DEEP LITTER ON FIRE??

L

lcharles

Well-Known Member
Joined
24 August 2010
Messages
1,082
Visit site
Can a deep litter bed catch fire? x Removed a lot from my horses stable last night as she's on box rest, when i removed it it smelt like it was 'smouldering' and did smell a bit like a bonfire! :eek:

I know that the bottom bit decomposes and keeps the horse warmer but i dont want her smouldering too!! :(

To touch it was was quite warm but not 'hot' just quite warm.

Would it catch fire if it got too hot? how can this be prevented?

Can something catch fire without having a flame put to it?!
 
How Long was it down for? When did you start it?

I've never had anything like that! I think perhaps it's been down too long if it's hot.
 
I think theoretically it could catch fire.
I'm not sure of the science behind it, but I think basically the decomposing matter on the base of the bed causes a temp rise, which cant be dissapated. the temp then rises to a point where a fire starts.
Are you bedding on straw?
I know that you shouldn't store wet hay or straw because that can spontaneously combust.
Kx
 
Not heard of a deep litter bed catching fire, but have heard of muck heaps spontaneously igniting if the conditions are right and the top layer dries out.
 
Its been down for about 3 months but probs is more like a 5month bed as she's on box rest so is in all the time x

I remove the droppings from the top and any obvious wet patches but i was really quite worried when i took some out last night......there was smoke and bonfire smells coming from it and when i put it in the wheelbarrow quite thick grey smoke was coming off it :eek: x

I have now taken the whole bedding out and started again but i'm now worried in case it does it again!! Deep litter bedding is so much easier, less time consuming and warmer so i do want to stick with it but not if it catches on fire!! x

I've always had her on shavings before, but at the yard shes at now straw is included so it makes sense to use it! x

Has anyone heard of this happening before?! i could understand if it was summer but its not exactly hot and its not exposed to any sunlight :O/ x

Can honestly say if i hadnt stripped it all out last night, i think it would of been on fire by tonight! The smell and smoke coming out was most shocking!! x
 
100% smoke....even my boyfirend commented that i smelt like a bonfire after :O/ x

Steam isn't thick, grey and smelly!! x 100% smoke!! x
 
No never heard of that and I have deep littered on shavings, pellets and straw.

I've seen thick steam but never smoke.

I think 3 months is too long. I only ever do month to month before deep cleaning. Too risky for poisonous moulds or even fire now perhaps... eeek!
 
I've known of places deep littering cows, a few horses on one bed etc and never heard of this. I've googled it and one other post on another forum came up so i guess its not common! x I have heard of muck heaps catching fire but in the cow sheds the beds can be 2ft deep and they have no problems. Mine was about 10/12 inches deep x Maybe because its in a smaller area than a cow shed style? x

I've left the bottom latch off her stable door now so she could break it down if she had to escape!! x

When the vet said she had to be in on box rest i was worried about her moodiness - not being set on fire!!:eek: x
 
Its nothing to do with the weather, its the heat that the bedding itself is generating.
I think to stop it happening again it would be best to pick it up a bit sooner.
Kx
 
Your bed is down far too long. Your horse isn't on a deep litter bed, it's on a compost heap. The bed is rotting down, like many muck heaps and this is creating considerable heat which certainly isn't good gor your horse. You shouldn't leave the bed down fro that length of time.
 
She is mucked out everyday and the wet is removed but i guess as she's on box rest she is getting it dirtier than usual x She's been on box rest for the last 6 weeks so has been in everyday x She's not the cleanest of horses either so will try doing it more often.....i read somewhere that it should all be removed every 6 months though? x
 
Go by what the bed is telling you, it is telling you that it is now a compost heap and is about to burst into flames. Forget what the books say- this is a lucky escape! It may be that your horse is wetter than average, stable less well ventilated than average or your mucking out not thorough enough. By that I dont mean you arent doing a good job but combination of box rest with deep litter bed means a LOT of muck and wet and really you need to be skipping out all the poo several times a day and all the wee at least once a day.

My pony was on box rest for a couple of months but the bed never heated at all, despite deep littering but I did dig out all of the muck and the wet every day, the only thing I didnt do was completely remove the base layer. I wouldnt have wanted to have had a bed where the thick top layer wasnt dry or where there was any heat building up. However I was using shavings and wood pellets and hemp, which I think is a cooler bed less inclined to ferment!
 
When we had deep snow last Winter, we had the remainders of a couple of round bales buried in the paddock near the stables. To our astonishment when the snow started to melt we went to dig them up and trailer them to the main muckheap, they were smouldering in the centre. A combination of hay and some horse wee and poo where the horses had churned it in. This was at temps of -15c to -18c so be careful!
 
Good grief that seems a long time. I think the longest I've ever left a deep litter bed was about 4 weeks.

