Getting started on shavings

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Tabsmadsrose

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I'm new to shavings, currently on straw but found he is now really itchy on his legs and I think it is due to mite or rats in the straw. Once he is out in the field he is fine in a few days. But that's not the reason for the post!
I'm going to move him to shavings to see if that helps, which shavings would be best and how many bales do I need to start it off? My options are Comfybed Plus, Bedmax, Throughbred, or Snowflake Supreme.
All similar prices, but which will last the longest and how many bales will I need? Horse is tidy in the stable

I'm leaning towards Bedmax because it is big flakes and I have used it on a yard I worked on and it did fluff up nicely.
 
Depends how big the stable is and how big a bed you want. I put around 8 bales down to start me off, I had a full bed to the door and banks and it was a good deep bed. Can’t help with style of shavings as we get ours from a supplier, think they’re just standard shavings. However supplier hasn’t been open Because of lockdown so I had to use champion chip and I’m not overly keen
 
PictusSweetDreams said:
Depends how big the stable is and how big a bed you want. I put around 8 bales down to start me off, I had a full bed to the door and banks and it was a good deep bed. Can’t help with style of shavings as we get ours from a supplier, think they’re just standard shavings. However supplier hasn’t been open Because of lockdown so I had to use champion chip and I’m not overly keen
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Thanks, it's a decent size stable, I'd guess 14x14, but won't be doing the full thing it will be half the stable so maybe 6 bales :)
 
I despise Bedmax with a passion, IMO the big flakes don't absorb anything.
Of your choices I'd choose Thoroughbred. Need 6-8 bales for a full bed with banks in a 12 x 12 stable. If I stabled, I'd use MegaSpread, cracking big bales and you'd only need 6 of them
 
I also don’t like bedmax. It looks lovely when you put it down but looked like it had been down for weeks by the following morning.

i have used snowflake and Nordic and liked both. I have a 12x12 and her bed with banks is half the stable. I use 6 bales to get me started.
 
Depends on your set-up. Big-flake shavings (like Bedmax) let the liquid through to the bottom of the bed quicker, so if you have a stable floor with drainage grooves, earthen floor or wood pellets underneath, they’ll work better.

Small-flake shavings are more absorbent, so if your stable floor is completely level, or you have mats, they’ll be the better bet.

Personally, I don’t like small-flakes for horses who move around the box a lot. I’d use big flakes and wood pellets for these types. If your horse is a tidy type, no problem.
 
My favourite bedding is Bedmax it’s by the far the best for their feet .
My horses are mucked out daily and beds stacked .
I use a lot of bedding .
I have one horse on the chopped up rape stuff wood products make him itch it’s easy to manage ( we muck out fully and stack ) it’s goes further however I dislike the way it clumps in the feet and I hate the way it harder to sweep up than the bed max .
 
C1airey said:
Depends on your set-up. Big-flake shavings (like Bedmax) let the liquid through to the bottom of the bed quicker, so if you have a stable floor with drainage grooves, earthen floor or wood pellets underneath, they’ll work better.

Small-flake shavings are more absorbent, so if your stable floor is completely level, or you have mats, they’ll be the better bet.

Personally, I don’t like small-flakes for horses who move around the box a lot. I’d use big flakes and wood pellets for these types. If your horse is a tidy type, no problem.
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Agree with this
I like big flake shavings on a pellet base, they last forever with that set up, as the pellets take the wet and the shavings just make a comfy bed. I find my horses get through a lot of small flake shavings by comparison.
 
since a child i have always used shavings - we got them free as children so used as many i we wanted. very lucky i know. dad was in the timber business so came home with a car full of bin bags full of shavings every week. i now use wooburn shavings - i have been really impressed. i have tried lots of different makes. i much prefer smaller pieces and i find them much more absorbent. i am not keen on bedmax or any of the bigger coarser shavings. as to how many to put down, i put down 20 bales at least and added some which i had rescued from my boys old bed when we moved. his bed is huge (it's probably 10 inches deep all over), it;s very much my personal choice and not something you necessarily have to do or indeed would want to do. i take all the poo and wee out every day but don't move the rest of the bed, so it does form a firm base. during the summer i put two or three bales in a week and during the winter three or four. i like his bed to look clean and white. i do what suits me and totally understand someone doing something totally different. we all do what suits us and we find works for us. all i can say is i wouldn't use straw i find it heavy to move and very smelly. i can't bear rugs which have been used on a straw bed. my rugs due to the size of bed are always clean.
 
If you go with the bigger shavings take care to really shake them out. I've found with the larger shavings you're more likely to get pieces of wood slip through into the bale. I've also found some larger shavings getting into his his feet and needing more work to pick his feet.

I'd go with thoroughbred from your options but as others have said, you need to consider the stable and how you're going to use it (deep litter or full muck out). I'm deep littering but I wish I'd put some pellets underneath.
 
I am amazed at how many bales are being suggested. I am presuming that all are the same size and are not minis? My 12x12 stable with rubber matting just needs 2 to start it off, then 2 each week during the winter and one each week in the summer when they are out overnight. If I were to put in 6 or more I may lose my horse.
 
To be honest OP it’s just going to be trial and error to see what suits you and your horse best.

I generally dislike shavings as a bed. Not because shavings are a bad bedding but because I don’t get on with mucking it out. If I had to use shavings it would be small flakes, I loathe big flake bedmax with a passion!!

On the whole I’m a straw kind of girl! But it’s getting increasingly difficult to get really good clean straw these days. If I use a bagged bedding then a short chopped non-shavings is my preference (rape/miscanthus/hemp type).

Whatever I use, I put wood pellets underneath in the wee spot.
 
I hate Bedmax as well. I find it awkward to muck out, it looks grubby and it's not absorbent. You also need loads of it to make a proper thick bed.

My new favourite combo is Laysoft (as it's cheap and really dense), with StableBed (normal shavings) mixed in. It lasts for ages.
 
IrishMilo said:
I hate Bedmax as well. I find it awkward to muck out, it looks grubby and it's not absorbent. You also need loads of it to make a proper thick bed.

My new favourite combo is Laysoft (as it's cheap and really dense), with StableBed (normal shavings) mixed in. It lasts for ages.
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Thinking of laysoft - my boy moves about a lot and likes a good wee!
 
I think you will find that if you only put half a bed down, your shavings will migrate and your horse will end up with a too thin bed. I used to use Megazorb as a base for Bedmax until we realised that Bedmax has an orange-scented coating which one of the horses was allergic to. I used 7 bags of Bedmax on top of Megazorb to make a starer bed from scratch.
 
I used Bedmax at a competition once, looked lovely when I put it down, but 3 days later and I hated the stuff.

I use chopped rape straw, the coarse stuff. Use around 8 bales to start with for an 8" thick bed. Muck out the top every day (several times a day if in) and down to the bottom every week. Use around 3 bales a week in winter when they are not out as much, 2 bales in summer when out 10-12 hours.
 
Urgh, Bedmax. Looks great at first, flattens to a pancake as soon as the horse lies down no matter how deep you make it. You wouldn't want to drop to your knees on a Bedmax bed. I much prefer small shavings, they fall through the tines of the fork.
 
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