Cardboard bedding

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Sandstone1

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Looking ahead to winter I am thinking of possibly using cardboard bedding. I have one with a dust allergy. Never used cardboard before and would have to buy a pallet as can not get locally. There is a company called best horse bedding that seems to sell it by pallet. Anyone used it? My horse is fairly wet.
 
Great bedding. Certainly dust free. The main drawback is initial lack of absorbency as the shiny coat of the card lets wee run through. It does however start absorbing in the lower layers once it gets going. I kept mine like a shavings bed and cleaned out the wet when it started to reach the surface.

After mucking out the deep littered stuff I put the clean used bedding down as a base and it started to absorb wet faster than the new fresh stuff.
 
IME it won't work with a very wet horse....i have used it with 2 x very tidy dry stallions for years and it was easy to us but if your horse is very wet it will be heavy and damp and possibly smell.
 
Not cardboard but I used shredded paper for a long time - used to get the local library’s used daily newspapers as well as shredding all our household paper and thin card for bedding. I used it on top of rubber matting.

The mix of types of paper and card meant varying levels of absorbency but generally speaking it worked pretty well. It formed a base underneath and I skipped out the top layer and removed wet patches that came to the surface. It was very cheap doing it that way too!

Downside was newspaper print. It did mark a few rugs, but washed out. I wouldn’t use it for a grey though.
 
I loved it, especially the square cut - hated mucking out the long strip style! Very warm, very absorbant, nice to make in to a lovely deep bed with banks, no dust. The only reason I stopped was that however clean I kept the beds, it tended to form a papier mache in their hooves.
 
khalswitz said:
Not cardboard but I used shredded paper for a long time - used to get the local library’s used daily newspapers as well as shredding all our household paper and thin card for bedding. I used it on top of rubber matting.

The mix of types of paper and card meant varying levels of absorbency but generally speaking it worked pretty well. It formed a base underneath and I skipped out the top layer and removed wet patches that came to the surface. It was very cheap doing it that way too!

Downside was newspaper print. It did mark a few rugs, but washed out. I wouldn’t use it for a grey though.
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Baled up, cross shredded, surplus/unsold (and therefore unaffected by any other possible contacts) newspapers - brilliant.
Used on top of rubber mats for years, also deep-beddable for something like laminitis, nothing eats it, very warm, compacts tightly with water on a muck heap, and the newsprint in compost is valued by gardeners.
Just sling a bucket of water over the wheelbarrow before emptying on a windy day!
 
rabatsa said:
Great bedding. Certainly dust free. The main drawback is initial lack of absorbency as the shiny coat of the card lets wee run through. It does however start absorbing in the lower layers once it gets going. I kept mine like a shavings bed and cleaned out the wet when it started to reach the surface.

After mucking out the deep littered stuff I put the clean used bedding down as a base and it started to absorb wet faster than the new fresh stuff.
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This may depend on the type of cardboard used by your supplier. We tried a pallet of similar described here, same conclusions, but a friend used highly absorbent,chopped up, egg box (cardboard) bedding, and was delighted. Instant absorption. Her supplier retired....
 
Have a look at Green Mile cardboard bedding. Much better than the little squares.
Absorbent, soft and dust free . Easy to muck out too.
They are in Shropshire though, not sure where you are.
 
Love it.
Actually have my own industrial shredder.
I collect from local businesses ( providing them a much needed service), and shred it myself.
Mine does a cross cut type shred which is super absorbant. It's quick, easy, and non smelly.
Have 7 on it, and even in winter takes less than an hour to do them all, lifting needs every day.
 
I quite liked it, but used a local supplier and found it contained too much plastic contamination (packaging tape/ plastic wrap etc) for me, which isn’t any good for muck spreading.

I’d try it again if I could find someone who supplied it clean.
 
I didn’t like it much because it just makes such a mess and doesn’t break down very well on the much heap. Had one on it earlier this summer after disinfecting and jet washing stable and treating for mites. It is quite absorbent and does make a springy comfortable bed but it wouldn’t be my first choice. I also found it did get dusty after a while?!
 
Britestar said:
Love it.
Actually have my own industrial shredder.
I collect from local businesses ( providing them a much needed service), and shred it myself.
Mine does a cross cut type shred which is super absorbant. It's quick, easy, and non smelly.
Have 7 on it, and even in winter takes less than an hour to do them all, lifting needs every day.
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I actually looked at this 🤣 but the cost and size (for storage) if the shredder put me off 🙈 where did you get yours??
 
Hazzelnutt said:
I actually looked at this 🤣 but the cost and size (for storage) if the shredder put me off 🙈 where did you get yours??
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I got it off a local guy. I believe it's German.
It has titanium blades.
Lucky I have a huge shed to store it and the cardboard.

I'm a bit behind at the moment so have and enormous pile of cardboard.

On top of collecting, I have about 6 businesses who drop it off, and 4 did so this week, along with my collections 🙈.

Guess what my weekend will be!
 
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