Running out of bedding ideas for 2 very wet boys

BuzzyBea

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My friend and I made the decision to try wood pellets for the first time this winter for our 3 boys. 1 of them is doing well on them but he isn't badly wet. The other 2 are an entirely different story!! We have tried all different approaches - deep littering, taking wet out daily, adding new bags with water added, adding bags dry. No matter what we do we are left with stinking beds, horses with wet rugs in the morning and now we know we have to do something as their feet are getting disgusting as they never seem to dry out. We are also aware that winter isn't bad yet and generally they have been out all day and only in at night. When we get to a time where they are having to spend more time in it is only going to get worse!! We have to change from pellets as they simply aren't working for us for 2 out of 3 horses.

Any suggestions would be great. We have good quality rubber matting throughout.
Straw isn't an option.
Before this winter we have always used Hunters but that got expensive and took time to muck out hence the change.

Is there anything else to consider? We wondered about large flaked shavings but are some better than others and would it work any better?
 

JJS

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Can I ask why straw isn't an option? To be honest, the only thing that has worked for the wet horses I've had has been deep littering with straw.
 

BuzzyBea

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It's a matter of getting rid of it to be honest. We are at my friends house and because we only have 3 horses between us we bag up the poo and bedding and take to the tip twice a week/ Straw would be too messy and bulky to bag.
 

BuzzyBea

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Emilieu what shavings do you use? Shavings have always been manageable but it is the fact that we were having to put so much new in that it got so expensive!! Ideally I would like something that can be delivered!!
 

BuzzyBea

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We had our boy on a really deep bed for the first few months - didn't take much wet out at all just added to it. Also tried taking lots of wet out and having a smaller bed that didn't work either :(
 

Exploding Chestnuts

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Can I ask if the ventilation is bad, I have had stables which stank, and seemed wet even though horse had been perfect for years on shavings , this YO was most upset when I said I was not happy, I removed the rubber matting [not the proper stuff]. The stables were laid on flat concrete and were poorly ventilated, so the wet just "pooled"
I would buy EVA matting. shavings round the edges and some pellets in the middle, three horses is going to be expensive, £10 per week for each large horse if in 20 hours per day. If you have to spend ages , so be it. I used to remove my mats regularly, hose them, dry the floor and sprinkle pellets under or sometimes lime.
To prep pellet only beds I used loads of pellets, which were pre-soaked in a wheelbarrow, but still able to absorb of course. It cost about £50 to start these beds, but if ponies were messy I would try to keep half the bed deep and the rest just enough to prevent splashback when wee-ing. I found I needed two pellet bags per week to keep the beds absolutely clean and dry, though it was recommended that I would only need one per week, but I am very fastidious, having once , and only once, had thrush
 
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Exploding Chestnuts

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With three horses, I would expect to buy a pallet of pellets to start them off, as it is recommended to start with a thick layer. I would prefer to use the dampening in the wheelbarrow method for topping up.
 

Casey76

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How big are your stables?

I had a big messy boy in a small stable and pellets just didn't work for him.

I have him on an enormous straw bed, which is the only thing which helps, but I go through straw like there's no tomorrow. I have to life the wet every day otherwise his stable is just disgusting. I can understand how difficult it can be though, if you are self-removing the bedding to the tip.
 

chestnut cob

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How big are the stables? How long are the horses in them for? Do the stables drain or is the urine just pooling underneath the bed (or the mats and then seeping back up)?

I'd be inclined to try pellets on the bottom with good quality shavings on top (I like Bedmax the best) and have a really thick bed.
 

Pebble101

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I hated straw with my wet horse, it stinks. He now lives out but when on box rest I was getting through 5 bales of bedding a week.
 

Sugar_and_Spice

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We had our boy on a really deep bed for the first few months - didn't take much wet out at all just added to it. Also tried taking lots of wet out and having a smaller bed that didn't work either :(

But have you tried mucking out fully daily but with a deep bed? Deep beds are essential for wet horses, whichever system of mucking out you use.

I'd swap to aubiose, especially since you want the small muck heap. My wet horse needed about 1 1/2 bales per week when on shavings he'd need at least 3. It's expensive to start the bed, you'll need at least 6 bales maybe more depending on the size of the stable. The bed needs to be deep and you muck out as little as possible, every week maybe for a wet one (though sometimes I was able to stretch it to 2 1/2wks) and every couple of months for a dry one. If you're having to muck out more than once a week your bed isn't deep enough. Disturb the bed as little as possible, just dig out the wet patch and fill in the hole. I never damped the bed down either like you're supposed to because of horse being prone to thrush, so I like my beds dry to help with that.

Get rid of the rubber matting. You don't need it on aubiose, it packs down into a solid bed (especially if you bring it right upto the stable door, the less the bed moves around the better. Just put a plank of wood across your doorway on the inside, before you lay the bed, to stop the bed coming out). I find rubber matting holds urine under it which would otherwise evaporate into the air or soak into the concrete, making the stable wetter than it would otherwise be.
 

DD

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mine came in this morning and proceeded to do a massive multi gallon wee all on the bedding! why couldn't he have just gone in the field? My other churns in droppings at an alarming rate, real fruit cake mix in the morning if hes in overnight

I can understand why they were kept in stalls in the past.
 
