Deep Litter Bedding - Is It worth It??

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ChowChow

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My horse is very dirty and takes me forever to muck out 2-3 barrow loads a day (he's on shavings).

I was thinking of going onto deep litter bedding but I have never used this system. Apart from the time is saves are there any other benefits to using it? Do you end up using more bedding in the long run?

Thanks
 
Are you throwing that much away because he mixes it all up? If so I'm not sure deep littering would help and as the mess still gets churned up to the top I find.

You might be better off considering rubber mats with just a thin layer of shavings that can be easily whipped out. My horse keeps one side of his stable immaculate (the side he lies down in and wees in), and the other half is always a churned up mess- I now just bed down the half he sleeps/wees on and leave the rubber matting bare on the other side which means I can sweep out probably 80% of his poo in seconds, it is great!
 
Firstly it depends on whether the stable is suitable as it needs adequate drainage. Secondly you need to consider the bedding you are using, and thirdly how you will clear the stable come spring, that is before even considering the horse.

Personally I prefer to use a semi deep litter for Fleur but Dan is a total no no as it would be purely vile.

Fleur is semi deep littered because her stable floor is half peat and half cobbled and the deep litter ables me to level out the floor so protecting her. I do though remove a 'layer' of straw every weekend. She is very clean though. I find deep litter beds very difficult for dirtier horses as they just tend to dig and churn up the lower layers.
 
I would agree for a 'dirty' horse that makes a mess then churns it all up with the bedidng, rubber mats and a sprinkle of bedding is the most cost effective and efficient, as long as your stable drains away
 
Thanks for that I might have to invest in some rubber matting as deep litter bedding doesn't sound suitable for Jasper. He does not use one particular part of the stable for the toilet but the whole floor - wet patches are the worst!
 
I deep litter mine, (around 5 bales), he box walks, but as the bed is so deep it just gets kicked around rather than churned up. Pick out poo daily, takes about 10 mins then once a week do a full muck out, about 2 barrow fulls; takes about half an hour! But worth it. I have rubber matting ( never used to have any bedding) and use bedmax shavings which are about £6 a bale and use one sometimes two a week.
Have tried a sprinkling of shavings, but he and the stable just ends up being too messy, and you end up cleaning the whole stable every day.
 
I deep litter with Easibed. I just take out the poo & any wet that comes to the surface (take off the top & a couple of inches down). I did put the initial bed down a lot deeper than they suggest but I have a big horse that tends to dig so from past experience I know that I need a very deep bed if it isn;t going to be trashed the first couple of nights. After that the base packs down & it's much less likely to be disturbed.
 
I had the same problem with mine now I put a bale of aubiose under his shavings and thats absorbs all the wee then i just pick the poo out from the top. you need quite a deep shavings layer over the top and it feels like you are using a lot of bedding but when the weekend come and you dig out the aubiose nearly 99% of the shavings in the bed are dry but just compacted so you dont need to put more in until they are needed
 
I can't stand deep littered beds. The ammonia isn't any good for horses lungs and if you don't deep litter properly then they are prone to thrush as well. If we insist on keeping horses in stables surely it is only right that they have a good clean healthy environment to live in?
 
My horse is dirty and I get at least 2 barrows a day out. Hes not messy, hes just big.

He is on straw and last year I deep littered it throughout the week, just took about 3/4 barrow out a day, just the poo and sometimes a small amount of wet. Then at the weekend I took all the wet out which was about 5 barrows. It was much easier and less time consuming in the week, but taking the lot out at the weekend was a chore.

This year I just take the main wet out in the week and all the poo but leave all the edges. I get just over a barrow a day, then at the weekend I take it all up (get about 3 large barrows out), disinfect and air the stable. I much prefer it that way.
 
totally agree with the watcher, we have two VERY mucky big ones, used to deep bed but it just makes more waste! and costs more.

Rubber mats, sprinke in the middle of shavings (approx bale of shavings a week per horse) and clear it all out each night, sweep in a corner, oik it out and put down new shavings each night, far more hygenic and cost affective and they dont get as mucky as you would think lying down on it!
 
my filly is semi deep littered.
shes really clean
i put sawdust and then shavings down and straw on top.the bottom two compact and are really absorbant.shes not a wet horse anyway but i do a full muck out every 2 weeks and there is hardly any wet as it goes straight down to the bottom layer and stays in a really small area.

shantih is really wet and messy so shes also got mats but i onkly put a corner of shavings in for her to wee on and both horses take about 15mins to do in the morning!!!
 
What about rubber matting? I don't know how I lived without it! I just put down a little square of shavings for them to wee on. Takes me about 5 mins to muck out, if that!

I deep litter my field shelter (cant afford to rubber that as its rather big) using straw. Not ideal and hell to properly muck out by the end of the winter but practically it has to be deep litter simply because its a shelter so they come and go with filthy / wet feet all the time!
 
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