Best way to look after a shavings bed?

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Vodkagirly

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Going on to shavings for the first time ever. Horse is reasonably clean. What do people find is the best way to maintain the bed? I don't have any mats currently so planning on a reasonably deep bed. Wet out every day or once a week?
 
For me, every speck of wet out every day and skip out as frequently as possible. Better with mats though.

I admit I am slightly obsessive about it and only have one horse though!
 
As above really, skip out whenever they poo, that way they don't get chance to mix it into the bed. Also we take out wee every day. When we put the horse in the stable after coming off the grass we have trained him to have a wee if we hold a bucket under him That saves bedding. :)
 
Starting with a good deep bed works best for me. My horse wees and poos for England so I have to take out the wet every day (sobbing quietly as I remove a couple of barrows of what were clean shavings) but a previous horse on shavings managed very happily on a semi deep litter system. I literally skipped out properly x 2 per day and took the wet out weekly plus 1 bank down. I only needed 1 bale a week to top up and every month would put in 1 extra. Sadly, current bigger messier horse is a 2 - 3 bales a week on a very deep bed to keep it clean. I tried wood pellets underneath in the wee areas but the wee came through after 2 days. Currently his bed is small as I am hoping he will go back out at night shortly and also I want to clear all out so I can wash out the matting and paint his box. Its not a saving though as am getting through shavings at a scary rate - hence its better to kick off with a really deep bed.
 
Don't let the horse on it!

Only joking - I semi-deep litter with a layer of wood pellets under the shavings in his regular wee patch. It keeps the wet all in one place and the rest of the bed nice and dry and I dig him out every 10-14 days, depending on how it's looking. The rest of the time I just whip the muck off the top. As with any bedding, a bigger, deeper bed is easier to maintain.
 
Skip out as often as you can.
Regarding the wet it is slightly horse and budget dependant.
I find for most average horses it is most cost effective to take out the worst of the wet every 3 or so days.
 
Vodkagirly said:
Going on to shavings for the first time ever. Horse is reasonably clean. What do people find is the best way to maintain the bed? I don't have any mats currently so planning on a reasonably deep bed. Wet out every day or once a week?
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I always mix the new shavings into the old bed. If I leave it on top (no matter how dust free they claim to be) the horse will cough. I also feel that new shavings can dry out the hooves too much. It lasts much longer if you mix it in. If I were doing a full muck out (I do the floor once per week and fully skip out every night all poohs and wee that is on the surface) then I would get rid of all the poohs evident on the top layer of the bed using a snow shovel. I bounce the poohs up and down on the shovel (a skill perfected over many years) so all the shavings fly off and then just put the pooh into the barrow. Then I will separate the wee from the shavings by carefully digging around it, and then when I have a shavings floor left which is wee only I will skip the lot into the barrow with the snow shovel. THen the shavings that are left on the floor that are damp (but not wet and smelly) go into the base and the new shavings are then mixed into the banks, I often just do this by literally 'box walking' and then pull the banks down to the right height. I like to have banks. It takes me at least 45 minutes to do his bed, but as its only once a week muck out and two or three barrow loads I don't mind too much. The result looks amazing!

At the old yard I left my banks for about three years at a time, they were dry and solid, you could literally put an axe through it and not penentrate them. The never smelt but they had been left, dried out and were solid! We had rubber matting down at the previous yard, this yard we are not allowed because its a dirt floor.

In the winter when he only goes out for 2 hours a day I get the YO to muck out for me every morning and then I just skip out at night. In the summer when he is out overnight I only skip out for ten mins, the majority of that time is taken up with separating the hay that's fallen from the net into the shavings (I HATE HAY IN MY SHAVINGS).
 
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I've only had horses in at night. So I go in the morning, take out all of the poo and the dark bit of wee. The stuff that isn't very stained I cover over with some cleaner shavings. Quite quick :)
 
If your horse is fairly clean and is turned out daily, then I find the best way is to have a good deep bed, esp if no rubber. A strip of wood across the door will stop the bed seeping out.
Skip out daily and smooth bed over, neatening the banks also.
Then once a week skip out, scrape off the clean shavings to expose the wet patches, remove them and allow to dry. Take a bank down to replace the removed shavings and use your new bale to replace the bank. IMO this is the best way to keep a clean bed and not have heavy, compacted, mouldy banks. So many people square of, which is fine but the bed needs rotating to maintain cleanliness.
 
applecart14 said:
I always mix the new shavings into the old bed. If I leave it on top (no matter how dust free they claim to be) the horse will cough. I also feel that new shavings can dry out the hooves too much. It lasts much longer if you mix it in. If I were doing a full muck out (I do the floor once per week and fully skip out every night all poohs and wee that is on the surface) then I would get rid of all the poohs evident on the top layer of the bed using a snow shovel. I bounce the poohs up and down on the shovel (a skill perfected over many years) so all the shavings fly off and then just put the pooh into the barrow. Then I will separate the wee from the shavings by carefully digging around it, and then when I have a shavings floor left which is wee only I will skip the lot into the barrow with the snow shovel. THen the shavings that are left on the floor that are damp (but not wet and smelly) go into the base and the new shavings are then mixed into the banks, I often just do this by literally 'box walking' and then pull the banks down to the right height. I like to have banks. It takes me at least 45 minutes to do his bed, but as its only once a week muck out and two or three barrow loads I don't mind too much. The result looks amazing!

At the old yard I left my banks for about three years at a time, they were dry and solid, you could literally put an axe through it and not penentrate them. The never smelt but they had been left, dried out and were solid! We had rubber matting down at the previous yard, this yard we are not allowed because its a dirt floor.

In the winter when he only goes out for 2 hours a day I get the YO to muck out for me every morning and then I just skip out at night. In the summer when he is out overnight I only skip out for ten mins, the majority of that time is taken up with separating the hay that's fallen from the net into the shavings (I HATE HAY IN MY SHAVINGS).
Click to expand...

I've used a snow shovel for years too. Cheap, light and easy to use.
 
I take out the wet every day and make sure I get all the bits of poo out as well. It does take me slightly longer than others but worth it when I only use 1 new bag of shavings every 10days and others use 2 or 3 a week.
 
Big bed (yes, even though I have extra thick rubber matting) with HUGE banks. All the wet and droppings out every day, and whenever I put new shavings in I pull the banks down, turn them, and mix new shavings into the rest.

I absolutely despise seeing a bank made of new shavings and the rest of the bed obviously old shavings. Brown, dirty shavings with one immaculate white bank looks gross. Just emphasises how dirty the rest is.

If you muck out properly every day, and turn the bed, mixing new shavings in fully each time, your shavings will stay beautifully white and clean and fluffy.
 
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