Managing an Earth floor Stable?

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EimerR

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The stable i'm currently using has an earth floor and for the moment I cant afford a concrete one, I was wondering if anyone else had experience with them and how to I stop mine turning into a load of much, I currently have a foot of straw in it in the hope to absorb some pee, and to try and keep it from getting mucky.

My horse lives out most of the time and I only really use the stable when I'm tacking up, grooming, or need to keep my boy clean (he loves to roll), so keeping the floor right wont be mission impossible, it will just involve a bit of effort, and I was wondering does anyone have tips or experience when it come to this.

Thanks in advance for any replies :)
 
i kept mine on earth floors for many years and used woodshavings as semi deep litter. i made the bed originally about 9 inches deep , took droppings out daily and any wet patches once a week and topped up with half a bale a week.....mine were in at night all year round and i used to muck out to the floor about once a month. put the semi clean direct on to the floor and topped up with fresh shavings. i kept mine like this for about 30 years and the only problem was the floor inmy geldings box sunk a bit in the middle. when i moved to a proper yard with concrete floors i found the bed was much wetter as the wee doesnt go anywhere....hope this helps, sorry wouldnt recommend straw on earth floors.....
 
I think myself the straw isn't working too great, I must get shavings in instead. I used to be in a yard with concrete floors, but the wee used to sit in the stables alot, however in my new earth floor stable, this never seems to happen, which I like because it cant be healthy to be standing in wee in my opinion. My only problem is that there's one corner that my gelding tends to sink a bit in, but I think I'll get a mat for that bit and put some shavings instead of the straw, thanks for all the advice everyone :) much appreciated
 
I have earth floors at my own place now and also had them years ago at a rented place. I manage then by putting down a thick layer of woodchip or shavings then making a deep straw bed on top. If you dont want to use straw then use more shavings.
I am saving up for concrete paving flags . You get them from builders merchants. You lay them on top of a layer of sand about 1cm deep. They are excellent and IMO better than concrete. I had them years ago at the rented place I can highly recommend.
 
I used to keep stabled horses on earth floors - and deep litter with sawdust did them well. I was discussing with a friend who has hard core down and shavings on top of rubber matts (drains well) that instead of the rubber matting to maybe use wood pellets un soaked as a thick base layer and then shavings on top - the wood pellets would sort of sink in to the earth but soak up the wee (and anything else would just soak away).
 
I had mine on an earth floor and tried straw; it was awful! got all yucky and was very heavy to muck out.

I switched to wood chippings and things were much better! I found sawdust was too light, got damp very quickly and soaked up moisture too much; whereas the wood chips were much better. If you can get the coarser shavings they'd be OK too.
 
Be very careful if you put down rubber mats - they move around and undulate with the ground and then the edges flip up and you trip over - well I did anyway - frequently!!!!

Thank the lord my husband has put down a semi permanent base now.
 
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