poo picking!

I have only 3.5 acres with two large horses. I poo pick twice daily if I can as then just means one wheelbarrow load each time so easy to do. However, if I leave it a few days or miss a bit, the effort to catch up is more onerous. It stops the development of roughs and lawns.

To poo pick or not really depends on how much land and grazing you have and whether you can rotate your grazing with other livestock. If I had huge acreage and able to rotate with sheep/cows, then I would be less bothered by poo picking regular.

however, by poo picking it means that you are checking your field regularly - rabbit holes, ragwort etc.... which you would miss. I also find if a horse has pulled a shoe off, you find the lost shoe whilst poo picking and never when you just look for it!

It is also nice to socialise with the horses in the field when weather better - mine come up for a scratch and a nose.







-
 
There are 3 horses in our field which is only just 3 acres so we poop pick daily, on a rota basis between the 3 of us.
We unfortunately haven't got field rotation so we have to look after the field we have.
Need the grass to grow and haven't got the luxury of letting patches of grass going to waste.
Makes it a bit easier that they are in at nights throughout the year but it's a job that needs doing so we suck it up and get on with it.
Also an opportunity to replace any divots, pull thistles and rag before it becomes established.
We end up with a great field when others are moaning that there isn't any grass or their fields are full of weed patches!!!
It keeps the flies down, you get to spend a bit of time with your horse while it grazes and in the summer a chance to top up the tan!!!
 
Everyday without fail. But only because we don't have a huge amount of land. Only takes 10mins once a day.
On the stud, we have a paddock sweeper, and the paddocks usually get done on a rotation basis, every couple of weeks.
Nothing worse than seeing paddocks full of poo IMO.
 
At my yard, the "girls" field has mine, the yard owners and 1 other mare in it. Myself, the other girl, and the yard owner and then her husband (has a nearby farm) do a day each a week, and more often than not, my fella also does a day a week. it is a 3.5 acre fields andjust square in shape, we have a poo pile at each corner, and each day, yard owners farmer hubby removes the pile.
 
I poo pick everyday, we have 3 acres for two horses. It is a good chance to socialise with the horses, stops any sour grass growing and also means that the fencing etc gets check everyday. Worm counts come back clear every time and it is my gym workout for the day as the field is on a hill!
 
Also, peoples opinions of "oh there'd still be a dung heap" or "it gets trodden in" are just excused for laziness, fields look lovely and fresh and are better for horses when poo picked.
 
i admit i am a bit obsessed...i poo pick at least once a day and its not even my horse! i am expecting a really fabulous christmas present off my sister tho :p

we only have a small paddock tho so its a fairly quick job and i can check the fences etc as i go round. i hate to see a poo-ey paddock and i can watch for any changes in his poo consistency/amount. His worm count is clear.
 
I have 3 horses on 5 acres split into 9 small paddocks. I rotate the grazing and have sheep following the horses. I also 'harrow' the fields after the horse have been on t break up the poo (basically a gate tied to the back of my landrover and a bit of offroading ;)). I don't poo pick at all. When I bought the land there was a huge problem with thistles and nettles but following this regime they are all but gone...

Oh and I have had a negative worm count now for 8 months :)

Edit - my chickens break up a lot of the poo too as they love rooting in it for goodies. My chuckies are truly free range :)
 
we have 2 horses on about 14 acres... We poo pick two of the little paddocks but not the big winter one. We only poo pick the little ones as they've to last all summer and they're only 5 acres in total, and the foot path goes through one of them.

this seems to work for us as I've just had our worm count results back and it makes 9 clear tests in a row! :D
 
One arab mare one shetland field is poo picked by me everyday. Field looks better for it as well as being better for grass growth and it keeps the flys down in the summer.
 
Lollii said:
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 :)
Click to expand...

We used to poo pick relgiously, now we don't bother. We are lucky enough to have enough land so can rotate our grazing. Ponies in for a while, harrow, chuck some sheep in for a while then let it resst before the ponies come back in. The sheep take care of any worm issues and graze it flat so no issues with the quality of the grazing or worms.

No effort at all and healthy ponies, but I do realise everyone is not so lucky.
 
2 horses and 2 donkeys with fields that get rotated but we poo pick all the time, at least 4/5 times a week. If there is more than one of you and you all do a bit it doesn't seem as bad and as said before you get right round your fields looking for dangers, keep an eye on the poop and whats in it and all those lovely kinds of things!
One word on donkeys though...they manage to poo while walking scraping long grass with a shovel isn't much fun pa! *dreams of a poo hoover machine when next up at the yard*
 
firstponyMinto said:
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?I pick (or make the child do it) the minis half acre paddock that is right next to the house and road . Shelters [I]are[/I] picked out.

for those of you that do poo pick, why do you? aesthetic reasons only, a lumpy paddock looks so untidy especially when I run a business that relies on the place and horses looking vaguely respectable

&

for those of you that don't poo pick, why don't you? I don't mostly, never have. Why? Because I have lots of horses (and cows, ever tried picking up their stuff?:eek:) I harrow and in winter I leave it, think concrete blocks welded to the ground! Fortunately in winter the snow covers it, in Spring it looks awful but then I just scrape the smaller paddocks with the tractor, or harrow it. I'd never have time to do anything else if I picked by hand! Far more important things to do than break my back going round with a bucket and gloves
Click to expand...

...
 
