavy to lift out, not as heavy as pellets. Another bonus with Burlybed is that you can fluff the bed up and make it look proper lush even when you are needing to do a wet patch removal :)
 
Thank you. I went ahead and put a thick layer of wood pellets (three bags) where she wees and where she predominantly lays down, with a bale of burly bed on top (the green one). It looks lovely and smells nice and fresh, I'll have to see how it goes. She just has half a bed at the moment as they're only coming in for a bit in the day. But if this works out, I'll chuck another couple of bales of burly bed in. I hope it does suit her, I really like it!
 
BigTrotBay said:
I use chopped rape straw for my dust sensitive mare and find it looks neat and can leave the wet in till the end of the week and is more cost effective than other options as local farmer sells directly. She is very tidy for a mare though which helps!
Click to expand...
I was going to say the same. It lasts really well too.
 
Aimzz said:
Thinking ahead to my horse coming in more and I can't decide what to do about her bedding.

I am on a yard that I share with my friend; just us and a horse each. Her horse has developed respiratory issues and the vet recommended he come off straw bedding. The issue is, our stables share a decent amount of air space, so I was told I need to change mine too.

I have been using straw pellets since, but I struggle with finding it difficult to keep it looking nice (I know that's a me problem, the horse doesn't care), but I find her poo mulches down into little pieces after she's walked around and it bothers me that I can't keep it as clean and tidy as I'd like. Also, when it's new, she does take some mouthfuls and I'd really rather she didn't. It's great in regards to absorbency and she's pretty good in that she only wees in one spot.

Has anyone tried a straw pellet base with miscanthus on top? I am also considering just a full miscanthus bed, but I'm trying to be as cost effective as possible. I'm open to any suggestions though. I just need something cost effective, ideally not very palatable, looks nice/easy to keep clean and as dust-free as possible. I tend to deep litter and take out the wet as and when needed (usually once a week).

Any thoughts appreciated.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
If you have stable mats fitted to cover the floors:
cross shredded newspaper is excellent for soaking up urine, no allergic spores or dust, and also very warm if you do want to put down a deep bed.
I used to sweep out all soiled / wet every day, but have used it successfully as a deep, box-rest bed.
Rots down far quicker than shavings or aubiose, gardeners often put newspaper into compost heaps - something to do with benefit from the ink? Horses don’t eat it; rodents aren’t interested; personally never had any issue with newsprint transferring to the horse or rugs, altho have heard this said.
Comes in shrink wrapped bales, can be stored outside. Just chuck a bucket of water on the barrow if emptying on a windy day!
Oh, and don’t let your cats climb the stack of bales - confetti.
 
Yes, I use wood pellets in the main base areas/pee spots and then ethos or other branded miscanthus on top. Like you, I moved from straw and it's difficult to come away from visualising that big fluffy straw bed! However they are very clean and easy to muck out in comparison.
 
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