Pulling my hair out- I've bought a bed eater

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Christie_em

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Hello all,
This is the first time I've ever been on here, having recently aquired my first horse who I'm fully in love with, I already need help!

She is five years old and has been stabled most of her life, she was not socialised with horses or people at all which has caused several difficulties all of which we've managed to overcome. She's now out all day everyday with other horses and is almost a delight to be around! The only problem we still have is she eats her bed at night. I think this has probably come from being boxed for so long, the only grazing she could get was her stable floor and she see's no reason to kick the habit.
I'd like to point out she is fed far more than any other horse on the yard as I didn't want to cut her winter feed too quickly. She has plenty of hay, a salt lick, a treat toy and is out from 7am to 8pm except in really bad weather. I've tried barley and wheat straw only to come in in the morning and find all clean straw gone and everything else thrown around the stable. Originally I thought the box may be too small so moved her to a converted cattle stall which is huge, she has a friend to talk to and can see out at everything in the yard. I know the answer will be to go on to shavings but I like her having a big straw bed. Any suggestions at all that may help? Maybe putting something yucky in the straw?

Thank you!
 
Christie_em said:
Hello all,
This is the first time I've ever been on here, having recently aquired my first horse who I'm fully in love with, I already need help!

She is five years old and has been stabled most of her life, she was not socialised with horses or people at all which has caused several difficulties all of which we've managed to overcome. She's now out all day everyday with other horses and is almost a delight to be around! The only problem we still have is she eats her bed at night. I think this has probably come from being boxed for so long, the only grazing she could get was her stable floor and she see's no reason to kick the habit.
I'd like to point out she is fed far more than any other horse on the yard as I didn't want to cut her winter feed too quickly. She has plenty of hay, a salt lick, a treat toy and is out from 7am to 8pm except in really bad weather. I've tried barley and wheat straw only to come in in the morning and find all clean straw gone and everything else thrown around the stable. Originally I thought the box may be too small so moved her to a converted cattle stall which is huge, she has a friend to talk to and can see out at everything in the yard. I know the answer will be to go on to shavings but I like her having a big straw bed. Any suggestions at all that may help? Maybe putting something yucky in the straw?

Thank you!
Click to expand...

Hi there and welcome to H&H, lovely that you are getting on so well with your mare, I definitely think you should post in the new lounge to introduce you and your mare with a load of pictures of her :D

With regards to the bedding problem, I would simply switch to shavings or wood pellets, wood pellets in particular are very economical and she won't want to eat them :D Many youngsters go through a phase of bed eating although yours does seem a bit extreme, I think there are products you can buy to treat the bedding but my personal opinion in this case would be to switch bedding material, I find that shavings make the best beds, lovely to lie down and far easier for mucking out. The other option would be to invest in some rubber mats and just put minimal straw down at night, that way if she does eat it, it isnt an excessive amount and she still has a comfy surface overnight
 
Please do not spray your horses bed with something that is actually poisonous, no matter how diluted it is. Rather change to shavings, wood pellets or equinolla (it is rape bedding and cheaper than shavings and really absorbs) my straw bed eater doesnt touch the equinolla bed. If you do a semi deep litter, only take out the real wet patch and poohs but do not disturb the rest of the padded down base bed and once a week put a fresh bale on top you will eventually get a clean deep bed which you will not have to dig out as long as you take out the wet patch daily, find where your horses pees and concentrate on that spot daily.
 
What I would add to the comments above is that straw has to be the smelliest bedding I know of. :( I have mine on wood pellets now (not pretty to look at but oh my do they do the job) and the best bit of all is that there is no lingering honk of urine soaked straw any more. Oh my goodness, I can really smell that HONK on others, thank goodness it isn't on me. I can nip to the shops for something without turning heads looking to see where the smell is coming from.

Knowing what I know now, I was more than happy to sacrifice my big fluffy straw beds (and even the shavings beds) for my wood pellets.
 
I'd start by spraying the bed with something that is harmless if ingested, pet shops do a bitter apple spray which you can put on furniture to prevent dogs from biting. I used to put this in my horses mane to prevent the other horses from chewing it.
 
