shavings or straw for bedding: which is best?

Straw. For all the reasons you state, although I am fortunate in that my horses don't tend to be bed wreckers...
 
shavings are lighter so less heavy going when lots to muck out. but i use straw as cheaper, you can make a nice thick bed which is also warmer and more comfy- mine lie down on it, but not on shavings. also good for drying wet muddy legs in the winter and doesn't get so stuck in fleece rugs. i do find i leave the wet and do it every other day as it takes a bit longer to soak it up and is easier to remove it in clumps if left for a day.
they will munch a bit if they get hungry, but not much and does no harm.
goes lots further for less money over all
 
emma001 said:
What is best in terms of:
-warmth
-cost
-long lasting
-comfort

Which out of the two do you prefer and why?
Click to expand...

- straw
- straw
- not much difference
- depends what you mean by comfort... looking like a nest straw does best. Soaking up wet (better for ammonia fumes too), being easy to muck out and better for both horse/human breathing shavings do best.

I prefer shavings for the absorption and dust reduction. (Plus easier to muck out).
 
Straw
Cosy and warm,cheap and easier to muck out,in my opinion.Poo doesn't seem to get into the bedding like shavings.There is just nothing like straw on a cold winters day,looking at the lovely horses all snug and tucked up for the night.
 
I use straw. It is cheaper for us, easy for us to dispose of and they can eat it once they finish their hay if they wish to.
 
Straw is obviously warmer and cheaper, but I find that it makes me smell like wee all day even if i get changed after mucking out! For that reason I use shavings (bedmax) which I find last longer and they're much cleaner on them :)
 
I use straw cos it cheaper, but I do not prefer it. I much prefer shavings as it is so much easier to muck out and it smells nicer too. I used shavings for 2years before I admitted financial defeat! Although that said when I was using shavings in the winter I did feel like straw may have been more cosy. Happy to carry on using straw but if money was no object I'd be back on shavings tomo!
 
Good shavings, easibed type stuff or chopped up rape straw type bedding, I can't stand proper straw beds.

I find straw particularly smelly, I think it's hard to make the beds look smart and a lot of them eat it.
 
I love a good straw bed and always used it, but mine coughs his guts up on it, eats it instead of hay and barley and oat straw send him loopy, and no matter where we buy it from his legs are like balloons in the morning! it costs me about £12 a week on straw and only £7.90 a week on shavings. So he just gets a thick shavings bed and all problems are resolved. Strangely he'll only lay down on shavings. So sometimes horse has to decide for us.
 
Straw. Versatile and warm. I deep litter and this works very well for me as the bottom layer is never touched therefore no smell. Remove poos only. Also, it acts like an electric blanket as the urine and straw "ferment" underneath. All the horses are bedded this way and the barn is nice and warm in winter. The only thing is, cleaning the whole stable in spring... Backbreaking as the wet layer is very heavy and has turned red!

I dot have much choice in the matter but before I had to use straw, I tried every type of bedding going. I didn't like shavings as it sticks to manes and tails and no easier than straw to muck out and it still stank. Elephant grass was just like straw but SUPER absorbent! A bit "sticky" unless you buy the pelleted form.

I haven't tried flax and some people say this is amazing.

I guess I will never know :)
 
Quite a lot of horses are allergic to flax and we had one allergic to shavings ( skin not wind )
Paper is a lovely bedding but the mess it makes when it blows off the muckheap stops me using it.
 
Straw always looks cosier and is cheaper per bale, but depends how much you use. I personally hate straw beds, they get smelly and I don't like mucking them out, shavings for me personaly
 
I currently have a pony in 24/7 with Cushings laminitis and the vet suggested shavings as its more comfortable to stand on. In the mornings his back is covered with shavings so he obviously doesn't have a problem rolling in the either. (Shetland pony in a foaling pen)
 
A lot depends on how your muck heap is disposed of - mine is spread on the hay fields, and as soft wood (shavings) is acid I don't have it in the muck heap. I have already spent a fortune on lime!
I use flax/hemp or chopped rape straw as a deep litter style base, with straw on top. Straw is warm and easy to skip out if it doesn't have the wet in it, and the base is absorbent so that's where the wet goes. I do have one very wet mare (Insulin Resistance) and when she is stabled in winter I hang a heat lamp over her bed during the day to dry it out, otherwise I would be pretty much replacing the whole base every couple of days and it would never get to that nice compacted base. stage.
 
Both! Straw is comfier but not as absorbent, so just put a thin layer of shavings underneath the straw bed in the 'wee spot' to soak up the wee. Used to work a treat when mine was stabled!
 
A friend of mine lost her horse to cic because he are his straw bed. I do like a straw bed but my boy is messier on straw than shavings so he will be going back to shavings when we move next month x
 
Our messy horse was much better on straw than shavings, and I always found shavings dustier. My other gripe with shavings is if you want to treat a cut on the leg or mudrash, the shaving stick to it. I love a nice straw bed and find it easier to muck out, and a lot cheaper by miles, but I do agree that they smell more, especially if you have rubber mats underneath.
 
I'd go for shavings any day. My horses lie on solid summer baked ground so I think either is comfy compared to that, I don't think horses nestle in though anyway so cosieness is of little importance really.
I do use straw because I get it free and being on a budget it would be silly of me to insist on spending money needlessly.
One of my horses would cough on straw so he gets a mix of wood pellets and shavings. I find this combo good as the pellets are better in terms of absorbency but the shavings keep it a bit lighter to muck out. If money was no option they would all be on bedmax
 
A lot of people say their horses died of straw induced colic. I wonder if investigated that this is the case as I know many people who use straw as a feed including myself... ???
 
We did try straw as it was available in the last yard we were in. But, the pony ate half her bed (no ill effects), too much wet, and complete muck out everyday, and me stinking more than usual lol

With shavings, the kids found it easier, I could leave the bed for a week without disturbing the wet and smell wise we were fine. Pony is a very clean mare though. One winter, I did use a tree tea or lavender mixture from ebay to combat the ammonia smell, it was great as we were deep littering all winter. And she had a clean stable.

It was easier to clear up before we left, that was the only convenience I found about straw. However, I know people that will never use shavings. So, there you go xx
 
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