Making straw bedding more horse-friendly

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Mossi

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Has anyone got any tips for extracting dust and mites and other unsavouries from straw before using it as bedding?

I'm on a yard that only allows bales of straw for bedding that we have to buy from the yard, but given the choice I wouldn't use it. We are not given the option of buying bags of dust extracted chopped straw either. :(

I am picturing myself with my cordless hand held vac sucking dust out of straw placed in a fine net bag!

Any tips would be appreciated thanks :)
 
The best advice I can give is, unless your horse is actually allergic or COPD, not to fret about it. The majority of horses are fine on straw, it's natural, biodegradable, a handy snack if they're feeling peckish, and traditional :-)
 
I agree with above, most straw is pretty dust free as corn has to be cut at a very specific moisture content so it's nice and dry. Not sure where straw would get mites from??

If you're really concerned maybe invest in some rubber mats and use very little of it? I can't imagine any way to clean it and if you can't buy anything in you've not much choice.
 
Thanks. I suppose shaking it first outside might help. The mites in straw (and hay) are storage mites. I was told this by an allergy specialist (Consultant Immunologist), and they can cause allergic/respiratory problems in a similar way to house dust mites. COPD and allergies can develop with prolonged exposure in susceptible individuals. I'd really love to keep my horse out 24/7, but don't have the choice currently. I'll get some matting though, as I think those will cut down on straw usage.
 
Don't assume that your horse will have an allergy problem, I had to move to straw after a wood allergy meant mine can't be on shavings (or any other wood based bedding. )

He is a very sensitive individual prone to allergies but is fine with straw.
 
Hope your horse is ok now Criso, fingers crossed mine will be ok on straw then. Thanks to you all for your responses.
 
Horses have been bedded on straw for donkeys years without problem. Don't fret about a problem that doesn't exist. If your horse DOES start coughing, then you have fair grounds to swap him onto something less dusty but as long as you shake up the straw well, and well in advance of him entering the stable, to let any dust settle, plus sweep any dust out of the stable rather thain into the bed, you shouldn't have any issues. There is far great a risk from the amonia that your horse will be exposed to if you lay a shallow bed than if you lay a nice deep straw bed that you muck out meticulously on a daily basis.

Mites happen. They can be treated.
 
Mossi said:
Hope your horse is ok now Criso,
Click to expand...

He's fine, once we removed shavings as the main trigger he stopped coming out in lumps.

I wouldn't go down the route of using a minimal bed with straw and mats though, it doesn't absorb like shavings and works best with a deep enough bed that the wee can drain through leaving them standing on dry on top.
 
What you can do though is not fill the bed, I use deep straw on only about 1/3 of the stable - big enough to lie on and wee on but the rest is bare mats - it works really well as mucking out is still quick and economical. I have big stables so if they were all covered in straw it would take hours to go through it all to get it really clean!
I put the bed away from the hay so the horses aren't standing on bedding while eating which helps keep feet thrush free
 
I agree with the others. I always kept my horse on shavings having had a copd horse before. When my old horse unexpectedly returned I just couldn't afford enough shavings to keep both properly clean and comfy so I swapped to straw and both are absolutely fine. The only thing I'm not so keen on is it takes me longer to muck out as I'm a bit cack handed about it!

There was a feature about choosing the right type of bedding for your on the main H&H website recently - http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/horse-bedding
 
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