poo picking....how often, how much time spent?

[amandaco2]

How big is thepaddock and how many horses?
trying to work out if im slow!
my 4 are on 1 acre size 24 7 and takes me 20min daily by barrow to clear it.....

 

[Twinkley Lights]

Kind of the same twice to three times a day 5 mins each time . Mine are in paddocks so that may explain time difference as I don't walk all the land - also mine choose latrine areas and are pretty consistent in choice.

 

[Echo Bravo]

My boys are on over 5 acres and takes me 1/2 hour maybe a bit more, but there again I need the exercise.

 

[Shooting Star]

3 on about 3-4 acres, do it once a week and takes about 1.5hrs ... And I'm totally knackered by the end as it's on a hill! Keep meaning to do it more often but somehow never get there.

 

[justabob]

Never poo picked in my life, just chain harrow when moved to the field next door and rest it for 6 weeks. Enough mucking out stables all winter.

 

[Sukistokes2]

Two horses in small, separate paddocks (different yards. ......long story) I do it everday and it takes ten minutes per horse. Takes me longer to swap yards. ; D

 

[Evie91]

Poop pick every day. Two horses on less than an acre - one barrow every morning they are out overnight, takes ten to fifteen mins I think

 

[Ceriann]

3 on about 3-4 acres, do it once a week and takes about 1.5hrs ... And I'm totally knackered by the end as it's on a hill! Keep meaning to do it more often but somehow never get there.

That's me - maybe a little longer as they seem to churn it out in summer! I also try and do ten mins a day during the week to keep on top of it. It's too long whichever way I look at it but I hate to see it all over the field.

 

[amandaco2]

Mine do 3 or 4 level barrows daily, so maybe I'm not too slow!

 

[Twinkley Lights]

I can't stand to see poopy fields either but .. when I've finished picking and all is packed away someone always squeezes one out

 

[hihosilver]

I cheat! I pay someone £5 for a big barrow once a week big field and has 2 horses in.

 

[3Beasties]

Takes me about 20 mins daily to pick up after 3.

 

[Peregrine Falcon]

3 on 2.75 acres, 2 on 2.25 acres, 2(oldies) on 1.25 acres, 2 on 3 acres although these ponies get the big field harrowed too so sometimes very little time spent. So 9 on 9.25 acres, roughly 45/50 minutes daily. In winter it's very depressing, particularly the last two. I do admit though that most mornings my friend and I do it between us.

 

[Tnavas]

Never poo picked in my life, just chain harrow when moved to the field next door and rest it for 6 weeks. Enough mucking out stables all winter.

Me too - lifes too short to spend time picking up dung

 

[Mananzwa]

Tow a chain harrow behind the car once a week to spread the piles. It is fertiliser for the grass.

 

[Shazzababs]

Another vote for chain harrowing.

Spent too much of my childhood poo picking, and vowed never to do it when I got my own place.

As long as you can rotate and rest your field for long enough to break the worm cycle, it works great, and is free fertilizer.

My last few worm counts were too low to need to worm.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

2 Fuzzies, 10 mins max morning & evening - I check fences/potential rabbit holes as I go.
If I leave it one eve for example, then its not a prob the next morning

Small interlinked paddocks close to yard (bigger ones up the top) so close ones that are currently in use in high summer are a bit tight to get harrow into.

 

[JillA]

Tow a chain harrow behind the car once a week to spread the piles. It is fertiliser for the grass.

Doesn't that make the whole paddock filthy and hard for them to find clean grass to graze? Unless you are lucky enough to have plenty of land, I am always reluctant to harrow without resting for that reason.

 

[Copperpot]

I do it every day, get 2 barrow loads. Takes me about 30 mins I guess. They are in 2 different fields though and one has long grass and I have to play hunt the poo 😁

 

[Bav]

I'm on a livery yard with a mixed herd turnout in two huge fields (with a third rested and then rotated) we have to get 4 barrows out a week per horse otherwise we are charged. Takes me about 1/2 hour a week, not even that if I'm feeling speedy.
The rest field also gets chain harrowed when the fields are rotated.

 

[Prince33Sp4rkle]

2 acres split in to 4 paddocks.

they have *poo areas* and are only out 6.30am-3pm so it only takes 15min total to do all 4 and empty the barrow, chuck up on to the muck heap etc. Its about a flat barrows worth daily.

 

[ihatework]

My horse has a paddock that's about 1-1.5 acres.
In the summer I split it in half and she only gets 0.5-0.75 acres, she is out on that for 12 hours overnight. I poo pick in summer as it would get disgusting otherwise, takes about 5 mins extra (half barrow) and I just take the barrow down with me when I lead in/out.

In the winter I don't poo pick so much. She has double the area and half the time out, lack of daylight hours makes it difficult. Just a barrow each day of the weekend from the main grazing area.

 

[culteuchar]

As I am a sad ****** I do it twice a day takes five minutes rather than an hour once or twice a week. Paddock two acres with one horse and a small bolshy bully of a Shetland.

 

[L&M]

1 acre per horse, 2 horses, 10 mins per paddock. Just over a barrow between them.

 

[bambar]

sorry to hijack but I'm genuinely curious - I've never poo picked in my life - why do you need to do it?? not something I learned about growing up!

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

How big is thepaddock and how many horses?
trying to work out if im slow!
my 4 are on 1 acre size 24 7 and takes me 20min daily by barrow to clear it.....

we have 8 aches on the back divided into 4. We use two and rest two. We use tractor and trailer daily and have 8 horses out on the in use side.

We de poo once a day becasue they are in in the day time during the summer

 

[AAR]

Every 2 - 3 days

 

[ihatework]

sorry to hijack but I'm genuinely curious - I've never poo picked in my life - why do you need to do it?? not something I learned about growing up!

Just to keep the grazing good really (and it can help reduce worm burden). Some people are a bit OCD about it, I'm not at all. But if keeping horses on small acreage it is worthwhile otherwise it gets quite rank. Bigger acreage with a rotate/rest/harrow routine is fine in my books too

 

[JillA]

sorry to hijack but I'm genuinely curious - I've never poo picked in my life - why do you need to do it?? not something I learned about growing up!

A couple of reasons - to remove any droppings which might contain parasite eggs so reinfesting the grazing, and to avoid those "lawns and roughs" of short cropped clean grass and long rank contaminated grass. That's why I do anyway - less about the worms for me, my lot have just had a clear FEC but I hate seeing that long rank grass.

 

[martlin]

I don't poo pick, chain harrows and a flock of sheep sort any paddock problems for me.