Moving to Hemp bedding - 1 week in update

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bedbug

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Arrived at the yard this morning to what looked like a swap in his stable that stank.

thought I was going to have to take the whole bed out but was very pleasently surprised.

Started to take out the wet squish smelly stuff out and found that the wet was just in a concentrated area in the middle of the bed so actually didn't need to take to much out. The reason it looked worse than it was is he mixes his bed up so some of the wet was on top of the nice dry clean stuff.

2 wheel barrows later and all the wet is gone plus the droppings from overnight and it didn't actually take to long to do.

I haven't been able to drop down to half a bale yet as I scraped some of the surface off the rest of the bed to fill the hole and then topped up the banks mainly with a new bale so I can pull that down into the main bed during the week.

to be honest I wuld be surprised if I managed to get away with less than 1 bale a week but it certainly saves time and he does have a much deeper, comfier, warmer looking bed than with shavings and if I ony get presented with a swamp once a week it is better than everyday that I was with shavings.

So I would recommend for horses that are mucky in thier stable, certainly seems to be working for mine and with the price being about the same if not cheaper than shavings I'm glad I made the change.

Oh and droppings do tend to stay close to the surface so are easier to skip out
 
We have all 5 of our horses on hemp bedding, and I think it is great. They all go out for about 6 hours a day, and we can usually just use one bale per week to top up. Reading your mail, I'd be careful not to take too much wet out - the idea, especially initially, is to get a good solid base, which will partly be made from the hamp having got wet - but you need to leave enough that it wont move around if they roll. I find it doesnt get smelly, they have never had any foot problems since they have been on it.

I think it dosnt work for people who want a snowy white looking bed, as you can get with shavings - but for the horse it is as good or better. And of course, it rots down a lot quicker than shavings, so our neighbours come and take it to use on their gardens, and we never have to pay to have our muck heap moved, which also saves money.

Good luck anyway, I think it is well worth persisting with - and far quicker to muck out than shavings...

To give you an idea of how much we take out, I would say it is about 2 barrows out per 4 horses daily - with an occasional spring clean of a bit more if they get too wet, specially the mares.
 
I already deep litter my shavings bed and only use a bale a week, sometimes she can go a bit longer, she is a very clean mare. I'm the envy of the whole yard, so all this considered would it be worth me making the switch to hemp ?
I need to research prices in my area, as I will only do it if the price of shavings go beyond that of the hemp. As I'm fairly happy with the shavings but as cost is going up and up I may be looking for alternatives soon, I will not pay more than about £6-7 for a bale of shavings and I'm paying £5.30 now, well it was last time I got some, they seem to go up every time I buy them.
 
Tanta - I had to take the wet out today as it squelched when you stood on it (he is very wet) but normally it is about half a barrow a day I take out which is mainly droppings, very little hemp as it just falls off the fork. I only took the patch out that was wet and left the rest in place as there was a lovely firm dry base in place.

Dols - £5.30 a bale, I'm moving to the Isle of Wight. The price here for shavings varies between £7.20 a bale and upwards and is starting to get into very short supply. Skipping out the droppings is much easier on hemp than shavings but if shavings are working for you and at that price I would stick with it.
 
How deep is your bed? Because it shouldn't squish after only one week if it's deep enough. Mine has been down 6 weeks and I haven't taken any wet out yet. I've just chucked a fresh bale down every 7-10 days. The top is dry, and the bed is like a firm springy mattress, I'd sleep on it myself lol!

Last year I took the wet out on a weekly basis but the bed was never as good as it is this year now I am fully committed to deep litter. It also cost me more as I got through more Aubiose than I am using this year.
 
Im switching to hemcore next week as we are moving yards.Its a bit expensive £9 bag .My two are really wet on shavings.Please reassure me Ive done the right thing lol
If you deep litter on this can you leave it long term.With the new yard its restricted turnout in the summer we have to bring them in for a few hours during the day . I just wondered if Im going to have to restart a new bed every season.
 
i moved my mare onto it on monday and so far so good it looks gross in the morning (as always) however after 10mins it looks like new again. i'm only getting half a wheelbarrow on hemp and on shavings i was taking a very full wheelbarrow. and i not throwing half the bed away as well.

so far i'm converted!!
 
Well I'm really pleased so far with hemp and like GwenLP it does look a mess first thing in the morning but it is all on the surface as they have moved around during the night they do tend to mix up the poo in the loose upper surface but is soo easy to get sorted.

Saves loads of time and I know horsey is not lieling in the wet as it is still lovely and dry on the surface.
 
Bed bug - where abouts are you moving too?, if you need any tips about where is cheapest etc give me a pm, I'll do my best to help you out!
PennyJ - I'm terribly sorry but that info is classified, as it doesn't appear that we have it as bad as on the mainland yet, but seeing as there is only one timber merchants producing them when it happens here it's going to be nasty I imagine.
 
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