shavings questions * previous straw user*

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wildpoppywild

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at my new yard the horses are on dust free shavings which i and my asthmatic chest are loving, but i just have a couple of questions?

1 how much muck would u usually be taking out a day?

2 my instinct would tell me to remove wet shavings but i see a lot of people don't do this? should i leave them in??

any answers greatly appreciated
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il tell you what i do, which may not be the best way but hey!! lol!! I have rubber mats and a shavings bed which covers about half the stable, and is reasonably thick but not overly as my mats are very squishy
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I have always used straw and decided to switch to shavings to help my breathing as well as my horse. I take out about 1/2 to a full small barrow a day and put in 1 bag of shavings per week to maintain a nice clean white bed
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Because my horse poos then kicks it all over the place i basically fork all the bedding up and pick out all the poo that falls down - repeat this and you get it all out and uncover the wet - i do take the wet out everyday but its much easier than taking out wet straw - some wet drains through my mats though so once a week i lift them and clean the floor. Its working out cheaper for me on shavings, easier to maintain and much better for my breathing!!
 
Are your shavings on mats? I don't have mats in one of my stables so I deep litter it - I leave the wet in, it 'beds' down into a thick base, so I just take the poo's out and the really, really, really wet stuff, everything else is flatten out and a layer of fresh spread over the top (taken from the banks where I stash it till it is needed!)
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Are your shavings on mats? I don't have mats in one of my stables so I deep litter it - I leave the wet in, it 'beds' down into a thick base, so I just take the poo's out and the really, really, really wet stuff, everything else is flatten out and a layer of fresh spread over the top (taken from the banks where I stash it till it is needed!)
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This is EXACTLY what I do!!!
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even down to the stashing it as banks!! xx
 
Ug, I had to change to shavings because the whole yard did and my previously clean boy is a right mucky pup now.

shavings are ok if your horse doesnt move about too much at night. Mine must be a fidget bum.

I have to take all the loose dry shavings off the top and bank them at the sides, taking out the poo as I go, but I don't disturb the 'base' which is the wet shavings that form a firm base after a day or two of a new bed being down, then I pull the clean shavings back down over the base and he has a nice thick clean fluffy bed.

Then at a weekend, I'll do the same, but then take out the wet base with a snow shovel and use the shavings round the side to lay a new bed and put in a new bale or two on top to make it lovely. After a day or so that base layer of older shavings firms up nicely.

This is partly because I muck out before work so don't want to be in about wet stuff in the mornings!

I have read this back to my self and I know that sound anally fussy about his bed. I can't really deny that either.

Fx
 
I have the same set up as suzie86. To be honest I only take out the poo and the wet I can see on a daily basis. I have a thorough scrape and sift through their beds on a Saturday and put more shavings in - my shavings are loose, so I put three wheelbarrows full in each stable. I then put more shavings in on Tues and Thurs - about a wheelbarrow each time. Their beds are about ten inches thick now and growing as I never take the whole lot out.

I remove about a wheelbarrow of poo and wet daily for each of them.
 
I take out one wheelbarrow per horse a day, including all the wet. Some people do leave the wet for afew more days but i think it depends on the horse. If the horse drags its feet in the stable, it just mixes all the wet bed into the clean shavings which can then become quite a heavy bed to muck out. Other horses don't seem to mix it up as much and you can get away with leaving the wet in for longer. I think you just have to experiment a bit with your horse and see which way works best for you...so much easier than straw though. I use 1 bale a week per horse.
 
I pick up the poos every time I'm near the stable using a pair of heavy duty gloves, much more specific than a fork. Once a week I take all the wet out, leave the bed up for the day then put slightly damp stuff in the main wee spot and nice fresh and fluffy everywhere else. My clean ponys bed looks great all week, The wet one sometimes needs bit of wet taken out mid week.
My horse who is quite disgusting I have on straw so I can do a proper job every day.
 
Mats for front third, deep litter shavings for back 2 thirds. Take out half a small wheelbarrow full daily, and that's with Sunny in during the day, out at night. I use 1 bale a week. With deep litter, just take out the poos, any obvious wet, level the surface again and tamp back down (I use the back of the shavings fork) before scraping fresh shavings down from the bank at the back. My deep litter bed has been down for well over 2 years with no other attention than as above. And it's as fresh and sweet as the day it was laid. To be fair though, Sunny is an easy and quiet horse in his stable. If he trashed his bed every night it would be a bit different.
 
I take out the poo by hand (gloves & bucket!) saves a lot of bedding and doesnt take me any longer, then take the wet out daily too and i usually fill a barrow to half/3/4.
 
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