Last edited:
Iam going against the grain here too. Our field is about 4 + aces, it gets officially harrowed (and topped) twice a year, sometimes we put about a dozen sheep in during the drier weather.
What we do do, is every day, twice a day we kick and scatter the poo (as a harrow would do). The field looks really good, and honestly it looks tidy. The scattered poo doesn't seem to make the grass go sour, as its evenly grazed.
They get wormed twice a year, and have never had any worms.
I have 3 out on it 24/7 365. For about 1 month every year we move the horses while the docks get sprayed, but thats it. I think we are doing a good job with what we have.

Iam all for poo picking small areas of grazing, but for those who poo pick 4+ acres, I salute your dedication!!
 
wellsat said:
I do! As others have said, it helps keep your horses worm free and stops sour patches developing in your fields.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure it does :confused: those that don't poo pick (but harrow/graze sheep/rotate) dont have any problems.

I agree it can make a paddock look better but it doesn't stop worms and it doesnt turn the grass sour if you harrow, in fact it can help grass growth by harrowing.
 
I'm firmly in the Poo Picking camp. Two horses produce one full barrow every day and, if I were to leave it in their small (Livery Yard) paddock, they would soon run out of grazing areas. I am happy to do it daily even in bad weather, always check the fencing, and hate winter when it is too dark after work to be able to do it. It tells me loads about their daily routines and well-being.

I can't stand to see a dirty paddock.
 
Our YO poo sucks our fields daily with the quadbike and poo sucker......(i know we are very spoilt!!)
When i had my horse at home as a kid....my mum did a couple of days a week....i did wednesday and the weekend (i had long school hours 8 - 5pm but weds afternoons off...but had to go on saturday mornings) so the rota meant it was done daily.
 
I poo pick every day.,..I am obsessive about it. OH went mad at me poo-picking in a lightning storm, complete with metal scraper:o

I have 3 horses on 2 acres divided into smaller paddocks so I have to manage my grazing really well.

I used to be on a livery yard where it got done once a week....badly- I used to end up doing everyones elses share because I couldn't walk away and leave it.....


I was constantly needing to worm the horses before they were technically 'due'......now I only need to do them for tapeworm twice a year:)

PS I even do it in the dark.....with my head-torch ( or **** lamp :))
 
I poo pick, every week the field is cleared. It's part of my livery contract to do so, but even if it wasn't I would still do it. I wouldn't leave it as the paddocks are about the same as yours in size and I don't like the fact if left the grass dies under it, the birds spread it and it's aesthetically horrible !
 
I do most days. The grass dies under the poos, its looks a mess and why should the horses have to eat around poo? Helps with worms too.

We used to rent a 25 acre field from after hay cutting to Xmas, this wasn;t poo picked, but harrowed. Just not practical to slog round a grassy field of that size. Harrowing spreads the poo and help prevent the spread of worms.

Mine live out so its something that I do most days, gets to observe the creatues and automatically see broken fencing, rabbit holes etc
 
The reasons you should poo pick are that it gives maximum available grazing (don't do it and watch your grazing reduce by 80% in time), keeps the flies down - really important in the summer, prevents worm eggs getting into the grazing, and makes it look like someone actually cares. While you are doing it you can look for potential hazards eg. glass, holes, wobbly fencing, ragwort and other nasties coming up and you can actually see how the grass is doing. I can't therefore understand why people think it isn't important.
 
I poo pick every day and I worm regularly too. Up until last week I had four and if it wasn't done every day, it became a labour of Hercules. There are enough sour areas as it is, goodness only knows what it would be like if it wasn't poo picked every day!

As others have said, it is also an ideal opportunity to check fences, pick up any rubbish etc.
 
italylyns said:
Yep, EVERY day!!!

I cant stand seeing the field full of poo!!Neither can I, the tiny one is done daily, my others are harrowed, and topped frequently, it works for me.

Soooooooooo many reasons to do it Yesand it doesnt take longYes it does:( when you have twenty odd horses, plus cows, spread over maybe thirty,forty acres ,it's usually only me here and I'd be at it all day, every day, and then my Boarders would moan that fencing, stalls, sand ring etc wasn't done, I wouldn't get my youngsters worked, the house would be in s**t state and my family wouldn't eat.
Click to expand...
...
 
Mine is done twice a day, OH does it for me in the mornings, I do it after work.

Last winter when there was snow for a few weeks, could only do what was on the top, when the snow thawed, I could have cried, my lovely clean field was full of it.

Took me and OH hours to clear it, can't imagine the state it would have been in if it not been done daily before.
 
Poo picking is compulsory at my yard :D

In the spring, summer and early autumn we do it daily. This time of the year and the rest of winter we do it 3 times per week because of the dark nights, we'd hardly get to ride if we had to do it daily in the winter.

Its the first yard I've been at that does poo pick, all others didn't bother as they had huge fields, but my new yard is lots of smaller paddocks and smaller groups of horses so its important to look after the paddocks.

I hated it to start with but its now part of my routine and I really dont mind it now x
 
Lollii said:
I'm not sure it does :confused: those that don't poo pick (but harrow/graze sheep/rotate) dont have any problems.

I agree it can make a paddock look better but it doesn't stop worms and it doesnt turn the grass sour if you harrow, in fact it can help grass growth by harrowing.
Click to expand...


ditto this. the only reason we pick the two paddocks we do is cos of the footpath and the aesthetics of the two small paddocks.
 
i poo pick daily/ twice daily (depending on work). having been at a yard where i wasnt allowed to poo pick and being greeted by a swarm of flies in the summer as soon as i got onto the field (yes, that bad) i can't not do it anymore!
I do however only have three horses, 2 big-uns and a mini shettie, manageable paddocks at just under 3 acres each and a good rappor with many allotment owners who come and collect my bags of poo come rain or shine!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top