shavings or straw

[gemz666]

im thinking of putting my gelding on too them but dad thinks there more expensive then straw and wont last as long but he eats his bed so i would like too put him on shavings
we pay 5 a week for as much straw as we like and there is aldy who can get shavings for 4.50 a bale
what do you guys think??

 

[CastleMouse]

I'd go for shavings! If he eats his bed shavings will be much better!

 

[brightmount]

My yard stopped doing straw - like you we got as much as we wanted for £5 pw. I would go back to straw like a shot, and I'm currently considering getting it delivered to my home and taking it up to the yard each day, as shavings are expensive and so much worse at dealing with all the yuk.

Well, in fact I'm using easibed which is better than shavings, but having had my youngster in for a few days with an injury, she is a total bed wrecker and churns all the muck into her bed, so easibed is going to cost me a fortune in the winter - hence the straw idea.

My other horse may be OK on easibed as she doesn't churn it up, but when I think back to their lovely cosy straw beds last winter, I know what I prefer.

 

[K9Wendy]

When we used straw I always felt it was warmer & knew if she nibbled on it she's never be hungry. She didn't gorge herself but when other livery was late turning out (which is why we moved in the end) she never went starving, didn't do her any harm. Cheaper to buy and easier to compost & spread..

 

[eekmon]

I lurve my straw bed!! Its cheap and nicer to muck out than shavings! I pay £1.50 a bale, 2-3 bales a week as oppose to £3.75 a bag of shavings! You would need two bales of shavings a week ( at least if you have full beds) My horse is really clean and doesn't eat it! If your horse is eating it by the bucket load then maybe shavings are for you!

 

[Dougie]

just watch if he eats straw then he migh eat shavings, giving him an impaction(colic)

 

[wiglet]

Straw does make a cosy bed and it's kind on the pocket but, both my horses are on shavings - my TB eats straw and has suffered with colic because of it, my tbx suffers RAO/COPD.

 

[flyingfeet]

We use straw and got some fab bales- very clean & smell lovely.

Much cheaper than shavings and also banned from using shavings / paper etc due to the fact that we only give it a year to rot before spreading on the fields. Shavings take ages to compost.

 

[debbielinder]

i use shaving find it a lot easier than straw and my horse would eat the straw any way but i find that straw smells more and when i did work experience a few years ago at a riding school that only used straw my new joddy boots i had bought the week before rotted after only 2 weeks! we get are shavings from the woodyard so although we have to get it ourselves its a hell of a lot cheaper than buying bales