easibed on mats - any tips?

[darksecret99]

Any one else use easibed with stable mats? If so, how many bales do you get through? and how much bedding do you have - just enough to soak up the pee, or a full bed?

I am getting through 2 bales a week at the moment, I have banks (which stay clean) and enough on the floor to soak up the pee (which gets chucked out every day)... my boy is out every morning and all day on the weekends (but is very messy in the stable and mixes up all the wet).

All my stable neighbours have beds about a foot deep on deep litter (but no mats) and keep saying, "you need more bedding, it will stay cleaner and you will use less if you put more in"!!! but surely that defeats the object of having the mats?! And if I put more in (unless I go to their extreme) will mean I end up with a bigger mess!!??

I was using 3 or 4 bales a week before I put the mats in, so I am still saving and its SO much easier and quicker (which was the main reason for me putting the mats in) but any tips would be gratefuly recieved!

 

[galaxy]

I use it.

I get through 1-1.5 bales a week. I have a thin bed (but more then a spirnkling. I don't have banks. My boy is VERY wet and churns it up. I don't agree if you put more in it would stay cleaner. Certainly wouldnt with mine! The only reason I put in as much as I do is that mine is a grey and he likes to lay down!

 

[fairhill]

2 bales a week is below average for easibed, so you're doing ok.
Our stable yard is divided into two camps - those with clean horses who deep litter successfully and always have lovely beds, and those with messy ones who tend to remove the wet more often (me!). I skip out daily, remove the wet weekly, and put down 2 bales a week.


It does work better with more bedding (foot deep is about right!), as the wee soaks to the bottom, so you need enough to keep the base of the bed stable. It should stop him messing up the wet if you have it thicker.
I've seen people try to use minimum bedding with the rubber matting, and the wee just puddles in the stable and makes a mess!

 

[Law]

I don' use mats but I do use easibed. I go through a bale a week if they are out everyday but two if there is a wet spell and they have to stay in in the day every other day. (Winter time i mean)
I wouldn't take the wet out (might not say that if he had mats as well) - I semi deep litter so take the wet out wednesday and saturday/sunday. Stays clean and dry like that.
not sure about how i would manage it with mats, sorry

TBH if I had mats i'd probably have shavings and only use enough to soak up the wee

 

[darksecret99]

Easibed does seem more economical and clean on deep litter... but I'm not a fan of deep litter.... I was wondering if shavings might be better with the mats.... but the easibed has so much less dust, so I dont really want to swap...

All the pee is soaked up by the bedding, so there are no puddles....

Perhaps I should get a horse that pees less!!!?

 

[galaxy]

My friend gets on really well with Megazorb. I really liked it too when I tried it. It absorbed the puddles, I used less and it was cheaper, but when my grey lay down on it it stained him! Grr!

Shavings are USELESS on matting! Not absorbent at all. Much worse than easibed.

 

[Walder]

i too use megazorb - 4.95 a bale but they are not very big - i have tried nearly all the other stuff with my rubber matting but have eventually gone back to it as it si sooooo easy to muck out - the poo just falls away from the bedding really easily - i leave the wet in and take it out once a week so it actualy only takes 10minutes at the most on a daily basis - i use just over a bag a week probably 1 and a half x x

 

[TGM]

My personal preference is for Aubiouse or Hemcore on mats - I find them to be very absorbent and also have the advantage of rotting down well on the muckheap. I have always just put down a 'pee patch' and that has worked well for me - no puddling at all.

I tried Megazorb but didn't get on too well with it - but pony I had at the time was really wet so perhaps that was the problem.