Sorry, old timer noob question... Straw beds

[Queenbee]

hey there,

Ok so I feel a fool... 25 years of horse ownership and asking a proper novice question but it's been so very long I simply can't remember :/

I'm switching back to straw bedding, now I do have rubber mats but I like my 'proper' straw beds so will be making it old style... Big and beautiful lol...

For a proper decent size traditional straw bed with banks in a 12 x 12 stable how many bales do I factor in?

 

[Equi]

One question....why!???? lol

I can't answer the qu you have cause i only used straw for about a week when i got my first pony..and no..do you remember the hassle mucking them out?

 

[Queenbee]

Lol, I love mucking out a straw bed, I switched to shavings for 1 reason, he ate his bed (but now he has absolute ad lib hay so that's a non issue). Up until now - shavings have been pretty economical, 1 bale a week but with the weather... It's 2-3 bales due to the wet walls and the general damp atmosphere... Financially it's not viable, straw is so much cheaper. Plus I quite enjoy mucking out lol

 

[Ladyinred]

5 small bales will give you a big fluffy bed. 4 will 'do' and 6 will be generous. Can you get big bales? Ours are only £20 and last two horses around 5 weeks, a huge saving.

 

[Equi]

I love mucking out too but not straw! But then when i moved to my house it had 26 stables full of proper deep bedded straw beds (race horse rehab yard) and i could have cried at having to muck them all out lol

I use halmac now at yard for big man, on a concrete base, the bales are smaller than shavings but i find it absorbs more. I use two a week, after an initial 6. i have to buy it off my YO (but its the same price as its bought, no profit for YO) but im not sure what it costs tbh lol

i think the point is its better to have a good base - mats and flooring included. i use one bale at a time at home which could last two weeks for my two minis sometimes three in a stall, but i have 2" thick rubber mats covering the entire stall on top of cobbles. they often lie on the bits of the mats with no bedding, despite a bed being there. My stallions is covered in normal stable mats (the correct way around with bubbles UP stripes DOWN) and his stall (half the size of the big stall) gets half a bale a week

 

[PorkChop]

I would say 5 or 6 as a start up, it sounds beds down so for the first few weeks maybe factor in a few more until you get a decent bed going.

I love a straw bed, just can't cope with smelling of wee

 

[Lacuna]

5 small bales will give you a big fluffy bed. 4 will 'do' and 6 will be generous. Can you get big bales? Ours are only £20 and last two horses around 5 weeks, a huge saving.

Sounds about right for start up and then I'm currently using about 7 small bales a month to keep it topped up. Little man has concrete underneath too and I like to keep the bed thick.

 

[poiuytrewq]

Not a stupid question! I've used straw loads and love the actual bed but as above the mucking out and smell (on me) makes me cry!
I'd say it totally depends on the straw bales. They vary so so much.
I remember one year at a yard I was at the strings breaking on some big bales so the guy brought it over and shared a load out between the liveries on straw. It was way too much and I literally couldn't see my horse in the morning asleep! He obviously loved it as I'd never caught him lying down before or after!

 

[DD]

5 or 6 to start with. I too am going back to straw, read something last week, a veterinary practice has studied bedding and found that horses lie down more and sleep flat out on a straw bed where as they sleep less on shavings and other beds. talked about sleep deprivation linked to lack of REM sleep and behaviour problems and not enough rest generally re recovery from exercise. wish I could find the link.

 

[Cahill]

i like straw but gave up years ago because of vermin in the storage shed.

 

[tatty_v]

One big bale lasts me and my horse 5 to 6 weeks. I love a huge straw bed and he seems to as well as he lies down flat out every night (and sometimes refuses to get up in the morning!)

 

[Casey76]

I only have big bale straw, but I could probably use 1 a week between two lol!

I have a feeling I would use less if I had bigger stables, but with small stables it all gets mushed in together more.

 

[pennyturner]

I wouldn't know... every time I have to keep a pony in, I put down a quarter bed of straw, and he's eaten it by morning.

 

[ozpoz]

Hard to say, it depends on the quality of straw and the bale size.
Lots of people underestimate how much to use.
Deep enough, and it will not smell, your horse will be far enough off the floor to stay warm and dry, and will lie down to sleep.

 

[Cahill]

s`posed to stick a prong in and it not touch the floor.

 

[SEL]

1/2 a big bale got me 2 new beds down, but I pretty much had to take out an entire bed after the rains the other week. There's no obvious leak in the roof but I think the water table was so high it was coming up through the concrete floor. It stunk!

I've got rubber matting underneath the bed of the one with arthritis because he tends to shuffle the whole bed around during the night and bank it up against the door. I wonder about trying him on shavings but that could be a bit expensive if he still decides to remodel his bedroom during the night.

