Dust Allegies & Bedding......a rant!!

E

el_Snowflakes

Well-Known Member
Joined
28 May 2009
Messages
3,318
Visit site
Just needing a good moan really!

My horse has a bit of a dust allergy. I have tried bedmax and littlemax but my stable is large and my horse is a big messy beast! so its was both a faff to muck out and expensive at £9 per bale....so bought wood pellets (& a new fine shavings fork as I was struggling to get all the bits of poo lifted)and spent ages soaking them and laying them and after 2 days Im sick of them!! they are cold, messy and damp and stick to bloody well everything!!! I have rubber mats down so think I will try just using a small amount of straw and see if we can manage with that. The stable is well ventilated and I have been soaking the hay so Im doing everything I can. Running out of other options! (Living out 24/7 is not an option)

Anyone else in this situation? its doing my head in!!! >:(

left over xmas chocolate if you got this far :D
 
my youngster is the same very messy in shavings however I have very thick rubber matting so on advice of vet he said no bedding..iv compromised and just put a sprinkling on one side where she wees, unfortunately this means she is quite dirty In the morning but have to admit it has worked and shortened mucking out time...don't know what il do when she needs to be kept clean for a show though lol
 
Have you tried mixing a couple of bags of dry pellets in? Perhaps the original bed was a bit too soaked
 
el_Snowflakes said:
Just needing a good moan really!

My horse has a bit of a dust allergy. I have tried bedmax and littlemax but my stable is large and my horse is a big messy beast! so its was both a faff to muck out and expensive at £9 per bale....so bought wood pellets (& a new fine shavings fork as I was struggling to get all the bits of poo lifted)and spent ages soaking them and laying them and after 2 days Im sick of them!! they are cold, messy and damp and stick to bloody well everything!!! I have rubber mats down so think I will try just using a small amount of straw and see if we can manage with that. The stable is well ventilated and I have been soaking the hay so Im doing everything I can. Running out of other options! (Living out 24/7 is not an option)

Anyone else in this situation? its doing my head in!!! >:(

left over xmas chocolate if you got this far :D
Click to expand...
I've used hemp (aubiose and Hemcore) in the past. Warm, dry and easy to muck out by kneling on the ground and picking by hand with rubber gloves. My chap has midnight feasts with elephants as guests but I found the hemp economical despite the price per bale as a bale lasted a week and a half. I would put down more than the manufacturers suggest for the initial bed - they say 8 bales for a 12x12 stable but I used 10 as it gave a thicker bed. . You do have to be very diligent about keeping it clean but if you do it repays you if spades. I tended to only take up the bed twice a year but when horse was out 24/7 one summer and I left it for the duration it had dried completly without any nasty niffs and didn't need digging up and replacing. The only reason I went back to straw was that YO couldn't reconcile the cost and storage space for the amount he had to buy when I used less than a bale a week (We aren't allowed to buy in privately).

Rapport (rape) and another one based on flax (can't remember the name) are both equally good.
 
My horse has a dust allergy and the best thing I did was change to haylage but as for bedding!! Rossdales said that cardboard was best but I used such a lot (3 bales a week) and this has now gone up to over 8 quid. I now mix shavings and rape straw and this proving to be a really good bed. I also put a layer of megasorb down first.
 
Anything hemp, flax or chopped rape straw seems very good for dirty beasts. So much more absorbant than shavings & much less dusty. I have matting & use s small amount of bed for them to pee on & then sweep the poo off the
 
I use cardboard bedding on rubber mats. I only use one bale as the first bed and top up as necessary. Really easy to muck out and rots much more quickly than other bedding.
 
Someone posted vet said about having no bedding on matting? Of course you'll save money on bedding but OMG the horse will be covered in poo & pee every morning & horse & rug will stink terribly!

The OP said she was buying Bedmax at £9.00 a bale? I buy Bedmax for my horses @ less than £7 a bale. I negociated with my local feed/bedding shop & said I'd buy from them if they could sell bales at under £7.00 & she said yes. Surely she can get a better deal than £9.00 cos that's extortionate.
 
Rapport is fab stuff, my horses both like to eat anything wood based (very annoying!!),straw, hemcore, megazorb and cardboard!! But Rapport which is already steeped in citronella they won't touch. I also have rubber mats and use hardly any- just enough to soak up the wee! It seems to impart a nice fresh atmosphere to the stable. My haffy has a bit of a cough but is improving now on rapport
 
First thing is to ensure you remove any dust and cobwebs from the walls and ceiling of your stable at least once a week. Also feed your hay from the ground so that your horses sinus's can drain.
 
oldhat said:
Rapport is fab stuff, my horses both like to eat anything wood based (very annoying!!),straw, hemcore, megazorb and cardboard!! But Rapport which is already steeped in citronella they won't touch. I also have rubber mats and use hardly any- just enough to soak up the wee! It seems to impart a nice fresh atmosphere to the stable. My haffy has a bit of a cough but is improving now on rapport
Click to expand...

Interesting, but I would be very careful, as I have a nasty respiratory reaction to cutronella, so would think twice before putting a coughing horse on it!
 
we have a coughing horse and a copd pony who cannot have straw we did try shavings etc but due to the cost and how filthy the coughing horse was we stopped using them . instead we now steam their straw and it has been brilliant ( i am lucky enough to have a bale steamer ).if you could get access to one of these it is definately worth a try and obviously you could steam hay aswell much easier than wet haynets
 
Noodlebug said:
My horse has a dust allergy and the best thing I did was change to haylage but as for bedding!! Rossdales said that cardboard was best but I used such a lot (3 bales a week) and this has now gone up to over 8 quid. I now mix shavings and rape straw and this proving to be a really good bed. I also put a layer of megasorb down first.
Click to expand...
Bleuch! I remember using paper and cardboard bedding back in the '60s when I looked after a couple of horses. Disgusting stuff and the horses hated it. I didn't know it was still available.
 
Toby_Zaphod said:
Someone posted vet said about having no bedding on matting? Of course you'll save money on bedding but OMG the horse will be covered in poo & pee every morning & horse & rug will stink terribly!

.
Click to expand...
Not terribly good for their feet either standing in wet and dirt all night. There are two horses on the yard where I am who just have mats with no bedding.Admittedly they are very messy but by first thing in the morning they are standing in a thick layer of ordure. They never lie down unless they are unwell and they look thoroughly miserable.
 
I've got a filthy mare who has an equally filthy foal and they both have midnight feasts with elephants too lol! Shes on rubber mats with straw but her rug stinks of wee!! My friends horse next door keeps her stable spotless, weeing, sleeping and eating all have seperaye places!! Have ordered a pile of bedmax for an experiment...wonder if it will be any better...id never go without any bed as they both like to lie down, just hoping this will be cleaner. I've no idea where we could get hemp in mid wales...? Anyone know...?
 
Gem Gill said:
I've got a filthy mare who has an equally filthy foal and they both have midnight feasts with elephants too lol! Shes on rubber mats with straw but her rug stinks of wee!! My friends horse next door keeps her stable spotless, weeing, sleeping and eating all have seperaye places!! Have ordered a pile of bedmax for an experiment...wonder if it will be any better...id never go without any bed as they both like to lie down, just hoping this will be cleaner. I've no idea where we could get hemp in mid wales...? Anyone know...?
Click to expand...
Most agricultural merchants who cater for horses will stock it as will tack shops which stock bedding. Or they will get it for you. You can buy Aubiose direct from the manufacturer if you have storage for the quantity you have to buy. The only thing you have to be aware of is that, because hemp bedding can be difficult to get in spring before the new crop comes on line. The same applies to rape and probably flax bedding
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top