poo picking!

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firstponyMinto

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I'm confused about poo picking, should I or shouldn't I?

I'm looking after 2 horses in 4 acres, the owner say's not to bother, but there's a LOT of poo!!

so who poo picks & who dosen't?

for those of you that do poo pick, why do you?

&

for those of you that don't poo pick, why don't you?

thankees :-) :-) :-)
 
I split my grazing and rotate and poo pick twice daily. I worm with herbal wormer and it has kept my two worm free for 4 years now. Also land looks much better and it maximizes the grazing area as horses don't like grazing around sour patches caused by droppings.
 
poo picking is the bane of my life...
i was always taught that you should poo pick to stop the fields from getting sour & until recently i kept my then 2 horses at a farm where i rented my paddocks - they were spotless - i have now moved to a small DIY livery where i share a field - no-body else poo picks - i spend hrs doing it for all the horses - grrrrrr
if anyone here can give lots of compelling reasons to poo pick - i will print them out & stick them up in the tack room
 
We poo pick all our fields, i believe it is important to.
The horses dont like eating near it, it turns the fields sour and most importantly it helps reduce the worm burden in horses.
We went to a colic lecture from our vets a couple of weeks ago, and they recommended that fields were poo picked at least every 2 weeks, with 2 weeks being the maximum recommendation for leaving poo in the field.

Hope that helps :) x
 
I have always poo picked twice a day - my father instilled it into me nearly forty years ago! It is better for the fields, and better for the ponies. Worm counts in ponies from poo-picked land are minimal, if not virtually non existant. Aesthetically, paddocks look far neater, and better maintained if they are not covered in s***! Also, by poo picking you are in the habit of doing a daily walk round the field, and checking for fencing/ragwort/ rabbit holes and lost shoes! I have only once not poo picked, when we were in a ten acre field with four horses, and the other tenant did not poo pick. The field was harrowed once a year, but the size and shape of it, combined with the number of horses made it impractical. It was like an itch I couldn't scratch, and I felt awful.
 
I have 8 horses that produce a lot of poo. It is an ongoing battle to keep on top of it but I clean the field at least daily for all of the reasons described above.
Also I can't stand looking at dirty fields and watching good grass not being eaten because it has turned sour.
 
Groom42 said:
I have always poo picked twice a day - my father instilled it into me nearly forty years ago! It is better for the fields, and better for the ponies. Worm counts in ponies from poo-picked land are minimal, if not virtually non existant. Aesthetically, paddocks look far neater, and better maintained if they are not covered in s***! Also, by poo picking you are in the habit of doing a daily walk round the field, and checking for fencing/ragwort/ rabbit holes and lost shoes! I have only once not poo picked, when we were in a ten acre field with four horses, and the other tenant did not poo pick. The field was harrowed once a year, but the size and shape of it, combined with the number of horses made it impractical. It was like an itch I couldn't scratch, and I felt awful.
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Crumbs were we seperated at birth!

Same as you my Father drummed it into us that field MUST be poo picked twice a day at a minimum.

As you say worm counts are minimal and you get the chance to check your fields throughly just this summer when poo picking we found a hole that had one of the horses stepped in it would have been a disaster waiting to happen as It was it was filled with sand within minutes.

This is not to say on the days when I am outside in Oilskins or prising frozen poo off the ground in mid winter I do not occasionally curse my Dad;-))
 
We have four horses and I completely clear the paddocks of poo every day. It only takes 10 mins. Can't bare looking out and seeing poo. Sadly obsessed.... but on a good note, pushing that wheel barrow around is great for keeping away the "bat wings"! ;)
 
Um, well, I'm a bit of a lazy toadie I have to admit, BUT for the vast majority of the time I graze mine with sheep in a 10 acre field, and they tend to tread in the poo and so I don't bother at the mo.

Also (horrid thought) there's loads of crows around here and I've seen them picking through the poo and scratching it around, so if they're doing my job for me then why should I argue?!

I know the vets and everyone else will say that poo picking is essential, BUT the problem, as I see it, is that somewhere you will have to put a muckheap, which will then attract flies and midges. You've either got to put the muckheap in the field, or away from it, probably within the borders of your yard, which isn't exactly what you want especially like with mine who's got sweet itch.

When mine was on livery at a big yard, they'd poo pick religiously every day, and this made good sense.
 
I poo pick as often as possible, I work very long hours and sometimes its just not possible to do it daily. I do make sure the field is completely clear each week though. I think its important for the reasons stated above, to reduce worm counts, because horses won't eat around the tainted pasture and because it looks better. Also a good point about getting into the habit of walking round the field checking fencing etc.
I have 3 horses on about 1.5 acres (split in half) and I rotate it. ( I have another 7 acres but that it too wet to use at the moment!)
 
Well .... going against the majority here it seems, I don't pick up poo, never have and I never will :rolleyes:

I have always rotated the fields, grazed sheep and harrowed, my OH harrows at least once a week while the ground isn't too wet. Our grazing is lovely all spring, summer and autumn, I can graze the horses and pony all year with no problems.

