How long to muck out a bed?

[lulu111]

strange question i know , horses are bedded on shavings , what do you think a reasonable amount of time is to do

a daily muck out in 12 by 12 boxes with manure heap 50 yards away from the stable ??

 

[star]

used to have to muck out, bed down, replace water in 10mins at the event yard. nowadays i have no urge to bust a gut like that and would happily take 20mins.

 

[lulu111]

THATS how i was taught as well ,used to have to do 15 boxes before 8.30 and i didnt mind .I allow half hour and i think im being fair!!!!

 

[Chex]

Depends on how clean the horse is. My bed takes about 3 or 4 minutes, but my horse doesn't pee in his bed and there's only ever 2 or 3 piles of poo. Which is nice

 

[H's mum]

Half an hour?

I can do all three of mine in that time - including feeding and netting and turning them out - ok they're on megazorb which is really quick to muck out - but still, that's a very generous amount of time!

Kate x

 

[lulu111]

thanks i feel much better !!!!!!!!!!

 

[RuthnMeg]

At the mo I've got 5 to muck out, hay and water and then sweep the yard, tidy muck heap and tidy the hay. (I also have to put un-used hay into bags). For all this I allow 2 hours, which can also include 1 cup of tea and turn out one or untack and rug up one!

 

[ofcourseyoucan]

how long is a piece of string? depends how fussy you are and how dirty the horse is and what you bedded down on!!!!!!!!!!!!! do you leave beds up or down? i do a box in around 10 mins (rubber mats and full, banked beds, mucked out properly to the floor every day and put back again, auto water checked and cleaned and haynet in and swept back. another 2 mins to take wheelbarrow to trailer tip and stack!

 

[nicky_jakey]

About 15 mins - but I guess it depends whether rubber mats / deep litter / full muck out etc??

 

[charlimouse]

It normally takes me about 2 hours to fully muck out 5 large stables (straw, no rubber matting), clean and fill up water buckets for them all, fill and tie up haynets, clean feed buckets and utensils, and sweep the yard. I've decided gone are my days of busting a gut at get all 15 stables mucked out by 8am (and all horses groomed by 9am)!!!!!!!!!

 

[rouxinol]

Morning muck out!!! I have 15 boxes to do all with rubber matting and with wood pellets. Can do the whole lot in 3 hours that includes water and hay, and putting on / off walker - muck heap and walker all very close. And that's just getting on with the job but not breaking my neck for it ! Too old for that now - !!

My students I always allow them 15-20mins per stable depends on the horse and if it's the messy one or clean one, trick is to be organised and never comeback from somewhere empty handed !

 

[GinaB]

I take about 15-20 mins in one bed and around 10-15 mins in the other. I can do it quicker if I hurry but I like to take my time.

 

[Prince33Sp4rkle]

so much depends...

mine are on mats and decent shavings beds on top.

takes me 15 mins to do either of the big horses, or 3/4 mins to do the shetland, but is SO tidy and they are SO minging.

my current schooling livery spent her first night at mine yesterday.....this morning her stable was immaculate, all poos in a pile near the door and wees in same corner, took me less than 5 mins to do, why cant they all be like that?!

 

[irishdraft]

I have a DIY who takes 2 hrs to muck out one 14hh on mats plus soak 3 slices of hay, never sweeps yard and muck trailer is 50 yrds away, is this a record

 

[Faithkat]

Mine has a full, deep straw bed and it takes me about 45 minutes to do everything but I muck out "properly". My poo picking lady mucks out for me twice a week and I have discovered how she does it in 15 minutes . . . . . leave most of the wet!
If someone can really muck out an entire deep straw bed back to the floor and then set everything up right again (inc emptying barrows, filling haynets and doing water) in 15 minutes, I'd like to watch them . . . .

 

[Theresa_F]

In the week when I skip out poos, remove hay from bed and sweep the front of the stable - they are on mats with pellets, then do waters and go to the muck heap - 50 yards away, it takes 5 - 10 minutes max each one, but my horses do a barrow of poo each and are very dirty. Filling the hay bar and making feeds - pm and am and filling balls for next day is another 5 minutes each.

At the weekends, I do as above, plus take out all the wet, soak a couple of bags of pellets each horse and then lay the bed again. This is 15 - 20 minutes per horse as I am taking out 2 - 3 barrows each and then going to get the bedding from the storage area.

I could do it faster, but I have no need to and pottering around is my way of relaxing.

