Keeping a decent bed?

[Peterboy1]

Looking for a way to maintain a decent bed without going through a shtload of shavings and the costs that come with it. I have tried straw, she ate it and while I would like to be able to use straw, I dont really want to risk trying different methods incase she does eat it all again anyway (I know its only straw but I have heard of horses getting colic from eating a full straw bed).
I have also tried flax, and I had kind of a deep litter going on but one day, I accidentally disturbed the wet and the smell was worst than anything, and it had been down for less than a week (it also had a red tint to it?), so I discovered that for that reasons, i dont get on with flax, even though in every other aspect it was great.
I am now back to shavings. They look great at first but even after one night, the amount of wet visible on top was ridiculous, and so i keep the bed thick enough, but smaller than i would like as i am worried I would spend say £30-£40 and have it only last a week or so.
Any suggestions on cheap/cost effective bedding and how to muck it out for the bed results? Any suggestions really appreciated

 

[AmyMay]

Rubber matting and at least 6 bales of shavings to start the bed off.

 

[Kezzabell2]

I have you tried wood pellets that you soak? I put down about 6 bags on top of rubber matting and then add 2 extra bags a week and leave the wet down, it doesn't smell and makes a nice deep bed after a few weeks! I then use a bale of shavings to put a bank at the back of the stable. I wouldn't use any other bedding now!

Last winter i was putting down between 2 and 3 bales of shavings a week at almost £9 a bale! I now get the wood pellets for £4.30 a bag, and only use 2 a week, so much better

 

[shadeofshyness]

Have you tried straw shavings? We use them, called Bliss bedding, for my dirty pony. http://blissbedding.com/bliss-eucaluptus/

 

[Peterboy1]

Have you tried straw shavings? We use them, called Bliss bedding, for my dirty pony. http://blissbedding.com/bliss-eucaluptus/

How much per bale is that?

 

[be positive]

Have you tried straw shavings? We use them, called Bliss bedding, for my dirty pony. http://blissbedding.com/bliss-eucaluptus/

That is very similar to flax/ Aubiose which the OP did not get on with, mine are all on straw which is lovely and deep on mats, they nibble at it a bit but will not gorge as they have adlib haylage which is far tastier, if a horse really eats a straw bed I would question the quantity and quality of the hay being fed.
Yes it can give them colic but in my many years of keeping horses I have never had an issue with bedding on straw other than ones with allergies that get bedded on dust extracted bedding.

 

[Peterboy1]

That is very similar to flax/ Aubiose which the OP did not get on with, mine are all on straw which is lovely and deep on mats, they nibble at it a bit but will not gorge as they have adlib haylage which is far tastier, if a horse really eats a straw bed I would question the quantity and quality of the hay being fed.
Yes it can give them colic but in my many years of keeping horses I have never had an issue with bedding on straw other than ones with allergies that get bedded on dust extracted bedding.

The problem with my mare is she will go straight to her straw bed and eat loads or she will stand at her haynet, no matter how much I give and she will keep eating untill its all gone and then move onto the straw.

 

[be positive]

The problem with my mare is she will go straight to her straw bed and eat loads or she will stand at her haynet, no matter how much I give and she will keep eating untill its all gone and then move onto the straw.

Some are just plain greedy but most reach their limit and self regulate eventually, if mine are particularly greedy with their bed I mix up some slightly damp stuff into the fresh and is slows them down or puts them off, having several I couldn't justify the cost of shavings and hate seeing tiny beds on rubber so I deal with the straw one way or other.

 

[Bojingles]

I'd recommend rape straw. It has a bitter taste so they won't eat it, and it's much nicer to deal with than wheat straw. I deep litter and a large bale lasts me 6 weeks or so.

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

The trick with hemp/flax is to lay a deep enough bed that you only need to muck out (and smell it) every couple of months. The red is because it rots quicker than shavings, after a couple of months you get a rainbow of colours as you dig it out, and because it's so absorbant you're still only taking out around 4 or 5 barrows even though you've left it ages. The occasional stinky afternoon was worth it, I thought, for the 5min skip out which was all it took for the rest of the days.

