Mucking out or poo picking...?

I quite like both but find poo picking the most rewarding! I have poo picking OCD and do it all year round! In Summer, I do it daily and even count the poos😂 In Winter, I do it two to three times a week. I love seeing a clean paddock! I would never be on a yard now that didn't poo pick!
 
love poo picking, especially now I have my speediskip fork, so much easier, used to get a sore wrist. Head phones on and away I go.:)
 
Not the most straight forward question!
I prefer poo picking IF the ground is dry/frozen and it's not virtually impossible to push a barrow round.
When it's really muddy I'd rather muck out!

Nb- I'm so amazingly smug at myself right now for poo picking by head torch daily, usually given up by this point, well long ago!
 
I don't do either now. They live out and I have enough land (and a small tractor) to be able to manage it without any poo picking and its bliss. We also have very active birds and dung beetles (and a lot of rain), when I first got here I carried on poo picking as I'd always done it and it was a nightmare.

I do occasionally have to muck out the barn and poo pick the tiny field its in when we've had extreme weather, but that's not hard using a rubber bucket and hand rake.

When I had him on livery, it very much depended. Poo picking in nice weather in the summer with the dog for company is quite enjoyable. Poo picking in deep clay with a long trip to the muck heap, including getting past cows queuing for milking not so fun (last yard I was at). I also hated poo picking in warm weather in the dark by headtorch when all the bugs would fly at the torch.
 
I wish mine was just poo picking, I dont do my field - I know I should and I intend to get on top of it this spring. Although to be fair my horses spend most of their time on my hardcored area in front of my open stables where the hay feeder is which means that I am permanently not just poo picking but shoveling heaps of mud and hay they've trodden in. Then of course it freezes regularly so after a few days of frozen solid poo and mud, there's layers worth of it. Its so wet and heavy, I hate it! I am currently trying to catch up clearing the yard, it will take about another 20 heavy wheelbarrow loads. Would much rather muck out stables!
 
My 2 are out 24/7 so get 2 bug barrows every day! The field would be horrible if left and at least it has been drier this winter so,easier to keep on top of...fields are spotless apart from the massive pooh heap in each field!
 
Casey76 said:
I hate poo picking with a vengeance. Would rather muck out 10 stables than poo pick my field.

Unfortunately I've now lost my paid child labour so will need to start poo picking again (once the ground thaws enough to allow)
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Well I muck 9 stables out per day and I poo pick so when not wet I would rather poo pick as we have a tractor and trailer - pushing barrow round in wet mud and barrow clogging not much fun but better than leaving poo everywhere.

Poo picking over mucking out


as mucking out is not just that is wheeling barrow to muckhill once or twice - setting the bed fair - water- evening haynet + feed x 9 stables. Poopicking much lets hassle when using tractor but even with wheel barrow still less hassle and nice clean fields afterwards
 
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I looove poo picking in the summer! I have 3 out 24/7 as soon as it's warm enough and I poo pick twice a day so it's easy.

There's nothing quite the same as warm, happy ponies mooching around and snoozing near you when it's beautiful sunshine and 20 degrees at 7pm :)
 
I'd take poo picking any day! My last pony lived out 24/7 all year and I never found it a chore, in fact I find it quite therapeutic! Current one is at DIY livery in at night and I hate mucking out, it takes me so long.
 
SEL said:
I get poo picking elbow!
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i also generally prefer poop picking and do it morning and evening each day, but do seem to get poop pick elbow as well.. LOL.

pushing wheelbarrow back over to muck heap and unloading in winter i enjoy much less. but the actual poop picking with my three dogs pottering about is quite theraputic, even in the dark at -4 :-). only takes me 15 mins maximum AM and PM. but i only have one horse to do now !
 
Poo picking. I don't enjoy it, but it's the lesser of two evils. The thing I hate the most is having to wheel off and empty the wheelbarrow, and IME, you have to do that more often for mucking out (muck less dense than plain poo) than for poo picking. If I have to do more than one load, I'll bring my ipod and listen to a podcast or audiobook to take my mind off the task, otherwise I just end up running in circles in my mind thinking negative thoughts, largely about why other people don't do a larger share of the poo picking! Not productive.

I'll qualify that statement though: the ground has to be reasonable. If the field is a complete mudhole with poo disappearing in foot-deep hoof prints, that's it. No more poo picking.
 
I like mucking out when the horse is allow out during the day but I was at a yard with no turnout and having to muck out when they are in there all the time on Straw made me loathe it. I have moved to a field and don't poo pick it yet as bought a wee harrow to attach to the car and harrow every few weeks. But once I build my summer paddocks I will be back to poo picking for 4 (hopefully 3 if I sell the warmblood).
 
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