Best bedding for speedy mucking out??

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scotsmare

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Need some help please - what would say is the best bedding for speedy mucking out?

My horses will have limited turnout during the winter (mornings only) so need to be able to muck out / skip out quickly morning and evening.

I have 3 to do. I can't have mats as our floors are too uneven.

I was thinking of either shavings / laysoft or something along those lines??

Any ideas?
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Definitely straw beeding is the quickest. My horse used to take an hour to muck out on shavings - 15 minutes max on straw - better when it is a good thick bed though
 
I'm a fan of deep litter beds - they stay sweet and fresh for years. All I do is take out the poo (don't get any wet patches with my gelding but my mare is a mucky cow so have a forkful or 2 of wet to take out with her), tidy up and bob's your uncle. Gelding uses a bale of ordinary shavings a week. Mare one and a half.
 
I have straw at the minute and my 3 yr old is somehow tangling it up into a big ball in the middle or alternatively lying right at the back of the stable and creating a huge bank down the middle
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it's taking too long to muck out hence why I'm looking for an alternative.
 
I found megazorb excellent, just take out the poo. At the weekend dig out any wet spot that has risen to the top, put down a bag of new stuff and done. As it sets into a fairly firm base, the poo tends to sit on top rather than be buried.

My muck out time with Chancer went from three barrows and at least 20 - 30 mins on shaving to half a barrow and 5 - 10 minutes to do. Even weekends with wet and new bedding was only 10 - 15 mins.
 
Im going onto Cushion bed - a friend has converted me as I used to hate it! If you just take the muck out during the week, then the wet at weekends it stays nice and firm and is really quick. I dont find it that absorbant, so put a bale of shavings in every 2/3 weeks just to 'fluff' it a bit.
It depends on how big your box is and how far forward you have your bed. Mine is a straw bale pen, so only have 1 wall to bank up, and the whole thing is about 19'x22'. My bed comes half way down, and takes 4/5 shavings or 6/7 cushion bed bales to start off. x
 
Mmmm, this might prove an expensive exercise!!! Last time I had them on shavings the 'smaller' stable took 6 big bales and the bigger one took 9......

I have got some mats that I'm going to chuck down in the pony's stable as the floors a bit flatter in there
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and put some straw on top of that as she's far too messy on shavings.

I'm beginning to wish I'd taken up gerbil breeding today......
 
I used megazorb on Chancer without mats - and am probably going back to it this winter - have a horrible feeling Farra the new clyde is going to be a big messy girl, even with mats. In view of the possible hike in shavings, I will also put Chancer back onto it.

I don't use banks so I started with 8 bags - this is for a 10 x 14 stable and I take the bed 3/4s of the way to the door. First week I did put in two more bags and then it was 1 bag and occasionally 2 bags a week - Chancer peed everywhere and then would tip his water into his bed so he was exceptionally wet.

In winter mine are in 24 x 7 three days a week and out four days from 9 - 3.30.
 
Aquamax is really really quick as long as your horse doesn't box walk. We have a box walker at work who absolutely trashes her bed, but the others are fairly quick and easy to do.
 
Not a fan of CushionBed at all.

If deep littered, all you get is amonia, smells horrible and not good for the horse.

I didnt find it that absorbent for wee. Easy to poo pick from as its more like woodchip.
 
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Aquamax is really really quick as long as your horse doesn't box walk. We have a box walker at work who absolutely trashes her bed, but the others are fairly quick and easy to do.

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Ah you feel my pain then! That's exactly the reason (and a few others!) why my horse lives out the majority of the time
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NUISANCE HORSE!!!
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I find Bliss mixed with shavings quicker to muck out than just shavings.
 
I use cardboard and find it quick. Admittedly I have mats so the bed is only a 1/4 stable. But I skip out the poo with gloves while they are eating, turn them out, then come back and probably finish both beds in 7 mins(ish!) including sweeping rest of stable and doorways. One of mine is a mess too, a real box-walker and seems to pee constantly, but still only using one bale in about 6 days. It's better to start off with a deeper bed though as then you can still have the dry stuff on top.

It's about one barrow between both, including their haylage mess which probably accounts for half the barrow! I do skip them out just before bed time to make it quicker in the morning though.
 
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