Do I make the swap?

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baby_dudley

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My mare is currently on straw and she isn't the cleanest girl in the world and her stable is so messy. Do I make the change to shavings? It appears to be easier to muck out and more absorbent than straw.... Or is it just the grass is always greener??!

Anyone else swapped over and regretted it? Or the best thing you did? Also what's the average amount you would use per week?

Thanks in advance for any tips/advise xx
 
I wish I could change to straw but YO won't allow it.
Main reason is because shavings are so expensive - I pay £8.95 a bale and get through 2/3 bales a week :O
What about wood pellets?
Again I'd want to try these but ny yard is strictly shavings!
 
I prefer a straw bed. But last just eat his bed so i went with matting and shavings.

I would use on average 3 to 4 bales of straw a week. And with woodchip 1.5 a week. I use Hunters they are bigger bales but they are expensive.

So straw is cheaper. Also if she is a messy mare then woodchip is a nightmare as it will end up looking like a chocolate chip cake mixture.

I actually don't find one easier over the other but woodchip doesn't stay clean for long.
 
Mines quite dirty, currently using wood pellets on rubber matting, he's got a large box and a decent bed. It's efficient and quick to muck out. I used chopped rape last year, like bedwell ( I think! ) but I got it off a local farmer who was using it for his racehorses, quick and easy to muck out! I don't like mucking out shavings, and I would probably use at least 3 bags a week and they are so expensive.
 
Forgot to say she munches away on her straw bed too :( even with the choice of a full fresh haynet :( so need to do something as just seeing the back of a pinworm problem so can't say it will help eating her bed :(
 
I want to switch to shavings atm as horse makes such a mess, we are using so much and it is smelly and messy BUT yard owner wont let us :( used to have horses on shavings and much prefered it :)
 
We swapped from straw to rubber matting. We found they only needed a half bed across back of box. We used aubiose (hemp/flax) or easibed if we couldn't get hemp. Only needed one bale of aubiose per week so as cheap as straw really! We skipped out njregularly and took out wet patch when necessary. Saved hours on mucking out and our horribly messy boy became almost clean! Halved the number of barrows daily and bed always clean.
You won't regret swapping! Think people on here recommend wood pellets for same system but I've never seen them.
 
Forgot to say she munches away on her straw bed too :( even with the choice of a full fresh haynet :( so need to do something as just seeing the back of a pinworm problem so can't say it will help eating her bed :(
 
Sorry don't know why it posted same reply!

I have rubber matting down so could get away with less shavings used I guess?
Thanks for your help guys, I love this forum! X
 
Noooo dont do it!!! I love a deep straw bed you cant beat it!!!
I put my mare on straw in the winter & she too eats quite a bit of it but touch wood not ever caused any probs! In the summer i put her on shavings as she comes in during the day for a rest off the grass & i dont want her eating the bed!!
If your mare is messy on straw im sure she'll be the same on shavings & it will cost you alot more. The grass is always greener but not worth it in my opinion!!.xx
 
If her bed is dirty on straw it will be just as bad with shavings but treble the price, I have my mare on straw as she would go through 3 a week as she is very dirty, being on shavings wont make her cleaner my gelding is clean on any bedding so his in shavings only use one a week he would eat all the straw anyway, I am not a lover of straw but the cost was getting a joke.
 
I much, much, much prefer straw. It's easier to muck out, cheaper, and if they want a little snack it's always there for them :-) I will admit that shavings is probably a cleaner, but I find it a pig to muck out and extremely expensive.
 
Am really surprised at the responses on here, i absolutely hate straw, and changing was the best thing i ever did.
My boy is on wood pellets, my girl on shavings, both hate rubber mats.
I won't go back to straw
 
I went onto shaving a few years ago to try to stop my muck heap from getting too big. Boy did i regret it. I changed them back onto straw by the christmas of that winter. I couldn't keep uo with the cost of the bedding and it has gone up so much since then. I also hate mucking shavings out, i find them heavy to muck out and barrow is too heavy when it s full. If your horse is mucky then it will cost you a fortune on shavings. Last year i used shavings under straw in a stable that has 2 ponies in to absorb the wee more than the straw could and that helped a bit but it cost me more than it would have done with just straw but it helped to keep the wet down a bit but not a lot, this year i am using wood pellets under the straw and that is working out much better and much cheaper.
 
I did exactly this, have found If your horse is messy on a big savings bed there ten times as messy and go though 4 bales a week! But then I bought some rubber matting small bed and best thing I've ever done using half a bale a week clean bed no eating super duper !!!
 
showjump123 said:
I did exactly this, have found If your horse is messy on a big savings bed there ten times as messy and go though 4 bales a week! But then I bought some rubber matting small bed and best thing I've ever done using half a bale a week clean bed no eating super duper !!!
Click to expand...

So you have rubber matting and just use a small shavings bed at the back of stable?

Sorry if I sound thick just weighing up my options here x
 
I have only recently started using stables again (as our usual large cattle shed has been taken over by the cows!), and I have put down rubber mats at the back with a small bed of Easibed. Literally just one bale in each stable, and this lasts for a while. I pick out the droppings and any really wet bedding, sweep up any bedding just off the mats, and then sweep clean the rest of the floor. If it is wet, then I chuck a bucket of water over the floor/mat and sweep away. It dries and then is nice and fresh. Much easier to muck out than straw, small muck heap - although I did love a really deep straw bed, and Frayne likes to make a nest in a deep bed! However, I have to think of my health and I couldn't cope any more with a deep bed.
 
We used to use shavings but I had to swap to straw because my mare trashes her stable so much they cost an absolute fortune! Shavings are definitely a lot nicer, so much more absorbent and there's no smell like with straw.
 
i really want to put my horse back onto shavings or even aubiose again, he is quite clean but because he always has a big fluffy bed it's hard to find all the droppings in it.
the one thing that worries me about going back onto shavings is him rolling and getting stuck. when he was last on shavings he was in a big stable (16x16) and loved rolling around in his bed so for now he will stay on straw unless i get a bigger stable.
 
I found straw cost me more and was dirtiest.
It also took me considerably longer to clean.

Shavings cost me £4.50 a bale and they're fantastic.
The each get 1 new bag down a week. Also smells a lot better! :)
 
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