dusty!

[TarantuLove]

Recently my boy has developed quite a dusty cough

he is bedded on straw and fed ad-lib hay. I have started soaking the hay but he is still coughing, so am looking to try a different bedding for him. He is very dirty and messy, and he is quite prone to thrush in his feet. Luckily he has rubber mats. Shavings he just kicks them around and gets them everywhere

Any suggestions?

 

[piebaldsparkle]

Paper or cardboard.

 

[Guinness]

I would get the vet out-my horse developed a cough from hay (even though I was soaking it) and it turned into bronchitis so had to have antibiotics. He cant have hay anymore (has to have haylage). Also straw is probably the worst thing for horses that cough because of the spores-shavings are much better

 

[teddyt]

Agree with piebaldeaster

 

[PennyJ]

Wood pellet bedding, very low dust. I have been amazed at how well I get on with it.

 

[Birker2020]

My horse is on shavings as they are very cost effective for me as they are free shavings that my Dad collects from a timber yard. I hate straw as I find it too heavy and cumbersome when wet. I have stabled five horses on free shavings since 1995 and I have never found a problem with dust and coughing, indeed when I have bought the odd bale (due to the shavings shortage recently) my horse has coughed because of the dust in the so called 'dust extracted varieties'. I have to say though that I never leave my fresh clean shavings on top on my bed or banks, instead I always mix it in with the old shavings that I have thoroughly cleaned. This has four benefits, a) by mixing it in there is no dust is present for the horse to kick around b) the bed still looks athetically pleasing c) by mixing the new with the old it helps to dry the rest of the bed up and d) the bed itself it doesn't move around quite as much as it would do if the fresh shavings were on top. I would try mixing the fresh in with the older shavings, as long as the older shavings are dry and clean it will not matter. Also never put your horse straight into a shavings bed you have just prepared, always let the dust settle first.