It makes me smile to see people slogging away picking up poo when there is no need, I have my horses wormed counted once a year, there has never been a problem.

I guess if you have smart paddocks near houses/yards it looks better though :)

Each to their own :)
 
Thanks for all the imput...... still don't know what to do for the best!

Another question tho!

If horses won't graze near their droppings, how can they pick up worms from said droppings?

(wish there was a confused smiley lol) ;-) xx
 
I poo-pick every day - unless the weather is completely foul! :o

Partly to help minimise worms and to keep the grass nice but also because it looks so much nicer - especially as one of their main rough spots is outside the kitchen window!

Maybe I'm odd but I actually quite like it! I take the dogs out, enjoy the lovely views and get a lovely feeling of satisfaction when I look back up at a completely clean field. :)

ETA: we have 3 horses on approx 3 acres atm. They'll be moving into 8 acres soon for winter.
 
I poo pick because it helps to keep the paddock grazed down more evenly, otherwise you end up with patches of long sour grass which the horses won't eat because they have pooed there so this ends up wasting grass. Also, in summer poo picking helps to reduce the number of flies in the paddock. It minimises the spread of worms and overall I think a paddock which has been poo picked looks a lot smarter than one that hasn't.
 
I hate poo picking! I do it as I have to, but over the last couple of months the boys just harrow the field, makes life easier.

I have to say, the fields that aren't poo picked and harrowed always come back with better grass than the fields that have been hand poo picked.

As I am broken, I wont be doing it at all for the forseeable, so will get the boys to harrow again.

However once the land becomes wet and sodden, will have to poo pick as the tractor will churn up the field.

I think if you have a big huge field with a herd then no need to poo pick. where we have small grazing areas for one or two horses then you have to poo pick.
 
I was always taught that harrowing should be done when the weather is hot and dry, as it allows the worm larvae to be dried out and they DIE!!!! (Kill those little bu****s!)
If you just harrow willy nilly, all you are doing is spreading the poo, and spreading the worms - poo-picking all the way!
 
jenz87 said:
We went to a colic lecture from our vets a couple of weeks ago, and they recommended that fields were poo picked at least every 2 weeks, with 2 weeks being the maximum recommendation for leaving poo in the field.

Hope that helps :) x
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I think leaving poo in the field for two weeks is too long. Once small redworm eggs have hatched it takes about a week for the larvae to move up the blades of grass where they can be eaten by the horses. To avoid redworm infestation I'd say you need to poo pick at least every five days.

I have six horses so I poo pick every day to keep on top of it.
 
We poo pick every day, I can't stand seeing fields with poo in them! We do it because:

1) It maximises your grazing

2) Reduces worm burdens

3) Looks nicer

4) It's alot easier to do it everyday

5) Gives you more time just watching your horse or if it's like mine they will follow you round while you do it!

6) I find it really relaxing......

7) Very good exercise
 
I run a small livery and insist that the summer paddocks are poo-picked daily. It keeps the worm count down, looks far nicer and we don't get the huge areas of bitter grass and weeds. Also, as others have said, doubles as a daily check of pasture/fences etc. Very often, early signs that a horse is off-colour are shown through their droppings too, so it's an early warning system.

In the winter the horse move to larger winter fields and we don't poo-pick then. The fields are chain-harrowed and rolled in the spring as soon as they are dry enough. These fields are then grazed by cattle/sheep for the summer months.

I find poo-picking in the winter a nightmare when the ground is wet/gateways muddy etc. Also I have a few young girls in livery and generally when they get back from school and get to the yard it is dark. If I made them catch up on the poo-picking on a weekend they would have little time to ride/muck-out stables/ tidy yard or have a life:).
 
I clear mine everyday have 4 ponies and around 10 acres split over 3 fields. Cant stand mess and farmer who rent from said leave it but dont like that idea and also have my poo pile removed every month.
 
i have 5 acres split in to 4 paddocks, 2 summer and 2 winter paddocks. 4 horses split in to 2 groups of 2.

gets poo picked daily, totally clear. takes 10mins if you keep on top of it.

my worm counts are so so low, and i only worm 3 timess a year because of the low worm burden in the paddocks.
 
Ive gone from a yard were poo picking wasnt done to one where it has to be done at least once a day. we have a rota, so you do it for 2 weeks then have a month off, we have 3 horses in the field and it only takes 20 mins.

I much prefer it because

1) the horses graze so much more evenly

2) you can check the field for ragwork, fences or holes

3) good to check poo we recently have one with bad loose droppings, so she had to see the vet

4) All have clear worm counts

5) spend some time with your horse - my mare follows you around

6) looks so much tidier
 
i poo pick once a day when in at night and twice a day when out. keeps it simple and neat. plus i have never had a worm problem with any of my horses.
 
My YO put up a sign - Fields Must Be Poo Picked EVERY Day - so I dutifully do it - she on the other hand drives around her field with the harrow.....

I am leaving in 1 week and will not be poo picking again!
 
I can't imagine not doing it.

It's very annoying as at the yard the mares always follow the boys fields, so boys first, then girls and the owners of the geldings never do the darn thing, even when told to by YM :mad:
 
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