How much time for poo picking?

[Connie7373]

Hello all,

How much time would /does it take per day or per week to poo pick 6 acres of paddock with 4 horses on? Our 24/7. To keep it relatively clear.

I have my thoughts but my groom is saying different so interested to know what time allocated should be..

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

We normally have 8 on 4 acres, (4 acres resting)but they are not 24 7. at the moment we have 4 on summer nights out and the other 4 in at night, the over night takes me about 25 - 30 mins roughly and the day time takes about 15- 20 as a livery helps me.
so at a guess I would say 45-- hr if you do it once, but that depends if you have tractor and trailer or wheelbarrow.

 

[pistolpete]

I would say about an hour depending on gradient size of horses and how much they’re eating.

 

[ihatework]

Depends on the equipment they have to do the job and how far they have to shuttle the shite!
I’d expect to be paying at least an hour/day for someone to even consider it.

 

[windand rain]

Depends on how many barrow full you are getting off. 5x13.2 native ponies on short grass. We get 2 level barrows it takes 20 minutes to clean 3 acres the other field is resting for winter but is brown and dead

 

[Lucky Snowball]

I’d say 30 mins per day with a barrow. Dividing into small paddocks helps. Easier on short grass and have the muck heap at bottom of any slope.

 

[fidleyspromise]

Relatively flat 4 acre field with 4 took about 20-30 mins per day.
I have 2 on 3 acres. A fair hill to go up and it takes 15-20 mins.

I'd imagine less than an hour for 4 on 6 acres if short grass
Longer grass it takes a lot more time to find all poohs.

 

[Red-1]

I do 30 minutes a day for 2 horses on 2 acres, but they are not out 24/7. I am including time to walk the paddock, check fencing, scrub water and refill and assemble kit, empty barrow and clean the grass almost forensically.

I can see a larger acreage/more horses taking more time. I would allow an hour a day for a similar service, as the tools would already be assembled and hose etc connected.

 

[MuffettMischief]

Depends on how quickly they work but in a 6 acre field, about an hour. Takes time to trawl a field that size to find it especially if grass is long. I recently hired someone on an hourly rate to poo pick on a weekend for me. 8 horse in individual fields, takes me an hour/hour and a half if all day and overnight to do. She managed to string out 6 hours ? hourly rate is a dangerous one for poo picking as people take the mick!

 

[maya2008]

4 large ponies takes me 30mins a day.

 

[scats]

I have 2 on 3 acres. Takes about 10 minutes to do a nights worth.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

With some hired help the time taken to do jobs can very much depend on whether they pop their phone away or not.....

 

[Arzada]

Hello all,

How much time would /does it take per day or per week to poo pick 6 acres of paddock with 4 horses on? Our 24/7. To keep it relatively clear.

How long does it take you?

 

[GinaGeo]

My four go out overnight only. It’s about two barrows a night.

The day adds approximately another barrow.

One field I do daily with wheelbarrows takes about 30mins. But the muck heap is in the field at the bottom of the hill. So I never have to push a full barrow up hill.

The other field requires every barrow to be pushed the full length of the hill. I do that one weekly with a Gator. It’s always at least two full gator loads. And takes two of us as least 90 minutes.

 

[AmyMay]

6 acres? Ages.

 

[chaps89]

6 acres and 4 horses out 24/7 is not going to be quick!
I’m currently taking a very heaped barrow (should really be 1.5 barrows) for 2 ponies on an acre for 24 hours. It’s on a hill and is a long narrow field that they poo on all parts of and it takes a good 20/25 minutes. And that’s with the muck heap at the bottom of the field.
To fully walk around 6 acres I’d say at least an hour to an hour and a half daily? It’s the time trekking round it and back and forwards to the muck heap as it’s likely to be more than one barrow that will add up.

 

[rabatsa]

It took me about 40 minutes to do 6 acres with 8 ponies and a further 20 minutes to fetch, empty and put away the quad and trailer as they did not live close to the field. This was short grass. You can easily double the time for long grass.

 

[Peglo]

I do 4 ponies in 15-20 minutes with another person helping. Out 24/7. Because they poop in the same places we know where to look.

 

[Tiddlypom]

I'd allow a good hour a day to do it properly on 6 acres, and that is with easy access to the muck heap and short grass. It also depends a lot on whether the birds scatter the muck about - intact piles are much quicker to collect. If it's only done once a week it takes forever, as the muck gets trodden in and scattered even more, daily is definitely best.

That is working at a decent steady speed without expecting the poo picker to run round at a gallop, and includes checking all the fencing etc while at it, like I do.

Hilly lumpy field with long grass would take longer.

 

[irishdraft]

At least an hour to hour & half. Very much depends on size of horse, terrain, how far to empty barrow. I have horses out over winter on a 6 acre bank it takes much longer than summer fields which are about 4 acres and flat. Each of my horses does a full barrow every 24/7 so it's quite a bit of walking.

 

[Connie7373]

How long does it take you?

I have a full-time groom so I don’t do it. They are complaining they don’t have enough time and want a vacum hence my question.

 

[Connie7373]

Thanks all,

I was thinking an hour possibly an hour and a half so seems about right.

Really appreciate all the replies!

 

[Tiddlypom]

Rather than complaining, are they not just informing their employer that they do not have enough paid time to do the allocated task?

You could try doing the poo picking for a day or two and see how long it takes for yourself . Then you can weigh up the cost/time benefit of getting a poo vacuum.

 

[TheMule]

I’d have thought the easiest answer to your question is to go out there and do it yourself?

 

[Connie7373]

Yes. I don’t live here full time but here for 5 weeks now and will give it a go. Busy enough when here hence employing someone but...will see!

 

[AmyMay]

Yes. I don’t live here full time but here for 5 weeks now and will give it a go. Busy enough when here hence employing someone but...will see!

Sometimes you just have to trust what your employees are telling you ?

 

[Connie7373]

I’d have thought the easiest answer to your question is to go out there and do it yourself?

Id say the easiest answer was to ask here.

I don’t live here full time hence why I have a full time live in groom.

I have arrived back to the fields being a right mess.

I’m trying to time manage for my groom hence the question.

Busy enough. I don’t employ someone to sit and watch me poo pick.

 

[Connie7373]

Sometimes you just have to trust what your employees are telling you ?

I’m happy to allocate to them an hour and a half a day to keep on top of it.

I’ve read that a vacum is a two person job anyway....

 

[AmyMay]

What are the daily tasks that she has to do? Is she the sole employee for the horses?

So much of what can reasonably be achieved by one person is determined by how much they actually have to do in however many hours.

You can get vacuums that are operated by one person.

 

[windand rain]

Personally I bet it takes a lot longer to use a vacuum than to use a Barrow and poo picker. For that few horses it shouldn't take very long at all. Now the field is a mess from not being done it will take a very long time to clean it. 20 minutes twice a day if going twice a day would keep it immaculate if done daily