Cardboard Bedding

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traceyx69

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(Also in SY) Anyone had any experience of cardoard bedding?? Interested in any views good or bad. I am currently using sundown on deep litter system (mon-fri) at £6.20 per bale
I get through approx 1/2 bale every other day. what do you pay for cardboard bedding and what is it like compared to shavings or sundown?
 
I was in Eco-bed whilst my lot spent all day out and it was lovely, but now there in for a lot longer each day its horrible, and not over able to cope, none of mine are what you'd call dirty either, so i have ordered some wood pellets to see if they are any better.
 
We used it (little cardboard squares, white on one side, brown on the other iirc) for some of the horses at he RDA place who had breathing difficulties as it is pretty much totally dust free. We didn't use a lot as they had rubber matts underneath. Just enough to soak up the wet and provide a little added bounce (and small banks for some.)

We didn't deep litter with it (would have thought that wd be yucky as it decomposes but am not a deep litter fan anyway) but it is very easy to see wet patches to remove and to skip out with a shavings fork.

No idea about cost so only downside I can think of is that is doesn't look great until you get used to the appearance.
 
Iuse cardboard on the edge of his bed well try to keep it to the edge as it doesnt really work in a deep litter bed it just make a big lump in the middle of his bed!!! Shaving every other week.
 
I use it as horse has breathing difficulties.Completely dust free and very good.We use asmall amount on rubber mats.Enough to soak up the wee etc.Not a pretty bedding but easy to use and marvellous for my horse.
 
I tried my horses on Cardboard for a brief spell, hate to sound so negative but the stuff I used was terrible, it was shredded and not in a compressed bale, so each horse was having a bale a day! so worked out v expensive!!, it didn't make a very deep bed, but the plus point was the horses beds were nice and dry but the beds kept going very flat. It is fab though for their breathing/COPD/RAO etc and great if you have allergies.
I have just gone back to shavings as easier for me to get delivered, but until recently I had my horses on the weird combination of Sundown Red and shredded newspaper bales! makes a lovely deep bed! the only reason I stopped this was that I couldn't get paper and shavings delivered by the same company so was getting a bit annoying! would mixing in paper be worth a try?, also Ecobed/Ecobale cardboard may be better though as they are compressed bales and the cardboard is diced and not shredded!
 
Have used the small squares of cardboard for a few years but now lost my local source--they have closed down
I was paying approx £4 a bale, very economical and muck heap rots down very quickly.
I dont deep litter and I dont have mats.
It does need a decent depth to work properly--ie wet goes through and sits underneath--very easy to scrape dry stuff off the top and lift out wet patches
Pony was scared of the ''crunchiness'' initially but soon realised it was very comfy
 
Where I work, we have the horses with bad COPD/RAO on it as well as those with skin conditions such as sweet itch. These horses are stabled 24/7 and we have not had a problem with it. No it is not as easy to muck out as straw or shavings as it does get heavy but if mucked out throroughly it is fine.
 
I poo pick everyday and do a full muck twice a week. I'm not fully on cardboard but I do shred my own cardboard (just brown stuff) and paper and use it as a base under shavings. I find it more absorbent than shavings and it cuts down the amount of shavings I throw out. I'm not sure I'd want to use it for the whole bed.
 
I used cardboard for one winter and found it rubbish. It was proper 'horsey' stuff too. I would look at another type of bedding if I were you
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