Bedding!?!

[SuperNova25]

Hey everyone

My horse is currently using hay as bedding although it's not the best to muck out its pretty cheap and was a quick answer for bedding at the time.

He is now moving yards and I want to change bedding and put him onto some 'proper stuff'. I am completely torn between wood shavings, wood pellets/crumble, recycled corrugated cardboard and, well, everything else

I've looked around and of course everyone has great reviews for all types of bedding so its hard trying to figure out the decent/cost effective solution!

Thanks!!

p.s. I'm also getting mats! The stable floor is rubbish.
p.s.s. I've put a poll as well so people don't have to comment!

 

[9tails]

Hay as bedding? Are you sure you're not using straw?

I use wood pellets, love them. Very cost effective in comparison with shavings, hemp, flax etc.

 

[SuperNova25]

Yeah I'm sure ...why? He doesn't eat it - He likes a specific hay I buy him and use for his net.

Thank you!

 

[Moomin1]

Yeah I'm sure ...why? He doesn't eat it - He likes a specific hay I buy him and use for his net.

Thank you!

It's not very absorbent though and I would have thought it actually works out a lot less economic than buying straw even.

I don't use any of the above. I use hemp which I find is the most economic and effective for a very messy mare. I have her on deep litter all winter.

 

[SuperNova25]

Yes, I've noticed the 'non-absorbent' quality unfortunately. It was literally a 'quick-fix' at the time so I'm eager to move on from it

Thanks for the tip! I'll have a look at that. Where we are delivery from mainland UK is overpriced and I find it hard to hunt down some bedding from the island.

 

[FrostyFeet]

Apologies re thread hijack-Moomin,where do you buy your bedding and is it the Aubiose? I just wondered re cost. My mare is very,very wet and is currently on shavings but will cost me an absolute fortune in winter (3 or 4 bales a week I think). YO has agreed to straw,but I have reservations; I have just changed to haylage as she has v mild copd and coughs on hay/won't eat soaked and am concerned re dust from straw. Plus smell!
I think will have to go down the semi deep litter this winter with two to do and limited time on some days. Do you do a proper deep litter or just a weekly semi? Apologies again for thread hijack but just scratching head and wondering best way forward. Mare is 17hh and needs a big bed anyway,but worrying will be bankrupt from bedding costs come spring!

 

[be positive]

Apologies re thread hijack-Moomin,where do you buy your bedding and is it the Aubiose? I just wondered re cost. My mare is very,very wet and is currently on shavings but will cost me an absolute fortune in winter (3 or 4 bales a week I think). YO has agreed to straw,but I have reservations; I have just changed to haylage as she has v mild copd and coughs on hay/won't eat soaked and am concerned re dust from straw. Plus smell!
I think will have to go down the semi deep litter this winter with two to do and limited time on some days. Do you do a proper deep litter or just a weekly semi? Apologies again for thread hijack but just scratching head and wondering best way forward. Mare is 17hh and needs a big bed anyway,but worrying will be bankrupt from bedding costs come spring!

I use straw generally but for anything that requires dust free have been using Bedsoft Bio, it is similar to Aubiose but slightly finer so moves about less and not as expensive, I semi deep litter on mats, it is easy to work with and I can get away with 3 bales a fortnight once the bed is established.

http://www.bedsoft.co.uk/horse-bedding-products-bio.html

 

[FrostyFeet]

Be positive-thankyou for that-will take a look

 

[Moomin1]

Apologies re thread hijack-Moomin,where do you buy your bedding and is it the Aubiose? I just wondered re cost. My mare is very,very wet and is currently on shavings but will cost me an absolute fortune in winter (3 or 4 bales a week I think). YO has agreed to straw,but I have reservations; I have just changed to haylage as she has v mild copd and coughs on hay/won't eat soaked and am concerned re dust from straw. Plus smell!
I think will have to go down the semi deep litter this winter with two to do and limited time on some days. Do you do a proper deep litter or just a weekly semi? Apologies again for thread hijack but just scratching head and wondering best way forward. Mare is 17hh and needs a big bed anyway,but worrying will be bankrupt from bedding costs come spring!

