Cheapest and easiest bedding options!

J

Jingleballs

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Thought that as we are coming into winter (
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) that it would be good to get people's thoughts/experiences on what is a) the cheapest and/or b)the least time consuming.

My current set up is neither - currently using a pretty deep straw bed and last winter I was taking out 2 - 3 wheelbarrows worth a day doing a full muck out as my gelding is very wet and likes to do the monster mash just to make sure he uses as much bedding as possible!
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Would like to avoid this in future and with the possible straw/shavings shortage in my area thought it would be good to get ideas!

So what is every body else using??
 
Using a shavings/flax mix with mine but I'm very lucky - he's the cleanest horse I've known. If I had to get my older horse in who is incredibly dirty (full on mash and stir) would try aquamax. Bags not cheap and doesn't look lovely but seperates clean and dirty easily and very absorbent.
 
When mine wintered in I had him on Easibed and loved it. Can't rate it enough!
Took me 5- 10 mins to skip out before work with rubber gloves or a shavings fork and fairly easy to keep clean. i had him on semi deep litter with it so only took the wet out on a wednesday and saturday- which was usually a barrow load and I went through a bale a week if I remember rightly
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i bought it in bulk- sometimes getting 4 of us on the yard to buy 2 pallets and it took the price down a fair amount.
 
I have to agree, i changed to easibed two months ago, and it is sooo easy. i totally muck out everyday, but i rarely fill a wheelbarrow load. It is so easy to seperate droppings and take top layers off to get to wet stuff that has soaked up underneath. I am finding it cheaper and goes further than shavings that i used before.
 
I have been thinking along similar lines. My new horse was kept on straw by his old owners, our 'friends'. But he is just SO messy that I think I will end up spending more on straw than I would on Aquamax! George is on Aquamax because he is very wet and also eats straw whether sprayed with jeyes or not!

I am thinking of putting new horse on Aquamax as it takes me half an hour each day to muck him out... there's poo everywhere and he wees from the back to the front, all the way up the middle.

We had the idea to just give him a really thin straw bed all the way across the mats (he has about 3/4 bed at the moment), but he just seems to poo at the front and then kick it all around/stand in it. Vile! I want him to be like George who poos in one place, at the back of his stable and wees in another place at one side of his stable! He's been on the bed overnight for 4 days and I had to thoroughly clean the mats today with Jeyes fluid!

If I was a horse, there's no way I'd want to be pooing where I stand to look over the door, right up to the back where I lie down! I am finding it really difficult to adjust at the moment.

It costs us £12 for a huge round bale of straw from our farmer friend, so probably about £120 a year for the new horse. If I had him on Aquamax it would cost about £275 a year plus the few bales it would take to set up the bed. I think for the time saving and the cleanliness of the bed, it might be worth an extra £150 a year!!
 
i use sawdust with shavings or straw on the top
wet soaks into small area and the straw/shavings on the top stops it being dusty or the poo getting mashed up.the dust makes a really solid bed underneath
sawdust is only £4 bale-i start off with about 8 bales then add 4bales of shavings on top.
use half bale shavings per week or slice of straw(big bale)
horses 15.2-16h.
 
I love Easibed and now use it for the chickens, the chicks, the parrot and the lizard! But it's not cheap for stable use. We only stable for box rest so I don't mind, but in the barn (i.e. shelter) I use straw.
 
Wood pellets are good. I wouldn't change back to straw or shavings now. I have a money off code for white horse if anyone wants it pm me.
 
**old thread alert peeps**
was dug up from the depths of 2008 by someone advertising their bedding ;)
 
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