Help with bedding after a back Op

[Twigben]

Hello

I have just had a back op and need to seriously change the way i muck out (I am not allowed to bend for 6 weeks and even after that have to be v v careful).

I have 3 horses on straw at the mo and take poo out daily and wet on a Wed and Sat. They have HUGE beds and I mean gigantic and I am a total fanatic about the way they look - pick up and sweep out under the rubber mats with dust pan etc etc - this is just not going to be pratical when i go back to mucking out myself and have been toying with the idea of using wood pellets and deep littering them.

So for all you out there that deep litter - what bedding do you use and how often do you take out wet etc? I muck out a horse for an owner on wood pellets but hers is not on deep litter so take out the wet as and when and then wet a bag of pellets before spreading all over the top and flattening. I am not sure if this would be the correct way to deal with deep litter or if you put the bag in dry??

Any help welcomed. Also how much would you say it costs you on your deep litter? I currently pay £15 a large round bale of straw which lasts 2 weeks!!

PS I will prob have to ask my OH to help lift the wet as I have been told i cant do it for litterally months!!!

Thanks in advance

 

[oscarwild]

I used wood pellet bedding. And find it the best bedding I used for years. I literally take out the poo everyday and only take pee out the bed once the pee is clumpy. I mix the pee in the bed and use 1 bag of dry pellets a week and mix through the bed.

 

[lachlanandmarcus]

I would agree, if you are deep littering wood pellets then just take out the poos and the wee only needs to come out (courtesy of OH )) when it is very dark and clumpy and comes to the top.

Amount wise assuming you have laid a big thick bed to start with, you are looking prob at 1 to 2 bags a week to put in (lets say 2 if you are a bit more fussy).

Poo wise you will find it v easy to remove them while standing up with a shavings fork, they are brilliant like that <wonders if OP will ever go back to her original bedding and bets she wont once she has tasted the easy life of wood pellets> ))

I should say that out of shavings straw and wood pellets, the wood pellets look the least comfy but my horses clearly find them actually the most comfortable bed out of the three.

 

[charmeroo]

Agree that wood pellets are great! The only thing I would say is that if your horse box walks (as mine does to a certain extent) then you cannot be too fussy about small pieces of poo. My boy is very wet but I take wet out twice a week, and put in more twice a week - you don't need to damp the pellets much as they will absorb moisture from poo and break down easily. Also - it is really easy to muck out - and very quick!

 

[Twigben]

Thanks for all your replies.

Quick Q - I have searched the old posts and some people have said that they mix the bed up with a new bag of dry pellets - is this necessary or do you just lay the new on top of the bed or in the hole where you have dug the wet out leaving the rest of the bed undistrubed? I dont think I would be able to manage to dig out the wet and then dig up the rest of the bed to mix it all in with new pellets - my surgeon would go mad!!!

How long would a deep litter bed stay down? weeks? months????

Also what tools do you reccommend? I have had a look and there is a v expensive but specifically made fork for pellets - are these any good or would you just use rubber gloves/shavings fork/plastic shovel? Some people have said that they seieve (sp?) the bed with a plastic seive from Tesco???

Thanks again

 

[lachlanandmarcus]

With an existing bed, as long as there is some older damper stuff underneath I just put the new pellets into the hole and sprinkle a bit of the dry top layer over it, I dont mix it or anything.

I find shavings fork the best, tho you def want one which has a grid pattern ie horizontal and vertical not just vertical tines.

And yes you will need to accept that tiny dry bits of poo WILL be a part of your life for a little while but we are talking tiny and your horse will NOT care ))) A plain plastic shovel would result in a lot of wastage and quite a bit of back strain as the bit you want falls off the edge or you try to flick off the ton of shavings that have joined it

There is no reason at all if the wet patches are dug out fairly regularly and the poo taken out daily why the bed could not stay down for the 6 weeks you are really compromised.

People who sieve their bed with an actual sieve probably need to get out more ))))

 

[Mince Pie]

I deep litter with pellets on the bottom and shavings on the top. I never lift the wet, once a month I take about 3 inches off the top and add a bag of (dry) pellets.

They get half a bale of shavings a week and one bag of pellets a month, so I spend about £30 on bedding for 2 horses.