Deep Litter

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charlieandmax

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I have never used this method before so was looking for opinions and also answers to these questions. :)

Can you use it all year round? (obviously completely mucking out and changing it every few months)

How often should you completely change it?

Horse wees in same place - should i leave it or spread it out?

Have you found it works out to be cheaper?

Whats best to use for the base, wood chip, shavings etc.?
 
I deep litter one of my horses. She is quite clean in that she does everything in the same place every time. I lift out the droppings everyday and leave the wet, just covering over with fresh shavings. I usually take all the wet out every couple of months. She has a lovely deep shavings bed and judging by the amount in her gridlock clearly likes to lie in it. You can do it all year but I only do it through the winter. I find I use 2 bags of shavings a week and they are in 24/7 through the winter.
 
I deep litter my 'wet' lad and use shavings. I put a new bed down in autumn and lasts all winter, then cleared out come spring.

I remove droppings, and only any wee that has come through to the top of the bed/or that he has scuffed up, then rake dry over the top. I top his bed up with 1/3rd bale every second day, so using just over a bale a week.

Definitely cheaper for this horse as before I deep littered he went through at least 2 bales a week.
 
I do but with a slight variation - I put down a base layer of something absorbent (I use flax, I hate wood products because I can't dispose of it) with straw on top. The base layer soaks up the wee, and if you lift the straw regularly you can add to it as you have to remove some soggy bits. You lift droppings on a thin straw layer, shake it into the barrow and return the straw. Mine end up at least 6" thick.
I have deep littered with just straw in the past, and it works well provided you don't have horses on it 24/7 (it needs time to dry and air for part of the day) and you keep adding to it to keep it really deep. You have to not mind the smell of wee in straw, it pongs a bit!
One year when I couldn't get any affordable hay I bought oat straw and fed from racks - their beds were beautiful from all the extra straw that had got dropped on to it, and the fresh straw kept them off any damp.
I don't clear out every year - to me, the base of flax or miscanthus etc is a valuable resource, it dries out in summer and any bacteria in it don't survive being dry. Once it has been damp it holds together really well and provides a soft but absorbent base
 
I hate deep littering - I think its disgusting and its stinks. I don't think it is necessary at all if you have rubber matting. Some benefits for it is that it keeps your horse warmer in the winter, reduces wastage therefore saves money! Apparently the whole bed needs to be dug out in the summertime according to my friend who deep litters :)
 
I don't do a proper deep litter because I think it's revolting, unhygienic and I don't want my horses lying on a bed of their own pee.

Mine live out and only come in when the weather is awful. They have huge beds of shaving and I pick out poo daily and once a week give it a proper muck out, digging up the whole bed.

It means they can have big beds and I don't have to spend an age mucking them out daily, and because they get a full muck out once a week it doesn't give the bed enough time to become truly revolting.
I go through one bag of shavings every few weeks.

I've seen so many deep litter beds over the years and have never once seen one I'd be happy letting my horse lie in.
 
Deep littering is very successful on earth floors. The urine drains through and the box smells fresh at all times. You do need a layer of stone on top of the earth and then a deep layer of what ever bedding you are using.
 
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