I get mine from a local supplier - sometimes it is just a plain bale so not sure what make it is, but other times it is the Aubiose I get. I *think from memory I was paying about £8-9 per bale last winter, and I use 2 bales per week for my 16.3hh messy mare. I do a proper deep litter bed, so literally just removing poo each day, then 2 fresh bales on top per week, once the bed starts to look slightly discoloured/brown on top. She is never stood on any of the wet underneath. At the end of the winter, I take the poo out on her last day of being in, leave it until it's time for her to come back in during winter, and then 'top' the bed -so scrape the loose layer (prob about 3-4 inches) off the top, and get rid, leaving the deep litter wet base only. I then put about four bales down in one go on top of the 'base' to start the bed back off for winter. I'll usually clear the whole stable out on the second winter of doing that. Sounds disgusting, but it is very clean on top, doesn't smell (apart from when you are clearing the whole lot out) and is extremely warm. It also stops the need for any rubber matting because the base is so hard underneath the clean soft stuff that there's absolutely no way they will get down to the concrete.

 

[FrostyFeet]

Moomin,thankyou for that,will have a look into it as it looks as though there is an Aubiose supplier quite near to me.
One last question: how many bales do you use to start off your bed?
Thankyou again (& Be Positive)-maybe see a way forward now that doesn't involve baked beans every day through winter!

 

[Moomin1]

Moomin,thankyou for that,will have a look into it as it looks as though there is an Aubiose supplier quite near to me.
One last question: how many bales do you use to start off your bed?
Thankyou again (& Be Positive)-maybe see a way forward now that doesn't involve baked beans every day through winter!

I usually put about 5-6 bales down to start with, but I suppose it would depend on whether your horse has a habit of digging the bed up or not. Mine doesn't so it tends to stay in place. But for the first week or so it's obviously all quite loose and there's no base to it. It can be quite difficult I think for some people to leave the wet in at this stage as psychologically it feels a bit wrong lol! But there should be enough clean down to completely cover it. I just make sure that I am pretty scrupulous with the poo - I tend to faff around making sure every nugget is removed - IMO a well maintained bed is an economical one though .

I know a fair few people who swear by Probed - and it is very good and smells lovely. But I just found that the bales didn't stretch quite as far as the Aubiose for my mare and I was using a bit more each week.

 

[Mrs B]

Straw every time unless there's a medical reason not to. It's cheap, warm, makes a comfortable bed and even with the grottiest horses & properly managed, I find it the easiest to muck out.

(By 'properly managed', I mean mucked out everyday, swept back with all wet straw removed. But whatever bedding, I have yet to hear a cogent, legitimate argument for deep littering in this day and age.)

 

[Moomin1]

Straw every time unless there's a medical reason not to. It's cheap, warm, makes a comfortable bed and even with the grottiest horses & properly managed, I find it the easiest to muck out.

(By 'properly managed', I mean mucked out everyday, swept back with all wet straw removed. But whatever bedding, I have yet to hear a cogent, legitimate argument for deep littering in this day and age.)

I would rather stick pins in my eyes than use straw, even with the cleanest of horses. It's the least absorbent, smelliest, and dustiest bedding going IMO.

Deep littering, when looked after properly, is warm, provides an alternative to rubber matting in the hard underlayer, is cost efficient and much quicker, particularly with messy horses. But as I say, it has to be looked after properly, and when it isn't, it's foul. I have tried numerous different types of bedding, and numerous methods, and none have come close to deep littering on hemp or shavings. But each to their own.

 

[FrostyFeet]

Brilliant-thankyou Moomin 😀

 

[mynutmeg]

none - hemp every time!

 

[Tnavas]

Straw every time. Much easier to keep clean than any other bed. Looks lovely too. Shavings look OK to start with but begins to look rough after a while.

I love deep litter beds

Cover the floor with a layer of garden lime, this neutralises the urine to prevent the smell.
Then a deep layer of shavings, followed by a deep layer of straw, with banks.