Definetly too long, it will be a mini muck heap!

Also if you have a wooden stable I wouldn't be surprised if it's rotted round the bottom.
 
I usually deep litter for a month at a time, clear out and start again but true deep litter can go on in big barns for the whole Winter. Maybe smaller, more compact spaces are an issue? Not sure, Farmers do it all the time throughout the Winter in barns with no issues?
 
I used to work at a yard where the deep litter had been there for over 10 years! Once a week a thin layer was scraped off the top to keep the base level. There were 12 stables and never any smoke.
 
I left 2 deep litter beds down for 6 months, pellets on the bottom and shavings on top. I scraped the top layer of wet off once a month and added a new bag of pellets and never had any problems? Beds were down from Feb to Aug so over the warmest weather.
 
I can never work out how anyone can deep litter for longer than a week at the absolute most with straw!? Don't know if it's just my horses/the ones i look after but the beds always end up churned up so wet bedding surfaces, and they always smell. They also squelch when you walk across them even if the top layer is dry! I never leave wet in any longer than 3 days with my horse even though he's clean!
 
Ok - I am know I'm going to say something very unpopular here, but it's what I really feel.

Deep litter bedding was for working horses in the past. When time was money, forage was limited, so extra warmth was a bonus and you needed all the help you and your working equine partner could get: to survive another winter on the hours and money you had.

Today, it is different. Or it should be.

Our horses have brilliant rugs to keep them warm. Forage is not limited. They don't (mostly) 'work' for a living.

So why on earth should we feel it's ok to not muck out properly every day?? To my mind, it's like peeing on your mattress, but then thinking it's ok cos you've put a new sheet over it ... And a horse's sense of smell is much better than ours.

If you don't have the time (poo out, wet collected, bed swept back to air) , maybe you shouldn't have a horse?

This isn't a dig at you, OP, but just a thought for those who think deep litter is acceptable. I don't.
 
Mrs B said:
Ok - I am know I'm going to say something very unpopular here, but it's what I really feel.

Deep litter bedding was for working horses in the past. When time was money, forage was limited, so extra warmth was a bonus and you needed all the help you and your working equine partner could get: to survive another winter on the hours and money you had.

Today, it is different. Or it should be.

Our horses have brilliant rugs to keep them warm. Forage is not limited. They don't (mostly) 'work' for a living.

So why on earth should we feel it's ok to not muck out properly every day?? To my mind, it's like peeing on your mattress, but then thinking it's ok cos you've put a new sheet over it ... And a horse's sense of smell is much better than ours.

If you don't have the time (poo out, wet collected, bed swept back to air) , maybe you shouldn't have a horse?

This isn't a dig at you, OP, but just a thought for those who think deep litter is acceptable. I don't.
Click to expand...

I'm of the same thinking really. Those who are saying they deep litter but take the wet and muck out....I don't really understand why not just muck out properly it would only take a couple more minutes. My horses are bedded on straw and I can muck out the cleaner one in 5 minutes, the dirty boy takes about 10. Also I don't quite get deep litter on straw? Shavings maybe but surely straw just becomes a stinking mess?
 
I've had beds down for years at a time but none have ever caught fire - there is sometimes a lot of 'steam' from them on cold days but never smoke.

If you are truly deep littering then you leave the wet areas - disturbing the lower levels encourages the bed to smell.
 
starbar said:
I'm of the same thinking really. Those who are saying they deep litter but take the wet and muck out....I don't really understand why not just muck out properly it would only take a couple more minutes. My horses are bedded on straw and I can muck out the cleaner one in 5 minutes, the dirty boy takes about 10. Also I don't quite get deep litter on straw? Shavings maybe but surely straw just becomes a stinking mess?
Click to expand...

In my case (and I suspect many others) it was because pony went down with laminitis and had to have a 2+ foot deep bed of shavings and be in for 6 weeks. It wasnt possible to 'properly' muck out 2+ feet of shavings daily. But I did dig out the patches of wee and took out all the muck. Agree with you re deep litter on straw tho, I dont think its the best material to use for a deep bed.

Also agree re working horses, and also would add that their working lives were not that long due to the strenuous nature of pulling good carts or farm machinery and might end often at 8 or so, and there was no such thing as retirement for the vast majority; once they couldnt do the job (perhaps because of causes related to standing ankle deep in muck for months!) they were shot.
 
if i cant put the bed up to sweep and air the floors dry at least once a week im not happy. this is only personal preference though, nothing against those that dont.
i always worry about the accumulating effect of mold spores on deep litter beds and the effect they have on a horse's airways + breathing.

i dont really get the 'i take the wet out every day' people have said on this thread about managing their deep litter either since deep litter bedding especially on straw is all the wet!
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top