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Emilieu

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Emilieu what shavings do you use? Shavings have always been manageable but it is the fact that we were having to put so much new in that it got so expensive!! Ideally I would like something that can be delivered!!

I use one bag a week of whatever the local merchant sends me. The smaller the flake the sooner I have to top up.
 

honetpot

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When you mean deep litter do you mean 10 to 12 inches deep, because that's how deep it has to be
I have been in the same situation and used different types of bedding
The best is aubiose if you have little space. I had them in my garden an had three bins made from pallets. By the time the last bin is full, and aubiose rots quickly it's easily sold or given away. Start off with a least six bales, take out no wet as it works better when damp and add a bale a week. Mine were not as wet as yours so I used a bale for two stables.
It needs to pack down, so when it gets to about 10 inches deep there will always be a wetter patch which you can take out and fill with drier but not new bedding. Once you have the bed settled you could try mixing in pellets Any deep litter bed to work must not be to make it a bit cheaper, mixed. I had a straw bed down for two years as we could not get a tractor in to shift it. I started that off with a base of pellets.
 

Britestar

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I would say shredded cardboard. NOT the squares.

I have an old lad who basically drinks his entire giant trugtug of water every night and pees it out again!

He's been on straw - mats were always wet, and never dried, stables were smelly.
Tried pellets - even worse, was using more than a bag a day.
Shavings - much the same as pellets, turned that deep red colour overnight!

Now on shredded cardboard. Yes we still take out a good 1/3rd of the bed daily, but he himself is drier, the mats dry through the day and the stables dont smell at all. He does use a 20kg bag daily.

I fully muck out everyday btw.
 

ihatework

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What brand of wood pellets are you using, as they aren't all equal!!

Trial and error over the years for me has led to the conclusion for wet and dirty horses that a thick base of decent wood pellets with a full bed of straw over the top is the best. Semi deep litter, so skip as often as possible, top up a bit of fresh straw every day, then shovel out the wet once a week and replace the pellets.
 

Dollysox

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I had the same problem with my very wet mare on wood pellets until I removed the rubber matting under the area where I put the pellets. With the pellets just on the bare concrete it worked properly. It is the best bedding I have ever had for her and I just wish I had used them years ago. I would suggest trying the pellets without the matting.
 

Merrymoles

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I muck out two geldings on wood pellets every day. Mine is pretty clean but the other is very wet (drinks at least four gallons of water every night) and is known to us as "swamp monster". We get two bags of pellets a week included in the livery and that is plenty for mine but not so great for the other. We "bank" with shavings and as the week gets closer to pellet-day, I pull in some of the shavings for swampie to ensure he has a dry bed. It sounds expensive but I reckon I probably use about quarter of a bale of shavings or less every week. Occasionally he needs an extra bag of pellets midweek but generally it works well.

They are huge stables and both horses have a half-bed, probably about the size of the average box, and are on rubber mats. I take the wet out of mine if it shows but usually only once a week before I put new pellets in. I can usually get away with not taking any wet out of swampie's for the first three days of the week after pelleting. I definitely agree that the deeper the bed, the better it is. The worse swampie has ever been was on a small, thin bed where virtually everything had to come out everyday. A rethink by his owner and he is much more manageable. He also loves his bed now and is covered in shavings every morning.
 

Annagain

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Mine is very wet and is far better on pellets that anything else, although I'm lucky that he doesn't poo in his bed, he does all that at the front of his stable. I have a deep bed and take out the wet only when it swells so much that the wet patch is higher than the rest of the bed (about every 5 days). I dig it out, leave a hole, fill it with dry pellets move the old but clean bedding from the dry half of his bed (he wees in the same spot all the time) over the top of it and replace that with fresh soaked bedding. I used about 12 bags to start the bed off and top up about 2 bags a week. (Stable is 18x14 with rubber mats and bed covers back third) The deeper the bed the better as the wee then soaks downwards rather than spreading through the bed.
 

Myloubylou

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I have a mare who when in season is very wet. I switched to miscanthus and had to put pellets under as she flooded her stable with her thunder wee. Put her back on flax and is same depth but contains the wee so much better that in a week the wet doesn't come to the top. Was taking 2 big barrows out at the weekend now taking 1. Is approx 5-6 bales in 16x13 stable with half of stable as bed with 6 bales added a month
 

Myloubylou

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Couldn't be faffed with pellet soaking in the end & didn't work out much cheaper. Also only skipped out by the yard during the week & think you need to manage pellet beds quite careful so they don't get gross. Not hard but would want to muck out myself
 

9tails

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mine came in this morning and proceeded to do a massive multi gallon wee all on the bedding! why couldn't he have just gone in the field? My other churns in droppings at an alarming rate, real fruit cake mix in the morning if hes in overnight

I can understand why they were kept in stalls in the past.

My neighbour's gelding sounds like a tap has been left on! It goes on for ages and his stable is horrendous.
 

canteron

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I have one of these messy creatures and the best way is for them to live out. IME the ones that are chilled in the stable are the tidy ones and those that are messier tend to be not so content stabled and prefer living out - if practical. If not, I think just a third of a bag of shavings taking up about a quarter of the stables and just accept you are going to have to get rid of most of it every day. My horse prefers not to splash her legs when peeing, so does use the bit of the stable with shavings to pee!!

Although they may trash the fields, if you put away the money you would have spent on shavings, then you can put that towards field restoration come the Spring?
 
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