Disgustingly dirty mare- wits end already!

[ApolloStorm]

I am at a loss! My mare who this is my first winter with, is DISGUSTING! She is on Raviera, same as gelding who is so clean. I get 2 large barrows worth of poo and wee out, every day, I'd love to try semi deep litter- but the wet rises to the top every night, so I end up digging it all up, because she mushes it together- doesn't help her poops are enormous. I put 2 new bales in 2 days ago, o top of existing, and already needing another!
Annoying because I don't even get half a barrow from gelding, he gets 2 a week because his stable is massive and thus so is the bed. I have had a few suggestions- wood pellets/ sawdust/ shavings. None of which particularly sound appealing!
Any ideas? Anyone tried wood pellets under shavings ?

 

[9tails]

How big is your mare's stable? If not very big could you try a swap with your gelding?

 

[Theocat]

Try sawdust under shavings and proper deep litter - worked with my messy mare!

 

[ApolloStorm]

Mares stable isn't small- it's still 12x14 geldings is ridiculously large, 14 x 18, he is in there because his hind legs can swell,so it's better if he can move around quite a bit. One of the girls in my barn is on sawdust from the sawmill-because her gelding is messy& it's stupidly cheap like 50p a bag or something

 

[PorkChop]

I was going to suggest Sawdust, purely because it is cost effective and if you get it straight from the sawmill it isn't dusty.

I honestly think that if they are that dirty it is just a matter of accepting that you will need to use a lot more bedding.

 

[Damnation]

I was going to suggest Sawdust, purely because it is cost effective and if you get it straight from the sawmill it isn't dusty.

I honestly think that if they are that dirty it is just a matter of accepting that you will need to use a lot more bedding.

This is what I do.

I get a huge white dumpy bag for £10 direct from the sawmill and it lasts me 2 weeks. It is really dense stuff so it actually compacted down really well into a base for a deep litter, it is SOLID!

My mare is also rancid in a stable, she really paces. I treat the "base" as a rubber mat, chuck the top layer up and maybe scrape the top off the base to stop it getting too thick. I'm struggling more this year than previously because she stables are in a barn straight off from the field and when it rains I think some of the water drains down (field is about a foot higher than the stables) and the floor of the stables is really damp but I can't afford rubber matting just now so the base helps to keep the top layer somewhat dry as the roof also leaks!

 

[Goldenstar]

I feel your pain been there and got the t shirt I would semi deep litter using sawdust ( since you can get it cheaply ) or a mixture of sawdust and shavings .

 

[ihatework]

I've got a wet mucky mare who on a shavings bed would quite happily poo and pee her way through 4 bales of shavings a week in the winter.

She is really good however on a semi deep litter basis, thick layer wood pellets with straw over top. Straw skipped out and topped up during week then wood pellets dug out weekend.

 

[DD]

sawdust at the base, a thick layer then lots and lots and lots of straw on top.

 

[Snuffles]

trying wood pellets this year for messy fidgetty mare. Cant get a solid base as its all walked round and ends up piled up the sides.
Cant use rubber mats for drainage reasons, I would give all for a clean tidy poo in one corner horse.

 

[peanut]

I find wood pellets great for my wet and dirty mare. If you flatten them down to compact them, the dung stays more on the top and is easier to pick up.

 

[tda]

I find wood pellets great for my wet and dirty mare. If you flatten them down to compact them, the dung stays more on the top and is easier to pick up.

Totally agree, a mix of wetted pellets (ie sawdust), and mix in more pellets and flatten it down.

 

[twiggy2]

I use free sawdust under shavings on a deep litter system, straw is not good for their feet and my mare was prone to bouts of thrush on it and will eat it all, nedz bed and the like she will eat, wood pellets make her dig up all the bedding to find any that are still pellet shaped because 'anything that shape must be edible right?'
Pure shaving cost me a fortune as I need approx 4 per week, on deep litter with sawdust I use one per week.

 

[Fiona]

Mats with a small bed of pellets and shavings at the back of the stable is what we use for the box walking TB.

Mats are 30mm EVA so soft enough for her to lie on...

Fiona

 

[HufflyPuffly]

Another thought is what is your routine for your mare?

I have one who is truly grim (she's pretty so its fine ), to keep her clean we have to be first down to feed/turnout otherwise it's a box-walked mess of churned up poo and wee. When she's in more in winter (turnout can go down to 2 hours a day), she gets mucked out in the morning and turned out, bed is thrown up on the banks and then re-mucked out at night (she will have been brought in before I get there and pulls what she wants down to roll/wee on).

Actual bedding wise, she has 34mm EVA mats, wood-pellets and shavings.

However the biggest thing for a clean bed was to stop the box-walking, or box-dashing in her case she's a sensitive beasty if she thinks she's being left alone, but that's another story!

 

[ApolloStorm]

Our yard does every other day turnout, so geldings monday, mares tuesday etc. We also have a "feed rota" so each day of the week one person from the barn makes sure they're up first and feeds. So unless its my day I won't be first. Either way though she is a messy so and so. She gets mucked out in the AM, and then a day bed put down if she is in, and then done again pm, but much faster as don't have to sort through a full churned up bed. If she is out, she'll be out 7.30 til about 6pm, and the bed will get left up so it can all dry out during the day. Possibly leaning towards sawdust as I can get it so cheaply, perhaps with shavings ontop for comfort.

 

[windand rain]

Find somewhere to let her live out 24/7. Seriously though I would use a mix of sawdust and unwetted pellets as the pellets will swell and dry the wet bits. Ok as long as she is not a bed eater

 

[Annagain]

My gelding is a total contradiction - he won't poo in his bed at all so all I have to do with that is sweep it into a pile and pick it up. He is however, very wet. I'm lucky in that he doesn't box walk so it doesn't get kicked around but his wet patch could easily take up 1/2 a "normal" bed.

I give him an extra deep bed of wood pallets and semi-deep litter it. Because it's such a deep bed it soaks down rather than spreading through the bed. I leave the wet and pull more dry over it each night (which means I can muck out in 2 minutes -literally, which is fab when I'm in a hurry after work) then take the wet one once a week. I replace what I take out with 1 bag of unsoaked pellets in his wee patch (always on the right hand side of his bed) and pull clean stuff from the left over the top. I then add another bag of lightly soaked pellets on the left to replace the clean stuff I've pulled over the dry pellets. They break down slowly over the week and are ready to be pulled over the new pellets on a Saturday.

 

[Myloubylou]

Can't help with reducing poo or wee but for box walkers a friend installed a stable mirror for her filth bag & it stopped him mushing up the bed as much. I have recently switched back to flax, joy! Poos stay on surface & wee at the base of the bed. She can't move the bed as she was doing the miscanthus which is odd as so much lighter. 3/4 of large tub truck poo a day & then a big barrow of wee a week. Bed that goes back down looks as new and gets topped up only as taken out rather than to hide grit.