Paper or cardboard bedding

WelshD

WelshD

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Does anyone use this?

I would appreciate any comments on the various types and management please

Pony currently on shavings.

Also considering Aubiose
 
Aubiose is great if you have well ventilated stables, but its a bit dusty if not!
Haven't used paper etc but currently on wood pellets and wouldn't change to anything else :)
 
I use cardboard. I find with my horse it works best having mats with about a third of the stable with bedding. It's harder to sift through to get bits so I just clear out all the mucky stuff & then pull the clean stuff into the middle before I top up. I can imagine if you used it over the whole stable you could waste a lot. Does need to be deep enough or the wee runs through.
 
Mine are normally on straw, but I had to switch one to cardboard for a while when she cut her fetlock. I must say I really liked the bedding, even over shavings I'd previously used and would continue on cardboard if I moved yards. Straw is more practical where I currently am. It was a good clean, dust free bed that I kept on top of easily, but she is very clean. She was in 24/7 on it too
 
I found a firm in coventry who made boxes and sold chopped cardboard and it was very cheap you would have to find a local firm. It rots own quickly and gardeners love it. Absorption of urine is good. Dust was never a problem.
 
Just be careful if you have a grey (which you have) it can stain with the ink if there is recycled stuff.
 
Easibed is basically Aubiose but cheaper. If you live near Birmingham Giffords do the same product for very little money if you can pick up in bulk from the factory. I would go for one of these woodchip products over paper or card as I found paper and card clumped and stuck in feet. The woodchip products are brill if you set a really deep bed and just take wet out once a week.
 
I'm another who would choose wood pellets over paper & cardboard - not used it on my current horses but at my old yard they trailed it out but found it wasn't suitable with my pony. Just shop around & see what you can find in your area that will be suitable.
 
I really struggled with cardboard as my mare is very wet, but cardboard was the only bedding I found that she wouldn't eat (and she had ad-lib hay, she's just weird). The bed was vile every day even though I was putting loads of fresh bedding in daily. I'd tried paper before that and it was even worse. I am in the process of switching to Megasorb which is a kind of paper. I've used it before and love it.
 
I have loaned a horse on cardboard and really not my cup of tea. I found it a pain to muck out and although it's cheap you could go through quite a lot with a messy wet horse. Mine is on Aubiose and I prefer it over cardboard. I was considering wood pellet but was put off how compact and heavy the wet can become.
 
I have tried cardboard - it worked well with the clean horses and totally dust free and quite economical. As others have mentioned it works well with rubber mats as a half bed.

However for the dirty horses it was a nightmare - hard to sift through and needed a lot down for the one that is very wet. It is also impossible to deep litter with as becomes very heavy.

So on the whole I would recommend it but only if your horse keeps a tidy bed and is not too wet.
 
I used to use shredded paper - just stuff I got from work for nothing and it worked well, especially when it was mixed with shavings. I couldn't guarantee how much I could get and when so Ihad to supplement it but it helped to reduce my costs by about 1/2. The cross shredded, short chopped stuff is the only one that works really though, the long stuff is really hard to pick up.

I now use wood pellets and they're fab - wouldn't change back at all to be honest, although have wondered what paper mixed in with it would be like. Unfortunately, work has changed the way it manages confidential waste now, it all gets taken away to be disposed of, we don't shred anything anymore.
 
thank you all for your help. I have bought some flax shreds to try, hopefully that will be absorbent and light
 
I've used cardboard for about 10yrs and don't find it a problem, it's totally dust free and extremely absorbant. I put down a full bed and semi deep litter. It's a fab bed and very economical. I just remove the poo with marigolds and lift bed once/twice a week to take wet out. Wet all clumps together on underside. If you muck out like a shavings bed then yes you'll go through quite a lot as the squares are too big to benefit from shavings fork. If you don't use enough bedding (sprinkle on matting) it'll just get mushed up and you'll end up taking most of it out.
 
I use a company that I belive are actually a recycling company based in Hickstead. But make the best cardboard bedding I have come across (I've literally tried them all) they charge me £5.50 per 20kg bale or 100 bales £4.75 a bale. I had a free sample from them originally and haven't used another company since.
 
I love paper it's makes a great bed is good for the horses breathing and is easy to muck out and it's very light so easy on the back .
I had to stop using it because of the mess it made when it blew off the muckheap ( it's exposed here )it's a bad colour when it ends up in your garden ,shavings blend in better .
 
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