Fed up with straw

[Sussexbythesea]

He seems to see everything as food! I do wonder if he ever had a lack of in a previous home

To start a pellet bed off you really need to soak the pellets so they break up so don’t look like nuts. Having said that my old boy grabbed a mouthful the first time I put them down but quickly spat them out again.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Just wanted to say his bed is thick every night before I leave it! He eats his straw in the night which is why it looks so thin in that picture

It's not the thickness! In fact that is my point; he has a lovely thick bed but it's *not big enough*. The bed needs to fill the box or he will drag the straw all over the box and then it becomes a thin bed.

 

[Auslander]

I am impressed - how many bags of pellets do you add on average per week?

One, usually. Sometimes 2 for the grubbier ones. I start the beds with 8 bags

 

[willowblack]

We are straw pellets converts! Started using them because I have to go straight to work from the yard ? and wanted to get rid of the smell mucking out a straw bed makes so as not to offend anyone in the office ? and that was about 2 years ago. They are so quick and easy to muck out and you can do a whole stable with about half a wheelbarrow.

 

[Melandmary]

Could it be that your horse's bed is actually quite small compared to the size of stable? My beds usually cover virtually the whole stable and I feel that the poos aren't trampled around as much because they have more bed room? Your horse probably spends more time on the bed than on the concrete. I personally use chopped rape straw. It is so much easier to muck out than straw.... And I don't stink ( as much ?)

 

[Meowy Catkin]

If you do switch from straw, make sure that he has more hay. I've known several horses lose weight after their beds were changed from straw to something else that they didn't eat.

 

[Griffin]

I would probably either use more straw or possibly change to shavings/wood pellets.

My mare is quite sensitive and can drag her shavings around (she is on rubber matting with with a decent bed of shavings on top) but has become much better since I have been giving her a few options in terms of where she eats her forage from. She now has a hay net, a 'munch net' with hay/straw blocks in another part of the stable and a pile of hay on the floor every night. I would say I have gone from emptying a very full wheelbarrow to about half a wheelbarrow because now she just nibbles her way round and then has a sleep!

I would also consider having an appointment with a vet or an independent nutritionist if he is a very poor doer and pooing so much.

 

[Starzaan]

That is nowhere near enough straw. To ensure a horse gets sufficient recumbent REM sleep you should be able to stab the bed at any point with a pitchfork and not hit the floor below. It also needs to cover enough surface area for him to lie down flat.
So many clients bring their horses to me saying they're filthy and disgusting and I'll hate mucking them out. Every. Single. One. is absolutely fine on a proper, big bed. If your bed is big enough he won't eat it, but also, if he has enough hay, he won't eat straw. If he's hard to keep weight on, make sure he ALWAYS has hay - ad lib hay is the best start for helping poor doers. Really all horses should have access to forage at all times - it only takes three hours without for the acids in their stomachs to start causing problems leading to ulcers.

 

[muddybay]

If you do switch from straw, make sure that he has more hay. I've known several horses lose weight after their beds were changed from straw to something else that they didn't eat.

I couldn't deal with any more weight loss that's why I'm reluctant to change he's only just got stable with it and is finally less stressy! I might leave it till the summer because it's only really for my benefit and I don't want him to be boney again he was a lot better today and i made his bed extra thick because it's a day I muck out on!

 

[windand rain]

I find straw the easiest and lightest bed to muck out can do a stable in less than 10 minutes one concession I would make is to put a thin layes of dry pellets under the straw if the floor isnt well drained. Hate shavings they stink far worse than straw and have only used rubber mats with at least 18 inches of bedding covering the whole floor Think your problem is not enough floor is covered

 

[magicmoments]

If he has finished his 2 nets and is eating straw then he needs more hay. If he doesn't finish his hay, it may be he wants something different taste/texture wise so is eating his straw. That is not a lot of hard feed. Hifi is low calorie, and ordinary pony nuts, and only 1 scoop a day is also not a lot. If the others on the yard are mainly ponies, then you aren't comparing like for like. If he box walks he's also expending more energy than your average pony. Also is he getting cold? Is he rugged. With a box Walking poo/wee machine I found wood pellets much easier, than straw.

 

[muddybay]

If he has finished his 2 nets and is eating straw then he needs more hay. If he doesn't finish his hay, it may be he wants something different taste/texture wise so is eating his straw. That is not a lot of hard feed. Hifi is low calorie, and ordinary pony nuts, and only 1 scoop a day is also not a lot. If the others on the yard are mainly ponies, then you aren't comparing like for like. If he box walks he's also expending more energy than your average pony. Also is he getting cold? Is he rugged. With a box Walking poo/wee machine I found wood pellets much easier, than straw.

He wears a 200g in weather like this I'm very cautious about rugging because of his weight and no he's one of the smaller horses on the yard. I might get him a hay ball in the stable so he can have a bit more.

 

[be positive]

He does two haynets and 2 feeds a day of 1 scoop of hifi and 1/2 a scoop of nuts. He's a really bad doer and looses weight like there's no tomorrow if his feeds cut down this winters been a real eye opener for me as it's my first with him and it's such a balancing act to keep his weight ok.

He is not getting much feed for a poor doer, is probably getting nowhere near enough hay in 2 nets which is why he is eating his bedding, my 13.2 pony is probably getting almost the same amount of feed in his bucket, 1/2 scoop of soaked grass nuts and 1 scoop of happy hoof twice a day plus adlib hay which does not run out ever, he is not a poor doer but dropped weight last month when he had a virus so feed was increased to get it back on, he is now on just 2 feeds instead of the 4 he had when needing to regain weight.

