deep litter shavings bed

[mrsbloggett]

Probably a silly question, but can you deep litter a shavings/ chopped straw bed? My mare is on box rest following dorsal wall resection on both front hooves, and she is currently on Bed-down Excel, but I'm going through at least 3 bales a week. Along with the vets bills this is getting VERY expensive.

I used to deep litter her on Aubiose / hemcore, but had to stop using it as it is too abrasive and was making her heels sore as she is in all the time.

I can't use straw as she would eat the whole stable full and she is already overweight. I can't do the "mix clean /dirty straw" trick as she has to have a clean bed to avoid infecting her feet.

Advice appreciated

 

[AmyMay]

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Probably a silly question, but can you deep litter a shavings/ chopped straw bed?

[/ QUOTE ]
Yes you can. Ultimately you are going to find shavings cheaper though, and would be inclined to go for that.

 

[SmokieJoe]

Dont you try your local sawmills etc for shavings? Our YO gets a full double horse box of shavings for only £30 and that does the 12 horses at the yard for ages! Some places give it away free

 

[AmyMay]

[ QUOTE ]
Dont you try your local sawmills etc for shavings? Our YO gets a full double horse box of shavings for only £30 and that does the 12 horses at the yard for ages! Some places give it away free

[/ QUOTE ]
These won't be dust extracted though. And for a horse on box rest could lead to respitory problems.

 

[Nari]

Shavings deep litter well as long as you keep the bed deep enough. I find that having small shavings as a base layer (3 or 4 inches deep) & then putting large flake shavings on top works really well - the smaller shavings seem to be more absorbant & pack down to form a dense base while the large flakes give good drainage so the top of the bed stays dry.

I semi-deep litter mine taking out wet patches maybe twice a week & taking the whole bed up about once a fortnight. I tend to use two bales shavings a week in a 12'x12' box that is fully bedded to a depth of about 12" (could be slightly more). Not too bad for a big horse that tends to dig before peeing or laying down!

 

[Kelly1982]

I used to deep litter my shavings bed and only mucked it out once a month.

As long as the bed is fairly deep then it will be fine.

I used to only put in a small bale of hunter shavings a week and my horse is 17hh.

I changed to straw though coz it was cheaper and she doesn't eat it.

 

[AtiraApps]

I only use l bale of shavings per week- although l tod every day (well OH does it most of the time

) l only take the wet out ONCE a week- and my neddies bed is at least 12 x 12!
It is about 7-8inchs thick though- as l find the deeper the bed- the cleaner & freasher it keeps! I have NEVER taken the full lot out in 3 years- but at least once a month after taking the wet out l give it a good mix & shake up! This re fluffs it up- then l just put the bale of clean on top!