Best Bedding!

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2awesomenatives

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As of Jan my boys will have stables.
Having not had stables for a long long time….what is the most cost effective bedding?

They will mostly be out but will come in at night when the weather is bad.
 
I have used so many different beddings and I love mixing! I find that you get the best of all worlds.
So I’ll get a few chopped straw, a few shavings a few woodchip or rape and just mangle it.
It seems to stop Compacting. You get the beddings that are fluffy, but move the ones that don’t move but are dense so mashing it up gets a bit of everything and it also very easy to buy, go to any shop and buy anything! That said I do know which brands I would or wouldn’t add.
 
I much prefer EVA matting and wood pellets. I've recently started adding shavings on top for slightly less dust. I forgot about shavings sticking to everything though so might have a re-think on the top bedding!
 
I've always preferred using wood pellets. I used to buy a pallet load, which worked out at about £4 a bag but this was several years ago now.
 
Depends how much muck you'll get if you are paying for removal. I don't stable mine but if I did I go rubber matting with a sprinkle of something on top to soak up the wee.
 
What is your muck heap disposal plan? Avoiding anything wood based such as shavings or wood pellets can make it easier to compost or have removed. Straw pellets alone can be fantastic, but wet horses are often better with a chopped fibre like rape or miscanthus on top of the pellets. Leave the pellets alone at the bottom as long as possible.
 
Cragrat said:
What is your muck heap disposal plan? Avoiding anything wood based such as shavings or wood pellets can make it easier to compost or have removed. Straw pellets alone can be fantastic, but wet horses are often better with a chopped fibre like rape or miscanthus on top of the pellets. Leave the pellets alone at the bottom as long as possible.
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Im moving to a sole use yard. I have to dispose of the muck heap on or twice a year depending on how much there is.

One of my boys is very clean in the stable, the other hasn't been stabled before so im not sure how he is.

I want something that wont take up a lot of space on the muck heap and rots down easily.
 
Congratulations on new situation, hope things go really well!

Muck heap: are you paying a farmer to take the muck heap to rot into usable manure?
Or paying a waste disposal operator to take for incineration?
If going for compostable manure, straw rots far more effectively than any form of wood based / shavings / sawdust - which can literally ‘choke’ fields it’s subsequently spread upon, so definitely check with whoever you’re contracting to, whether they have a strong view on what you intend to use.
Straw tends to produce a larger muck heap, however, that muck is far more usable, and sounds like yours aren’t going to be inside much, anyway.
Stable mats as a base are always a great start, because you can use ANY other type or combination of bedding materials on top, and possibly find your horse will lie down on bare matting (personally, I think this bleak, but fine where horse can wander in and out, like a field shelter)
Research studies consistently show stabled equines lie down most readily in straw beds, and deep straw dries them off the most quickly.
You can deep litter it, very warm if you do, and easier to dig out eventually than other forms of deep litter, but most people muck straw beds out daily.
In contrast, many pellet-type bedding materials get left undisturbed at base level, so these can be quicker on a daily basis. Personal preference and time - I can’t stand even the idea of sogged-up, smelly bases in my own stables! Don’t care what material, unless down for veterinary reasons, I’m getting to the bottom of it every time...
Livestock often snack on straw, which is generally much cheaper than packaged beddings, and ‘looks’ lovely!
However, there are different crop bases for straw, so depends on where you are / what’s harvested, and whether you can access manageable small bales, rather than huge ‘Hestons’.
Mice find straw more interesting, nibble remains of the cereal heads! But the only waste is baler twine, no polythene wraps to dispose.
All straw must be stored dry, pallets and a tarpaulin at very least, and some horses (and owners) can have allergy issues.
Plenty of bedding options to consider, maybe visit a few yards before deciding - you’ll be fine!
 
If there not going to be in regularly and your having a farmer remove muck heaps I'd stick with good old straw beds. Nice deep straw will clean and dry wet muddy legs and farmers will (I'm sure) be happy to take it away.
Plus you can probably get it delivered at the same time as your hay.
 
Does anyone use burleybed pellets?

I've been researching different pellets that are absorbant and reasonably prices and these come out the cheapest.

How many bags would i need to make a base with a different bedding on top?

I will have rubber mats down with this on top.
 
2awesomenatives said:
Does anyone use burleybed pellets?

I've been researching different pellets that are absorbant and reasonably prices and these come out the cheapest.

How many bags would i need to make a base with a different bedding on top?

I will have rubber mats down with this on top.
Click to expand...
I know a couple of people that use them, and whilst it may be down to how they manage they beds as much as anything, based on what I've seen I wouldn't touch them.

I use Aquamax under Aubiose. Both expensive options, but sometimes you get what you pay for. With regards to the wood pellets I've previously tried, cheaper does unfortunately mean not as good.

When I started my Aquamax base (already had the Aubiose bed) I used 6 bags, and added another 3 bags a week later once it had started to settle.
 