 

[Twizzel]

Full muck out on straw with no rubber mats probably 20 mins including haynets, skip out in the evening 5-10 mins

Currently have 5 1/2 in (the 1/2 is the foal hehe), I normally do evenings which takes me about 1 1/2 hrs but that also includes hay + feed for the 4 out 24/7 too. In the mornings I allow 2 hrs to fully muck out.

 

[KatB]

I can do a full straw muck out and water buckets, hay etc in 15mins

It is tight but do-able!!

At normal speed though it takes me about 25mins.

 

[251libby]

About half an hour, I am picky and do take my time though....I find it quite theriputic

Although when working at a yard I could do 6 in an hour

 

[star]

[ QUOTE ]
I can do a full straw muck out and water buckets, hay etc in 15mins

It is tight but do-able!!

At normal speed though it takes me about 25mins.

[/ QUOTE ]

me too. i'd rather not bust a gut though and normally would take half hour to do that. if i'm in a mega rush i can do it though and that is a proper muck out with all poo and wet straw out.

 

[glenruby]

I have done full muckout on straw, turn up the bed and re-bed down, waters changed etc in less than 15minutes- about 10mins if horse is out(horses didnt get hay at that hour of the morning). That was when working on a yearling farm. First barn (30 horses) had to be mucked out by 7am - 4-5 of us mucking out, also had to put first 6 horses on the walker and boot them up in that time and load up trailer with dirty bedding. Never was i so fit in my life! It can be done (goes even faster if you are still drunk/hungoer) however i now have no wish to replicate that sort of speed trial. Would spend about 20 mins if/when I have one to do, closer to 15mins each when i had two(prefer to spend more time in bed!) - then again I like to get things done quikly and dont delay if im busy. If Ive nothing much else to do for the day then how long it takes me really doesnt bother me that much.
Thankfully, i have nothing to muck out these days - long may it last!

 

[embonaught]

I think we need photos for this thread. I take quite a long time, but then I'm very anal about my stables. My house is a pit but my stables are immaculate.

 

[Vicki1986]

2 pellet beds, one obsessively tidy pony & one who is quite messy, if im getting a shift on i can get them both mucked, watered, and hayed in 30 mins. but thats with both on deep litter so only poo picking, levelling and sweeping beds over.

 

[Hels_Bells]

It takes me 1 hour every morning to do feed, un rug re-rug/turn out, muck out, nets, water, clean buckets for two and I'm sure this is far too much time!! But they are both on straw and both such messy devils!!

 

[Coffee_Bean]

At the weekend, took me 4 hours to:
Full muck out, straw beds x 2
Full muck out flax x 1
Skip out flax x 2
Full muck out shavings and flax x 5

Clean 35 odd buckets
Soak 15 odd haynets, hang about 7
Fill 7 waters
Sweep yard

.... straws take me longest, some very dirty horses, some very neat!

 

[coen]

I have rubber mats with straw and dirty horse who walks all the poo in. Mats have made a huge difference as has the big super tipper wheel barrow.
I would say 15 mins to muck out and lay bed.
It used to take me much, much longer without the mats and big wheelbarrow.

 

[KAZJAZ]

on average it takes me 50mins every morning to:

turn on yard lights lights, check he's ok.
give him his breakfast, whilst he eating this i fill his haynet and clean/fill his water buckets.
I then change his rugs and put him out to field with leaf of hay under my arm!
Once he's out i lift whole bed leaving it up to air and take wheel barrow to muck heap...

I do like to spend time though giving him slices of apple/carrot in field and making sure he is settled...

 

[khemoy]

I've got 5 boxes, 3 are 14 X14, 1 is 12 X 12, and the last 12X14. The 3 horses in the 14 X14's are all twisters, but they get the big boxes since they lay down like crazy. I'm talking they walk around, manage to pee while walking, poop while walking and then turn around 300 times and lay down like dogs, the other 2 are fairly tidy. I muck out all 5 stalls, scrap the hay, un-plug and empty each horse's heated buckets, blanket each, put hay in the turn outs, and I'm out of there, an HOUR tops!!!!!!

TIPS for speedy cleaning.
1.) if it's cold, ditch the jacket.... you tend to practically run with water buckets then!
2.) if it's hot, wear long sleeves..... you hurry up quick or you sweat to death before you make it back in the house to blistfully cool rooms.....
3.) pay more $$$ per hour, but limit the hours in which it HAS to be done. ie. if you pay $8/hr... pay $10, but then they have to get it done in 2 hours instead of chilling out and taking their time in 3 hrs. so $20/2 hrs, instead of $24/3 hours.