flax bedding for deep littering?

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mole

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what is the best product for deep littering?

i am having a look at flax bedding instead of shavings wld this be a good idea for a deep litter bed or best to stick with shavings?

im looking for a bed that i can deep litter the whole winter for a messy. stressy mare

thanks
 
i swapped from shavings to flax last winter and found it good to use. I use a similar amount as shavings (1 bag/wk), but a friend with a tidier horse uses 0.5 bag/wk. I guess I deep littered it. I only took out wet to keep the bed level (mare always peeing at back of stable). I was surprised at how absorbant it was and didn't dig out the wet all winter.
I found you can muck it out in the same way as shavings.
The only problems we've found is (1) rats love nesting in the bags, so suddenly half a bag has disappear on the floor (i can sympathse as would make lovely nest material!) (2) it sticks to wet boots/hooves and goes everywhere!
But, I would recommend it- will use it again this winter.
 
Hemcore or megazorb are both very good for deep littering .I like to use them underneath and put shavings on top if bedding on concrete floor.Hemcore is similiar to shavings and smells like lemon grass I have rubber matting now but will continue to use it in winter as its so absorbant and smells so good.
grin.gif
 
I tried Flax a couple of winters ago but went back to shavings. My mare is also very wet and I found that I was using more than shavings and at the time it cost more - wouldn't bother using it myself again. Also its very slippery when you put down a new bed.
 
We used Flax at college where all the horses were deep littered. Worked fine for deep littering but it was lethal stuff if you put a fresh bale in, very slippery. I used to use something called Soft Chip which was wood chip and fantastic, non-dusty, didn't 'stick' to coats/tails etc like shavings and good for deep littering.
 
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