A hungry horse will eat it's bedding and also be more inclined to move about restlessly while in.

 

[Splash2310]

There were straw pellets available at my last livery yard. They had a whole pallet sitting unused because every horse that had tried them had tucked into them like feed!

I definitely didn’t think pellets were feed the first time I saw them (admittedly from afar)

 

[muddybay]

I'm going to get him a hay ball any reccomendations?

 

[be positive]

I'm going to get him a hay ball any reccomendations?

Why waste money on a hayball which will probably get kicked about and make the bed even messier, just stuff more into the haynets or give him an extra one/ larger one/ some on the ground if he does not pull it into the bed so he has easy access, a poor doer needs hay to be easy to get at not hard work unlike a fatty.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

Why waste money on a hayball which will probably get kicked about and make the bed even messier, just stuff more into the haynets or give him an extra one/ larger one/ some on the ground if he does not pull it into the bed so he has easy access, a poor doer needs hay to be easy to get at not hard work unlike a fatty.

Completely agree with BP

 

[Widgeon]

I'm another one who would say be wary of switching to shavings if he box walks. I've got zero experience of pellets but a messy shavings bed is disgusting, and it doesn't drain as well as straw, so you can end up taking it all out. Personally I think the ideal with a straw bed is to have it deep enough that you can skip out the poo lumps (nice) off the top, fork the top layer of bed up the sides, and only then have to trawl through the bottom layer turning it over bit by bit to find and remove the wet patches. If he's eating that much straw though I'd agree with others above who are saying more hay. Can you maybe put loose hay into a big pile in one corner, or get him a hay bar? Much easier than filling haynets! My horse is an absolute fatty by nature and even he doesn't eat his straw bed, because he's got enough hay to last him.

 

[9tails]

Are you supplying his straw and hay or is it part of your livery deal?

If you're supplying it, make up the biggest black/red shires nets so they're bulging and you know he's getting plenty. Fluffed up hay in a net may look a decent amount but could weigh very little. If it's part of the livery deal and they won't feed more, you may need to offer an extra cash incentive for bigger rations.

If you're supplying bedding, I would recommend the White Horse unbranded pellets. A decent bed will need at least 10 bags to start, I like to have most of the floor covered with one corner clear for hay and water. I also add half a bale of fine shavings every week to 10 days so that it doesn't compact. You shouldn't need to add any more for a couple of weeks though. Keep the water close to the hay so he's not walking back and forth across the bed. If the straw is supplied with the livery, pellets under the straw in the wee patch(es) will absorb a lot of wet but you need a lot more straw and again cover most of the floor with the same hay and water arrangements as above.

Regarding feed, that's pretty low quality stuff for a TB. They need a lot of calories in comparison with other breeds. Grass pellets, a decent balancer, maybe Alfa A oil as a chaff if he's not allergic, a dollop of vegetable oil. A decent morning feed of Fast Fibre to fill his belly before turnout.

 

[daydreamer]

It's difficult to know how much a "haynet" is because they are all different sizes and it depends on whether the day is fluffed up or not. Have you weighed the hay? It does sound as if he is hungry and eating his straw which is not going to help your mucking out or help him keep weight on. You can buy a spring balance pretty cheaply - even one for weighing luggage is fine. At this time of year it is unlikely he is getting much grass when turned out so pretty much all his food is coming from the hay. I would work out what about 2% of his weight is and feed him that much hay. I used to feed my elderly TB about 15kg of hay and he did eat it all! His stable was pretty easy to much out as he pretty much just stood and ate and so all the poo was in one spot!

 

[holeymoley]

I also agree that the bed is not deep enough. I have straw and the depth is easily about 8-10inches if not more. I use pellets at the bottom to soak up pee, it can be If i was to use less, as in your photo, I would be inclined to go in and take out the entire thing every day! There’s nothing there to soak anything up.

re feeds, if he’s bad at keeping weight you need to be adding something else to his hard feeds, hi fi lite and some nuts isn’t going to be doing anything I’m afraid. I’d also give as much hay/haylage as he can eat.

 

[muddybay]

Are you supplying his straw and hay or is it part of your livery deal?

If you're supplying it, make up the biggest black/red shires nets so they're bulging and you know he's getting plenty. Fluffed up hay in a net may look a decent amount but could weigh very little. If it's part of the livery deal and they won't feed more, you may need to offer an extra cash incentive for bigger rations.

If you're supplying bedding, I would recommend the White Horse unbranded pellets. A decent bed will need at least 10 bags to start, I like to have most of the floor covered with one corner clear for hay and water. I also add half a bale of fine shavings every week to 10 days so that it doesn't compact. You shouldn't need to add any more for a couple of weeks though. Keep the water close to the hay so he's not walking back and forth across the bed. If the straw is supplied with the livery, pellets under the straw in the wee patch(es) will absorb a lot of wet but you need a lot more straw and again cover most of the floor with the same hay and water arrangements as above.

Regarding feed, that's pretty low quality stuff for a TB. They need a lot of calories in comparison with other breeds. Grass pellets, a decent balancer, maybe Alfa A oil as a chaff if he's not allergic, a dollop of vegetable oil. A decent morning feed of Fast Fibre to fill his belly before turnout.

It's part of the livery deal really he was only moved onto 2 nets a few months ago when I noticed other stabled horses were getting more (he was never meant to be stabled full time) and I get a lot more straw than I'm meant to hence my reluctancy to change. I've heard stories from other liveries where theirs have just soaked through sawdust ect.