Deep littering?

[Dizzydancer]

My old boy (I have had him 12years) is in from about 4pm to 9/9.30am.He tends to mess his bed up quite badly if he doesnt have a deep bed, he is on straw and if he hasnt had enough bedding in the night before you can take out almost his entire bed except the banks. if it is deep (5 slices/just under half bale) ontop of whats left in he is not too bad and the next day needs much less (3 slices).
I am considering deep littering him, as this will allow a deeper bed. Would you do this in my situation as we are getting through lots of straw at moment.
I would empty it out weekly and begin again, would this be ok or would you leave it in longer?

 

[flyingfeet]

What is the floor of the stable?

I have earth floors and deep litter, basically only have a dig out when it squelches and top up over the week - use less than one small bale of straw, but any waste hay also goes in the bed.

 

[ameeyal]

Yes i would deep bed him, i first put down shavings, as this absorbs the urine better than straw, then put straw on the top, i leave this in all winter, just removing the muck, and topping up with straw.

 

[Dizzydancer]

Thanks the floor is concrete but it drains well.
I will def be giving it a try, see how it goes if it becomes too sqwelchy too quickly i will dig out some wet but not all i think. 1 bale a week would be heaven!!

 

[dizzyf]

I didn't think you should deep litter uisng straw, as it doesnt absorb wee.

What you could do to save cost in the long run, is get rubber mats and just use a sprinkling of bedding/shavings, if you prefer not to deep litter, for allergies or similar.

 

[Mrs B]

Um - I'd say taking out most of the middle of a bed like that every day and using 5 or 3 new slices of straw would be about normal. And it's not like straw is any where near as expensive as shavings! I reckon on a horse stabled at night for those hours needing 3 bales a week.

I'm afraid I'm not a great fan of deep litter, especially on straw and especially if it gets anywhere near 'squelchy'.

To my mind, it would be like asking you to sleep in a bed when the mattress was soaked in wee, but someone had given you a fresh under sheet and dry duvet.