 

[Wagtail]

I find chopped miscanthus (elephant grass) is the best bedding I've tried for looking good, not costing the earth and they won't eat it. The messiest and dirtiest two horses here use one bale every five days. The cleaner ones use one bale a week. My mare has a nice looking bed for the first time in the three years I've owned her. I tried lots of other bedding for her but they all ended up looking gross and were more expensive.

 

[Dave's Mam]

Rubber matting and at least 6 bales of shavings to start the bed off.

Crikey. Rubber mats & 2 bales to start mine off and an extra bale in a week. Mucked out daily, all wet removed.

 

[Peterboy1]

Crikey. Rubber mats & 2 bales to start mine off and an extra bale in a week. Mucked out daily, all wet removed.

Glad im not the only one thinking thats quite extreme

 

[Dave's Mam]

Glad im not the only one thinking thats quite extreme

My 12.2 would get lost in 6 bales. I'd just see his ears sticking up.

 

[Peterboy1]

My 12.2 would get lost in 6 bales. I'd just see his ears sticking up.

While it would be a little extreme, I dont think that you would see him complaining��

 

[DirectorFury]

Crikey. Rubber mats & 2 bales to start mine off and an extra bale in a week. Mucked out daily, all wet removed.

It depends on the size of the stable too I guess? Mine had 5-6 bales with no rubber mats and could've happily had more!

I love ProBed. I found it easiest to manage doing a full muck out every day - I went from using 2-4 bales of shavings a week to 1 - 1.5 bales of ProBed. I'd leave the bed up during the day so that the floor could dry as my stable at the time didn't drain at all; and if she was in I'd do a full muck out 2x day. It's still pretty quick though, 20 mins was my average speed as my horse liked to bury her poo!

 

[Peterboy1]

I would love to give a nice wall to wall bed, but at approx 14x13, so would take a hell of a lot of bedding. I just put a square bed against the two walls but then it all gets flung all over the place and And bed doesnt stay remotely whole ��

 

[Dave's Mam]

Mine is 12 x 12. I bed the back half, fairly deep, as the window is at the back & he likes to peruse the surroundings while he has a wee. Yes, it's usually a bit all over by morning, but a bale is lasting me a week now the bed is established.

I muck out with rubber gloves to remove poos, then tip all the dry against the wall with a fork, picking out escapee poo with glove, dig out wet with shovel & put dry back down. Takes a bit longer, but I really do go through his bed for little bits of poo.

 

[Holly Hocks]

Rubber matting and at least 6 bales of shavings to start the bed off.

Totally agree. I find that the thicker the bed to start with the easier it is to maintain.

 

[applecart14]

I like the Edwards Buildbase shavings called Metsa wood shavings. They work out at around £7 each for a pallet of 36 with free delivery 20 mile radius of store. They are 22.5KG bales and very tightly compressed with a total spread of 160litres.

With my horse I like to keep his banks high but give him less on the floor (about 3 inches) so that its easier to pull up the base and eradicate the urine every evening as he only has one muck out a day. Having moved yards during the winter he is now out for 5 out of 24 hours a day. He is on rubber matting.

With the previous yard in the winter he was only going out for 2 hours max and I found his stable was much dirtier. This new stable is bigger and he has a larger surface area to eat and drink away from his bed.

My stable is around 14.5 x 12.5ft. I think it must be a ******* size, as it tapers slightly down the width.

 

[evanowen]

ProBed makes my wife cough, I won't go near it because I can't breathe after using it. Trying to find something else but having tried everything over the last 20 years we are stumped.

 

[TotalMadgeness]

I use flax (on rubber mats) but remove the pee soaked section every day, then throw the bed up to let mats dry. Use about a bale a week per horse @£7 a bale.

 

[cowgirl16]

I find chopped miscanthus (elephant grass) is the best bedding I've tried for looking good, not costing the earth and they won't eat it. The messiest and dirtiest two horses here use one bale every five days. The cleaner ones use one bale a week. My mare has a nice looking bed for the first time in the three years I've owned her. I tried lots of other bedding for her but they all ended up looking gross and were more expensive.

Another vote for miscanthus. I used it on rubber mats. Much prefer it to shavings.