Mucking out - what do you use?

[Expo]

I bed my horse on shavings on top of rubber and he's just started to come in overnight now the clocks have changed. He can be a messy boy, unfortunately, but my muck out routine involves using a shavings fork and brush which seem to do the job. I've noticed on the yard some people use snow shovels, garden rakes of various types and on a previous yard i even knew a woman who sieved her bedding through one of those large, circular garden type soil sieves to make sure every tiny spec of poo was removed (used to take her hours!). Am i missing a trick here or should I go out and buy more equipment? Any mucking out secret weapons out there I should be getting?

PS: Long time lurker deciding to join in at last, so please be kind. Thanks.

 

[LeannePip]

I use a future fork (plastic shavings fork), a corn broom and poop scoop shovel to pick up the last bits when sweeping

If im clearing out the entire bed, i use a snowshovel but cant imagine what use it would be if you were trying to save any bedding!

 

[GirlFriday]

Depending on if you have the option to have horse out/bed up for a while I'd add a bucket to wash over/under the rubber. If you don't have auto drinkers then no more equipment required just use the old drinking water.

I'd do use a shovel to get the last bits of any shavings up from anywhere we don't want them if on a very spick and span type yard.

 

[milliepops]

I have mine on pellet beds on EVA matting and just use a shavings fork, normal broom and shovel.... i do like having a speedskip around for just quickly skipping out as it saves manouvering around the horse with a wheelbarrow and fork

Daily muck outs are done to the standard of 'good enough'. I'm always short of time and prefer to spend it riding.

 

[Zipzop]

One lady on my yard mucks out her shavings bed in the weirdest way I've ever seen!
She puts a dust mask on and a hat and uses one of those electric leaf blowers! She skips,off the top quickly first then blows all the bedding up to the sides leaving only the wet patch to be be removed and any leftovers bits of poo which roll down back to the floor.
It's amazingly quick and effective!

 

[Pocketr@cket]

On a day when I have time I take the poo off the top, scrape back the clean shavings and pile it at the sides then get out the wet and sweep away any little bits of wet shavings. Then leave the bed up to dry the floor.

On a short timed day I take the poo out and sweep back shavings.

I use a metal shavings fork, gorilla broom and a dustpan and brush. I would like to try one of the noble outfitters shavings forks but mines not broken ...

 

[Pinkvboots]

On the shavings bed I use a shavings fork or bucket and gloves.

 

[SuperH]

I keep things simple with a shovel and wheelbarrow. Then a brush to keep it neat every now and then, I don't brush the floor every day. I'm on straw though so not really comparable to shavings other than if it works for you then don't feel you need extra tools to do the same job! I do have a fork but only use it when the whole bed is cleared out (once a year) to get the stubborn bits from the corners.

 

[vickie123]

My horses always wee in the same place, I use my snow shovel to scrape off the top dry bit of shavings to get to the wet and one or two snow shovels gets the lot. I then use it to bank the bed and use a separate snow shovel to bank the muck heap. With 4 horses to muck out before work, it's the best bit of yard equipment I own for saving time. For poo I use a fork and rubber gloves. I'm lucky that all apart from 1 are very clean. Sometimes I could cry at the state of my grey mare's stable in the morning.

 

[Casey76]

I'm on straw/concrete, no drainage. I use a shavings fork to take out the muck/wet and I sweep the floor every day. If I have time I'll leave the bed up all day to dry, if not I'll put the bed down straight away.

 

[booandellie]

I use a pair of gloves to pick out the poo and i dig the wet out by hand too! i use a sweeping brush and i only use the shavings fork to bash the bed down so it is firm. I use a dustpan and brush to get all the tiny bits i've thrown in the corner at the end. I am a self confessed fanny over my beds though, i have tried not to be but can't help it.

 

[FDLady]

My mares on rubber matting and shavings too. She's a dirty girl who likes to bury everything and then box walk when getting impatient for rug changes/tacking up of a morning. I use a plastic shavings fork (clearly become somewhat lazy as borrowed a friends heavy duty metal one the other day and had arm ache for the rest of the day), standard cheapo kitchen broom and small shovel. If im taking the whole bed up like i do at the end of winter when i clean the matting then i use a snow shovel. I like a clean level bed but i like to be realistic at the same time; its not going to last so why make it 100% spotless when im in a rush? The odd bit of hair/stray poo isnt going to kill her XD

My old boy was VERY clean on deep litter though. I just used a bucket and pair of gloves - quickest muck out i ever did. Whole yard was jealous XD

 

[Cobbytype]

On my old cob's shavings bed on rubber matting I used a standard bucket and garden trowel to skip out the droppings and a metal shavings fork to slice away the wet patches. I have a Smart Cart which was emptied every 2 - 3 days (it's a 400m walk to the muck heap!). To fluff the bed up and distribute new shavings I preferred using a standard bedding/straw fork as I found the shavings fork a bit cumbersome. Lastly I used a wide yard brush to sweep back the shavings to leave a bare area of rubber matting about a metre or so deep at the front.

 

[9tails]

I bed my horse on shavings on top of rubber and he's just started to come in overnight now the clocks have changed. He can be a messy boy, unfortunately, but my muck out routine involves using a shavings fork and brush which seem to do the job. I've noticed on the yard some people use snow shovels, garden rakes of various types and on a previous yard i even knew a woman who sieved her bedding through one of those large, circular garden type soil sieves to make sure every tiny spec of poo was removed (used to take her hours!). Am i missing a trick here or should I go out and buy more equipment? Any mucking out secret weapons out there I should be getting?

PS: Long time lurker deciding to join in at last, so please be kind. Thanks.