I would forget what you like and think about what is best for your horse!

Straw is about the only bedding they do eat so you have a huge choice of alternatives and I'm quite sure your horse isn't bothered what sort of bed he has. Nice deep fluffy shavings with big banks look just as nice as straw and don't smell. Nor will you go around smelling of wee!

We had a straw eating pony who ate her bed even after we sprayed it with a mild solution of JF - I spent a good few days absoltely terrified that she would have been poisened. Needless to say, shavings went down the next day.
 
I just dont get how people find straw smellier than shavings, i cannot stand the smell of shavings beds! They always look awful no matter how much you put in as well. Straw for me!

I just let my bed eater eat the straw, as for the thinning i do semi deep litter, taking a bit of wet out every day. They have lovely deep fluffy beds.
We also have some in large cattle stables, they have a big bed and hard standing, they have massive fluffy beds, we put a large slice from a Heston bale in everyday as these boxes measure 21x16
 
Agree, I don't find straw smells worse than shavings. Both will smell if not thoroughly mucked out and topped up as necessary.

Trails to see what type of bedding horses themselves prefer, consistently show straw as the preferred option. The horses on straw beds spent more time lying down than on other types.
 
With my bed eater (also on straw), I have found that if I mix the brand new straw in with the existing straw (after I've mucked out obviously - and I take out all poo and wet every day) then he is much less likely to eat it. If I leave the lovely clean straw on the top, he hoovers it up.

Oh, and I don't find straw any smellier than any other type of bedding - it all depends how you manage it.

P
 
horserider said:
Agree, I don't find straw smells worse than shavings. Both will smell if not thoroughly mucked out and topped up as necessary.

Trails to see what type of bedding horses themselves prefer, consistently show straw as the preferred option. The horses on straw beds spent more time lying down than on other types.
Click to expand...

Not scientific by any means, but I have certainly found that the GreyDonkey lies down much more in his straw bed than he has any other bed since we bought him - and he's been on shavings, flax, Rapasorb, Megasorb . . . you name it.

P
 
shavings ,mollys on something called 'safebed' or something,lovely mix of woodpellet type things and shavings..

also,dont think horses only really eat straw-be aware she may eat other stalk based bedding-friends new horse eats Rapport.
 
If you really want a straw bed then spraying it with dilute Jeyes Fluid is ideal - and despite the warnings of a few posters we've used it for decades with no adverse effects - dilute well and use a pump spray - it covers better with less mix -we used to use a watering can to apply it.

Be very aware that horses that eat their bed are at great risk of colic. straw is not eassily digested and can cause impaction colic.

I too hate shavings beds - they look awesome when first put down but unless you can grap every dung as it lands they soon look grubby.

To keep urine smell under control place a layer of garden lime on the floor of the box especially in the wet area.
 
I've prevented bed eating before by not being quite as meticulous with my mucking out - leaving slightly more wet than normal in the stable and mixing the old bedding in really well with new... you should only have to do it fairly short term to break the habbit.

That said I do like alternative beddings. Rapport is good but it is straw based and some horses find it palatable - I have sprayed mine with dilute detol which seems to put mine off. I've never had a problem keeping shavings beds clean. you just have to be very meticulous about your mucking out. Using gloves instead of forks often makes it easier to achieve this. Mine looks virtually as clean as the day it was laid.

I do don't really like Jayes... it is pretty potent stuff and I believe it affects the horse's airways... it does mine anyway.
 
I didnt like the idea of spraying beds with jeyes so sprayed with vinegar diluted with water in a (new!) weedkiller spray pump thing. Worked with our old lad & he now seems to have kicked the habit, hes in a lot -cushings horse v prone to lami- & has a tiny straw bed in case he wees in the stable (his stable has a sand playpen attached for him) which we dont bother spraying with vinegar and he doesnt eat. When they come in properly overnight in winter and I shut him in the stable we spray the deep straw bed for the first week or so just to make sure he doesnt start up again. Hes not eaten his bed for about 5 years now that we are aware of, so certainly no more than a nibble, works for us :). Hope you get it sorted :).
 
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