Is shavings a warm bedding choice?

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la-di-dah

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Hi,

I have recently taken on a pony to loan at a yard where the owner doesn't like bedding that much. I love a think straw bed as it always seems so warm. However he never orders enough and I hate the week of stingy beds while we wait for more. (the yard is fantastic in all other ways so wouldn't move) I am thinking of switching to shavings, are they as warm as a think straw bed looks? They would be on concrete. I just would love to use as much as i want and the horse to be in optimum comfort. I just panic as shavings looks a bit cold compared to a thick banked straw bed. Especially on concrete. Any thoughts or advice would be great.

Thanks
 
Straw is really lovely as a bed - my much preferred choice.

Shavings if really deep are comfortable though, especially if you just remove only the droppings and allow the urine to soak through to the bottom.

Some yards won't use shavings as they can be hard to dispose of - mushroom farms will not use manure with shavings in.

You could have both shavings and straw.

Muck out and wash floor well, allow to dry. Then sprinkle a good layer of garden lime onto the floor - this helps neutralise the urine so that it doesn't smell.

Then put down a really thick layer of shavings - around 6" - 8" thick, then put a good layer of straw on top.

Remove only the droppings - don't dig into the base, allow it to pack down. The urine drains through the straw and is absorbed by the shavings, it then dries, as it is drying it generates heat which keeps the bed lovely and warm.

We used to do this every winter when I worked at Radnage and the beds stayed down the whole winter. Another yard I worked on never took up shavings beds at all but just topped up the shavings to keep the bed looking fresh.
 
I love the shavings as I can make it deep as I like and find it much easier to muck out. My horse looks lovely and warm in it, hasn't complained so far!!
 
I too prefer shavings over straw - especially on concrete. Straw can shift and get thin patches in it. A shavings bed is more stable. (No pun intended!) A shavings bed is certainly as warm - if not more so - than a straw bed. Its also quicker to muck out! If you have the option rubber matting will help - but a thick bed is fine.
 
I prefer to do a shavings bed but think straw is warmer and if a decent bed is put down I would say it would be more stable than shavings! I also read somewhere someone say that when the weather was really cold two or three years ago the water buckets froze in their shavings beds but not in their straw beds.
 
Shay said:
I too prefer shavings over straw - especially on concrete. Straw can shift and get thin patches in it. A shavings bed is more stable. (No pun intended!) A shavings bed is certainly as warm - if not more so - than a straw bed. Its also quicker to muck out! If you have the option rubber matting will help - but a thick bed is fine.
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A straw bed correctly put down will not shift if it is deep enough - but a shavings bed will - shavings are very unstable when they are new.

If deep enough and left alone and allowed to compact shavings don't shift.
 
I actually prefer shavings. Better for the horses breathing and yours!
As for cosiness a horse will lie down on rock hard ground in summer so id not worry too much about that, I think we like them to look cosy!
 
My pref is shavings, I find them, warmer, easier to muck out and cleaner......

However shavings are expensive and I get straw for free soooooo.... I have straw
 
I think straw is a warmer bed. But you could deep litter the shavings - this is where you leave the wet bedding in and pack at the bottom o the bed against the floor and then put clean shavings on top. This helps keep you horse warm and you can also do it with straw it is also less wasteful and will save money. Unfortunately you would have to dig the whole bed out come summertime when it is hot an it does smell. or these reasons I personally don't do it but I do have rubber matting and my horse maintains his body heat well. If i kept him on concrete flooring i would probably use a deep bed of straw - so that the horse did not injure himself when lying down or getting up :)
 
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