 

[eggs]

Can't really answer your question but I recently swopped tow of mine back to straw but I buy the big bales at £20 a time. I have found in the past though that unless your stable drains well having rubber mats under a straw bed (even a thick one) doesn't really work as the wee just runs through the straw and then pools under the mats leaving the stable rather stinky.

I've removed the rubber mats from the back half of the stables that are now on straw and so far it seems to be working well for them.

 

[Bojingles]

Get a nice big bale of rape straw - so much more absorbent

 

[ShadowHunter]

I used two medium bales to start my bed in a 12 x 12. I'd say the bales are about 4 and a half foot long by a foot wide. Guesstimating here. There was so much in there i could barely walk in it. I use shavings underneath to keep the straw drier and theres no smell.

 

[Merrymoles]

I'm a fan of straw but the main reason we don't use it at the yard I am at is the size of the resulting muck heap and need for more frequent removal. Otherwise, I'd swap in a shot, but then I do have (far too many) years of experience of mucking out straw beds and find them quick and easy to do.

 

[skint1]

I don't know how much straw I use as it comes as part of our livery price but just wanted to say ...welcome back to the world of big fluffy beds!! I tried shavings and mats and I really couldn't get my head round it, it's probably because I am not careful enough at mucking out and as doing it incorrectly but I could never get it to look lovely and used so much it actually properly depressed me and cost a fortune.

 

[Queenbee]

Hi all and thank you, yes I am hoping to get a large bale however - at the moment, getting hold of any size bales is proving tricky in my area... im going to keep on with shavings and keep looking - if I can find a reasonably priced supplier that is going to consistently have straw for sale then I will make the swap

 

[Casey76]

I love a proper straw bed

It takes me about a week to establish a bed so I'm replacing only what I take out. Both of mine are bed munchers, probably due to the amount of seed heads left in the straw, but I can muck out, bed up, bed down and top up in about 15 minutes, though my mucky monster usually takes longer if he has done a lot of whiffling though the straw

 

[Pinkvboots]

I think about 4 or 5 bales of good barley straw can't be doing with wheat straw it's horrible to muck out and just looks flat when put down, one of mine is on straw the other one is on shavings as he will eat an entire bed of straw overnight

 

[crabbymare]

5 or 6 to start with. I too am going back to straw, read something last week, a veterinary practice has studied bedding and found that horses lie down more and sleep flat out on a straw bed where as they sleep less on shavings and other beds. talked about sleep deprivation linked to lack of REM sleep and behaviour problems and not enough rest generally re recovery from exercise. wish I could find the link.

http://bit.ly/2fz1ON9 If this is the same one I posted it in another thread here a few days ago

 

[Orangehorse]

s`posed to stick a prong in and it not touch the floor.

Really? Never heard that before. But I make mine nice and deep and the horse does lie down every night. Straw is also supposed to be best for feet as the air can circulate.

 

[{97702}]

Really? Never heard that before. But I make mine nice and deep and the horse does lie down every night. Straw is also supposed to be best for feet as the air can circulate.

That one is real old school (sorry Cahill, but I know we are of a similar age ) - it is one I always remember. I have no rubber mats but I do have unlimited free straw as part of my livery package so I have huge deep straw beds (like my yard owner!)

We use big bale straw, I estimate I use 2/3rds of a bale a week (??) as I skip out Monday. Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and only do a full muck out on the other days. My boy always makes the front half of his bed wet, so he is really easy to manage

 

[Mike007]

Use wheat straw if at all possible .we used to use about 3/4 of a small (20kg) bale per day .I love the stuff . There are people who can muck out shavings and there are people who can muck out a straw bed ,there are no people who do both well. I can muck out a straw bed faster than most people can do a shavinds bed (sadly my attempts at shavings are pitiful ( editors note from Bob the nota cob, Bloody useless more like)A shavings muck heap is of no use to man nor beast (or plant) Straw at least rots down well and has a value.I funded my point to pointing as a teenager by flogging everyone in the vicinities muck heaps to allotment societies. I earnt a fortune!The only down side of straw is that you wind up smelling of horse (well to be precise ,horses bum) Shavings tend to absorb the smell.

 

[Bertolie]

Can't help with how many bales to set up but wanted to say I love my big straw beds. We have unlimited straw included in livery and my mare's stable is 16x14. I have rubber mats at front of stable and then straw beds on concrete base at back. My stable is very well draining and I only take out poo and any really wet bits during week, then a full muck out at weekend. My beds are at least a foot deep and must be comfy as my mare loves lying flat out. I tried shavings and pellets at a previous yard but hated them and couldn't wait to swap back to straw.

 

[Mince Pie]

That one is real old school (sorry Cahill, but I know we are of a similar age ) - it is one I always remember.

Us younger folks were taught it too! I'm in my 30's and was taught to drop a fork, prongs down, on to the bed. If the form hit concrete you needed more straw!