ElliePippa
Well-Known Member
As Title, any tips etc?
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How Do You Manage Your Deep Litter Beds?
- Thread starter ElliePippa
- Start date
Paint it Lucky
Well-Known Member
The yard I work at does deep litter. The way we muck out is to take out the poo then take out swome of the wet (only digging out a little bit of the bed) then covering this up with old shavings then adding some new shavings on top. Most of the horses wee in the same places so it is fairly quick and easy to do. The places they don't wee basically don't get touched other than to be leveled so the bed stays quite firm and compacted. All stables get skipped out at least twice a day as well.
Box_Of_Frogs
Well-Known Member
It takes a few weeks to get going properly. Shavings down, good and deep, bank of clean shavings at the back, for pulling down to use rather than as anti-cast. Each day, only take out the poo and any trampled in hay/lage (that's important). Tidy it all up, bang it down flat all over with the back of your shavings fork and make a crisp edge at the front by shoving the broom hard into the edge. My bed is a good 4 inches deep (and has the Yard award for Best Bed!).
After it's settled a bit you need to adapt your technique by removing poo and hay/lage as before. Remove any obviously soppping wet patches (I don't normally have any). Then make the bed up to the same level by pulling a little new shavings down from the back bank and spreading thinly across the surface. When a new bale needs to go in (I use about 1 every 6 days in the winter), it goes in as the bank at the back.
I LURVE my bed - get quite upset that Sunny has to come in and spoil it! Sunny has rubber mats at the front third of his stable, deep litter shavings at the back two thirds. And here's the best thing: My bed has been down for over 2 years now and I've NEVER had to do anything more than as above to it - and it's still as fragrant and comfy (Sunny snores in it quite happily) as the day it went down. My YO's beds have been down even longer - she taught me everything I know about deep litter beds!
After it's settled a bit you need to adapt your technique by removing poo and hay/lage as before. Remove any obviously soppping wet patches (I don't normally have any). Then make the bed up to the same level by pulling a little new shavings down from the back bank and spreading thinly across the surface. When a new bale needs to go in (I use about 1 every 6 days in the winter), it goes in as the bank at the back.
I LURVE my bed - get quite upset that Sunny has to come in and spoil it! Sunny has rubber mats at the front third of his stable, deep litter shavings at the back two thirds. And here's the best thing: My bed has been down for over 2 years now and I've NEVER had to do anything more than as above to it - and it's still as fragrant and comfy (Sunny snores in it quite happily) as the day it went down. My YO's beds have been down even longer - she taught me everything I know about deep litter beds!
the watcher
Well-Known Member
what she said!
Last yard and this yard, everything has been deep littered - on my current yard they mostly deep litter on straw - it still works!
I take out droppings every day, wet patches every few days - they key is to keep the bed really really deep.
Last yard and this yard, everything has been deep littered - on my current yard they mostly deep litter on straw - it still works!
I take out droppings every day, wet patches every few days - they key is to keep the bed really really deep.