Straw bed users- money saving tip!

[clairencappelli]

After having my horse in for the past 5 weeks on box rest and getting throught a whole bal of hay and a bale of straw a day i had a sit down and think about ways of reducing costs ( cant afford 30 a week on just hay and straw alone ).

I used to have shavings but when i moved yards we could choose our bedding so decided last year to chance to straw which i love!

I have discovered a good way of keeping straw costs down tho for horses on box rest like mine of one that are dirty ( wet wise ) in the stable.

Before you bed down sprinkle a carrier bag full of shavings down before you lay your bed in the area where your horse wee's. It doesnt move of mix with the straw and stays on the bottom and soaks up the wet faster than the straw. This in turn draws the moisture away from the straw so you use much less.

If you want a nice smelling stable ( we all know straw can have more of a smell ) The when you sweep the floor sprinkle a stable disinfectant power down on the wet parts ( i use sirocco ) then lay the shavings on it and bed down.

Its brilliant for reducing straw costs and keeping the smell away and very inexpensive

 

[hollyzippo]

Good tip- fingers crossed I dont need it at the mo, but grey tends to break regularly so sure it will come in handy!

 

[spaniel]

If you can find a local stockist...Megazorb is even more absorbant that shavings and I have used this under straw and shavings beds with great results.

 

[horsegirl]

I have tried this and found that rather than the wee running through the straw and evaporating the shavings soaked it up and made the bed more wet. I did find that as my horse always poos & wees in one half of the stable I made the bed on that side slightly thinner and out the extra on the other half which has made it quicker to muck out and saved me about a bale of straw every 10 - 14 days.

 

[ihatework]

cheaper still is to put down 2 bales of hemp/flax (e.g. aubiose/hemcore/equisorb) and then a full straw bed. Deep litter it and you get through less than a bale of straw a week!

 

[clairencappelli]

I dont like deep litter ( personal preferance- didnt like it on shavings either )

Im mucking out fully once a day then sweeping the floor letting it dry a bit then putting on the sirocco ( this absorbs the wet and is left on the floor ) then i lay a patch of shavings down and bed down. I skip out in the eves when i go down.

I used 6 bales of straw last week and this week have only had 3 so its cut my usage of straw literally in half!.

Its def worth trying and i shall use this in the winter as well when the bed is a tad wetter.

Hadnt thought of megasorb etc, i founds aubisoe didnt soak as much up as i used that before.

 

[Krysha_n_Helga]

i know what you meen helga is really wet when on box rest but i lucky on my new yard it`s £5 for as much straw as you want so woulds out a lot cheaper for me then the other yard coz it was £2.50 a bale and i was useing 6/7 a week thats about £17.50 a week just for the straw.

 

[Coffee_Bean]

I get my straw free

 

[Nari]

I must have really clean horses because between my two I only use 4 bales a week! Both are on thick beds, Jim is mucked out fully every day (it's a mess if I only skip out) & LU is skipped out one day & mucked out the next. The beds always look clean & don't smell, I'm obviously really really lucky

 

[clairencappelli]

My horse is clean on straw too but as she is on box rest so im basicaly using double what i normally would be.

I do a full muck out once a day and also a skip out but having the shavings under the straw helps sooo much.

We buy our straw from the y/o as we use it and pay weekly and its really lovely straw and its only 1.80 a bale but when im using a bale a day combined with a bale of hay @ £3.00 plus feed and rent etc its getting very very expensive.

I will def be using this in the winter to help when the bed gets a bit wetter and the floor doesnt dry as well

Just an idea for saving some money that might come in handy

 

[JGKJ]

Ive just moved mine on to straw from shavings (trying to save money!) and i found i was taking sooo much wet out on a daily basis. I muck out for someone who does the shavings and straw combination and i always find it great to do, so put a sprinkle of shavings down each day and its great, i hardly waste much straw at all as its the shavings that mainly get taken out! I think the combination works really well!

 

[ISHmad]

Another one here who has a couple of inches of shavings underneath a lovely big straw bed. Works a treat, and saves me a fortune as previously mine were all on shavings. I muck out the wet every day though, hate the thought of deep litter.

 

[clairencappelli]

Jen_kelly I know what you mean about reducing costs.

When my girl was on shavings id use 2 bales a week and that was when she was out during the day. It took me ages to muck out as she kicked the poo about. I made a snap desion to move to straw and ive not looked back since.

I also find that most of what i throw away is the shavings and i only use a large carrier bag full a day so it really has taken the sting out of the cost.

ISH_Mad i cant abide smelly beds either. I have good drainage but my stable floor get a wash once a week and the rest of the time i put sirocco down.

Hehe im a very fussy about my stable. cant stand the thought of my girl haing to stand in a stinky stable in the summer all day long.

Def worth a try id say.

 

[Panther]

used to use straw with shaving under and it does work! and keep straw for longer...but found it too hard work for so many horses... went onto easibed for a while which is good but now use course cut hemp...
don't like the fine cut stuff... ambroise etc.. as find it much to slippery for horses and takes so long to bed down or worse still you have to wet it?? seems madness..
the hemp i get is longer and courser cut and also has esentila oils in for respiratory tract..
at £5 a bale I'm laughing..

 

[greynightmare]

I hv to have straw for my grey gelding because he's so wet and dirty, so will try the shavings and see it it helps, but I do deep litter my pony, he's so clean and dry I only have to use a bale of shavings a month, just wish Ash my horse could take a leaf out of Toby Pony's book lol.

 

[Chex]

I used to do this to try and stop the pee getting underneath the rubber mats (didn't work though

). I only use a bale of straw a week, even without shavings!