Do I know you? I sieve my bedding through a circular soil sieve. And I use a garden rake. These tools are essential for a clean well maintained wood pellet bed IMO.

 

[Damnation]

One lady on my yard mucks out her shavings bed in the weirdest way I've ever seen!
She puts a dust mask on and a hat and uses one of those electric leaf blowers! She skips,off the top quickly first then blows all the bedding up to the sides leaving only the wet patch to be be removed and any leftovers bits of poo which roll down back to the floor.
It's amazingly quick and effective!

We have a leafblower at my yard!!! *Mind.. BLOWN!*

I use a shavings fork and broom.

Monday to Friday I muck out in the morning before work. She is on shavings/sawdust type stuff on concrete and it doesn't really drain anywhere, AND she is RANCID. I use a shavings fork and broom. Skip what poo I can find off the top, then chuck the bed up, take the wet out and the rest of the poo falls down the banks (she hides it). I then sweep out the wet middle that I couldn't get up with my fork and let the bed air for the day. When I drag the bed down at night I then sift the rest of the poo into a skip bucket in the corner that I empty in the morning into my wheelbarrow.

Saturday and Sunday she is put out for me so I go up in the evening and I can take my time, put in fresh bedding and try to make some semblance of the place!

I am also in the camp of, in the morning before work, it's "good enough"!

 

[Lexi_]

They get skipped out daily and the wet taken out once a week, so we manage nicely with a shavings fork and corn broom. If skipping out straight into the wheelie, no shovel needed. If not, or when doing the wet, we use a snow shovel - much better than a piddly little shovel!

Also, I LOVE the corn broom. It's my favourite thing.

 

[HashRouge]

No mucking out atm as my two are retired and live out, but when I was working as a groom I used a Future Fork and a witch's broom, for straw and shavings. The Future Forks are actually shavings forks but they are great for doing a good, quick job of a straw stable too.

 

[Kezzabell2]

I have wood pellets bed on top of rubber and I literally just use a shavings fork!

when the wet bits need to come out I might use a shovel to get them out if the shavings fork doesn't get it all.

 

[Queenbee]

Im a shavings on mats girl here - I use a decent shavings fork for throwing up and putting down clean bedding, a snow shovel for lifting the wet of the mats (so much easier) and the shires muck gloves for lifting out the poo... standard brush for sweeping although I do keep meaning to get a beezum broom as these are great for sweeping.

If I am using pellets I have an extendable/collapsable metal rake for raking out any hay from the bed

 

[Auslander]

I really want to use my leaf blower to muck out tomorrow now! I think the resident box-rester may have a fit if I do though!

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

Marigolds, snow shovel and brush for daily. Deep litter bed on rubber mats.

I lift the poo with the marigolds and chuck it to the corner of the stable then once all the pop is out I tidy the bed with the shovel then I pick up the poo and sweep up. Takes me 15 mins daily

 

[JennBags]

One lady on my yard mucks out her shavings bed in the weirdest way I've ever seen!
She puts a dust mask on and a hat and uses one of those electric leaf blowers! She skips,off the top quickly first then blows all the bedding up to the sides leaving only the wet patch to be be removed and any leftovers bits of poo which roll down back to the floor.
It's amazingly quick and effective!

Oh my god, I LOVE this idea!

 

[FabioandFreddy]

Recently switched from Shavings to Aubiouse (have rubber matting too). OMG - love the Aubiose. Far more absorbent than shavings and having to take far less out. Really easy to muck out too and sweeps together much better. It is more expensive per bale but works out more cost effective as less waste.

 

[Christmas Crumpet]

I too am loving the leaf blower idea. I used ours this morning to 'sweep" the yard. What a totally brilliant idea - no more waste of clean bedding!!!

 

[Starzaan]

I use a plastic shavings fork (nice and long), a short t-handled pitch fork and a wide gorilla broom on every box I do. My own is on a big shavings bed with thick Equimat rubber matting, and I use the same combination of tools for all the boxes on the yard, straw, shavings or paper.
When I do lates I just stick gloves on and take a skip bucket in and pick out the droppings.
For mucking out I throw all the clean bedding up to the sides, making a pile of wet and droppings in the middle. Then fork this into my barrow (pitch fork for straw then shavings fork for the last stubborn bits, or all shavings fork on a shavings bed). Sweep out the middle, then use the shavings fork to build nice big banks in a straw bed, then new straw goes in the middle. In shavings or paper beds I pull all the banks down whenever I add bedding, and mix it all together, then build my bed with it all when it's been mixed.

 

[Daisy99]

Don't knock the garden sieve idea! Mines on wood pellets and mostly mucked out by hand (rubber gloves!) and small shovel but do have a garden sieve too. It comes in very handy for getting hay out of bed.

 

[JillA]

I use an Equine Speedskip followed by a shavings fork on chopped rape straw - the Speedskip doubles for poo picking the fields in summer. I was given a couple when I rehomed a couple of ponies, and until then I thought they were far too expensive. Wouldn't be without them now - they are as different as they can be to the normal poo pickers.

 

[C1airey]

Aubiose on top of rubber mats. I use a shavings fork for the obvious piles, then don the gloves and go nugget-hunting. Sweep it all back and we're done. It doesn't take long at all, but now I'm hankering after a leaf blower...

 

[Gift Horse]

Fynalite shavings fork and a wheelbarrow plus a brush and shovel for keeping the yard clean.

 

[Toraylac]

Do I know you? I sieve my bedding through a circular soil sieve. And I use a garden rake. These tools are essential for a clean well maintained wood pellet bed IMO.

Confession - I used to do this as well years ago. Far too lazy now!