If you want to keep the muck heap to a minimum use straw pellets. If you prefer a fluffier bed I’d still use them under either straw of chopped rape straw. Straw alone is bulky and not very absorbent. I’m not so keen on miscanthus as it made me cough and I’m normally not sensitive to anything. Farmers tend to prefer straw based bedding as it breaks down quicker than wood based.
 
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2awesomenatives said:
Does anyone use burleybed pellets?

I've been researching different pellets that are absorbant and reasonably prices and these come out the cheapest.

How many bags would i need to make a base with a different bedding on top?

I will have rubber mats down with this on top.
Click to expand...

I don't use BurlyBeds but I uses 12 15l bags of wood pellets & 1 bale of shavings on top of EVA matting.
 
I use Aubiose, it's quick to muck out, easy to store and it rots down really quickly on the muckheap. I spread the muck back on the fields when it's well rotted. I'm slightly bemused by having to pay to have it taken away, it's an excellent fertiliser, and with the price of pelleted fertilisers being sky high, I'd have thought it had a value?
 
rextherobber said:
I use Aubiose, it's quick to muck out, easy to store and it rots down really quickly on the muckheap. I spread the muck back on the fields when it's well rotted. I'm slightly bemused by having to pay to have it taken away, it's an excellent fertiliser, and with the price of pelleted fertilisers being sky high, I'd have thought it had a value?
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I can't get any local farmers interested in my muck heap (also aubiose and poo). I have to pay £££ to get it taken away. It would be great fertiliser but too much trouble, I guess. As I understand it, they get treated human sewage for free delivered to the farm. It smells terrible!
 
To take away your muck heap the person doing so should have a hazardous waste license and not many farmers bother with one. For some reason it is legal to take your muck to a heap in a field and then spread it at a later date, but if you take the muck to a heap and then transport it to spread it is now hazardous waste.
 
Marigold4 said:
I can't get any local farmers interested in my muck heap (also aubiose and poo). I have to pay £££ to get it taken away. It would be great fertiliser but too much trouble, I guess. As I understand it, they get treated human sewage for free delivered to the farm. It smells terrible!
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It really is worth the effort, makes a huge difference to the way the fields stand up to wear and tear too. How about getting in touch with local allotments/ garden clubs? You could run a Poo Collection Day, contributions to charity?
 
rabatsa said:
To take away your muck heap the person doing so should have a hazardous waste license and not many farmers bother with one. For some reason it is legal to take your muck to a heap in a field and then spread it at a later date, but if you take the muck to a heap and then transport it to spread it is now hazardous waste.
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It’s not hazardous waste. Farmers can carry their own waste or any agricultural waste under a free registration but would require an upper tier waste carriers registration which costs £154 for three yrs to carry non-agricultural waste. Manure from horses isn’t classified as agricultural because keeping of horses is rarely an agricultural activity. “hazardous waste” has a specific meaning and unless contaminated manure would never be hazardous.
 
rextherobber said:
I use Aubiose, it's quick to muck out, easy to store and it rots down really quickly on the muckheap. I spread the muck back on the fields when it's well rotted. I'm slightly bemused by having to pay to have it taken away, it's an excellent fertiliser, and with the price of pelleted fertilisers being sky high, I'd have thought it had a value?
Click to expand...

Great if you can recycle all your own!
But other horse keepers having to pay for specialist disposal - if it really has rotted as well as they think, bag it into old feed sacks and offer to allotmenteers, or suggest they come and collect with their own trailer - for free.
If gardeners aren’t interested, perhaps reconsider how well rotted or useful it actually is? irrespective of whatever the marketing blurb says.
My husband has found anything wood-based is better burned than spread, it chokes field growth even after a very long time. You need waste disposal facilities and licence to do that.
Likewise, ‘exotic’ beds - non-traditional beds like miscanthus, aubiose, LOTS of branded and packaged products these days - forget the marketing claims, they actually take far longer than straw to decompose, and the ph etc. composition needs checking. Plus their carbon footprint is far higher, altho horse owners never seem to notice that.
We’ve found that chopped newspaper (used on top of mats) rots well, gardeners even put newspaper into compost, so, mixed with normal rotted manure, that works fine as agricultural fertiliser. Newspaper based muck heaps are small and dense.
Most farmers will happily take straw manure, unless access into your place is a real PITA, but please remember the actual value of the diesel, wear on machines, and amount of time / labour required, and don’t expect all this gratis.
 
rabatsa said:
To take away your muck heap the person doing so should have a hazardous waste license and not many farmers bother with one. For some reason it is legal to take your muck to a heap in a field and then spread it at a later date, but if you take the muck to a heap and then transport it to spread it is now hazardous waste.
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No, you have misunderstood the legal requirements
If an operator is taking a muck heap to incinerate, certainly need full licensing etc.
Farmyard manure ( generally straw based) can be stored to rot in fields, subject to legislation re watercourses, run-off etc, etc. It is not hazardous unless contaminated, altho could become a pollutant if not stored ( and subsequently spread) correctly.
Please read through all the DEFRA and Environment Agency stipulations and restrictions.
 
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