The straw allows urine to drain through and the shavings absorb it. Then it spreads out through the shavings and dries out.

Pick up droppings as often as possible and leave the rest alone.
Dig out completely at the end of winter.

 

[ljohnsonsj]

Shavings and rubber matting- Hate hate hate straw! Especially on cold windy winter nights

 

[dibbin]

We have 2 big messy geldings, both on wood pellets on top of rubber mats. I go through about the same amount as I did in shavings, but bags of pellets are cheaper!

 

[thatsmygirl]

Good old straw everytime, mucked out properly everyday. Iv tried all kinds of bedding and gone back to straw each time. It's only the 2 fatties on shavings as they eat straw for a past time but straw is fab is mucked out properly. My mare coughs in winter and paper was the only bedding that stopped it but after it wasn't available in our area anymore I tried all kinds of bedding but she coughed on every sort. Iv found a very good straw supplier and she don't cough anymore but I do lie the bed down in the morning so it has all afternoon to settle before she comes in.

 

[PolarSkye]

Straw . . . mucked out properly, bed left up for floor to dry, floor properly swept and disinfected (every day), deep bed. I can't for the life of me imagine hay as a bedding - it's not absorbent at all.

Kal's bed is a good eighteen inches deep in the summer, and two foot deep in the winter with decent-sized banks . . . it is warm, dry and supportive.

P

 

[SuperNova25]

Thanks everyone for the comments/tips/advice and no problem FrostyFeet for jumping in

I'm going to try wood pellets for now. Just sorting out a decent matting thickness! Thanks.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

We use


Bedmax
megasorb
paper
bedsoft


I would rather jump off a bridge than use straw, had one in the past years back on straw but it harboured vermin, and horrid to muck out and wont have straw on the yard.

Used to have shavings but hate mucking it out now and you waste so much and so expensive

Now most are on one of the 4 mentioned above ranging from a sprinkling to 3 inches deep.

We also do not deep litter (unless lami) as it may save time during build up but back breaking to clear it specially when you muck out 8 every day like I do

Summer beds are only a sprinkling here as the owners like to save their weekly bedding for the winter when they need extra ones, they then don't have to buy any as they stored unused ones during the summer.

Straw also caused compacted colic so I removed remainder of straw off the yard and gave it away never to dawn our yard again.

 

[MerrySherryRider]

I use shavings because it's as cheap as straw and easier to store.

I'd prefer to use straw though, research has shown that most horses prefer it and it has more psychological and enrichment benefits than other bedding.

 

[NinjaPony]

Shavings. One of mine has a dust allergy, plus I find it easier to handle than straw and less smelly.

 

[pegasus1986]

Where abouts are you supernova.

 

[nikkimariet]

Safemix shavings and rubber matting.

Most dustfree shavings we've tried so far. It's very fine shavings, so packs down to provide a firm base even though all wet is removed every day. Fatboy Vile Bruce is better on big flake shavings like the bedmax as he is wetter and dirtier. CS does best on a mix of both.

Detest straw. Would never have straw beds.

 

[mycocorocks]

I use shavings because it's as cheap as straw and easier to store.

I'd prefer to use straw though, research has shown that most horses prefer it and it has more psychological and enrichment benefits than other bedding.

would agree - we use straw pellets so get the benefits of straw with the convenience of pellet bedding

 

[Moomin1]

would agree - we use straw pellets so get the benefits of straw with the convenience of pellet bedding

I had to do a double take when I read your username... I very much misread it lol! ;-)

 

[Princess Rosie]

We have all 6 of ours on straw and I agree that if correctly mucked out (brushed out, floor disinfected and left to dry and fresh straw put down) then no issues, we have two horses who are predominately grey and we have very little stable staining (apart from when one of them does identify a poo to lie directly in!). It's easy to much out and you can have lovely deep bed, we have horses who won't lie down on shavings but snuggle up in the straw. I have used shavings in the past but find they just are so expensive and i am obsessive about clean beds (I won't let me horses lie on anything I wouldn't lie on myself) so I found I was using tons of shavings to keep the bed looking "new"