Straw bedding

Oberon

Oberon

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Ran out of my beloved wood pellets and not worth buying another tonne in at this point.

So I've started using straw this week.

Come back from the yard each day and OMG I REEK!
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Stinky stinky!

Back to my pellets asap ;)
 
I changed over to hemp bedding which I loved but when it was unavailable some time ago I reverted, temporarily I thought, to straw and after a few days I realised how unhappy my horse had been on the hemp. Although he's a great one for lying down in the stable - afternoon naps, sleeping at night, etc., - I realised that he hadn't been lying down or rolling on the hemp as he did on straw.

Im back to keeping mine on straw deep litter now - the old-fashioned properly managed deep litter not the I'm-in-a-hurry-I'll-skip-out-now-and-muck-out-on-Saturday sort of "deep litter". I doesn't smell, is warm and dry, is better for their feet (IME properly deep-littered horses never get thrush) and when you walk on it it's like walking on a sprung mattress. I have a friend who has never cleared her stable out for several years. The bed is amazing - spotless, firm and about 2 feet deep! However, I usually do mine out once a year as I like to disinfect the stable while the horses are on 24 hour turn out in summer. One of the benefits to both human and horse there is less straw flying around so you are both less likely to have chest problems.

And rubber mats are the work of the devil. Smelly, difficult to keep clean and bl**dy hard work.
 
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Would completely agree. It is horrifiying to think that once, I always honked like that, and had NO IDEA... What on earth did others think of me? I love my wood pellets too...
 
Wow shocked to hear you say this I only use straw and no odour, saying that we have our stables built in an old dairy parlour and it has a drainage channel.

If I was building stables I would put in a channel like this as it seems to make for clean dry beds even on straw.:)
 
I move yards last year. The first had mats and the second didn't. I can't get over the difference in the smell. It's so much better without the mats. I don't (think) I come away stinking like I used too!!
 
kaiserchief said:
Kai has a straw bed onto the bare floor (no mats - hate them!) that I fully muck out each day and it never smells in there.
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same here, my mate has mats she mucks out every day and her bad don't smell either (that's unless of course it does smell and just can't smell it) :eek:
 
LaurenB said:
I don't smell and use deep bed of straw with rubber matting :) wouldn't change for anything else either
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If the mats are fitted properly, wall to wall and tight, they don't smell. Poorly fitted, leaky, gappy, non draining ones will. Never have to lift mine and dry underneath.
 
Trinity Fox said:
Wow shocked to hear you say this I only use straw and no odour, saying that we have our stables built in an old dairy parlour and it has a drainage channel.

If I was building stables I would put in a channel like this as it seems to make for clean dry beds even on straw.:)
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I'd love to be able to build my own stables :)
 
I detest straw - I hate mucking it out and I hate the smell. Yet I will happily use Equinola which is chopped rape straw! It's just so much easier somehow!
 
My two boys love their straw beds!! They've been on most bedding types, hemp, shavings, paper etc but definitely prefer straw. Both have mats and tbh they do smell (not a tight fit) but they're eva so can lift regularly and clean. Made the decision though to not bother with mats this next winter, apart from one mat in the doorway. Love straw!!!
 
Straw probably does smell a bit, but not as much as shaving imho - one livery near me goes into the pub in her gear, and she STINKS!

We have ours on rubber mats, and no they they don't drain as well as you'd hope - but I swill them out as much as possible when in use over the winter, and give the stables a good pressure hose taking everything out in the summer.

I will also be pressure washing the feedroom out this summer to get rid of the overpowering smell of rat :mad:
 
Nothing beats a lovely deep straw bed but
The smell ugh ,
They eat it big issue with competion horses
It is very difficult to have the wind in opimin health with straw
Mountains of muck to get rid of
Huge heap of bales to store
Difficult to source good quality small bales round here
The health and safety issues with staff
Shavings for me but I still hanker after those lovely old fashioned beds.
 
Oberon, I'm in the same boat! I've been let down on my pellet order and will need to find straw for this eve..even if only till pellets arrive..I love miscanthus pellets too on rubber matting, loose fitted and nothing smells. Can't beat it from my allergy point either.May I ask where was everyone buying their pellets and what were you paying? last lot I bought a ton loose..this time I think it will have to be bagged as house move is pending so shouldn't really be having it in barrels outside the house, not all buyers are horsey so doubt they would understand!!!;-/
 
I'd love deep, straw beds - my barn mate keeps a lovely, 'old fashioned' straw bed with her horse.

But my horses are too wet and straw sets of my asthma when I put it down :(
 
Love huge straw beds. Nice thick properly mucked out / correctly deep littered ones rarely stink. It's usually the very thin, improperly maintained ones that do.
 
SaharaS said:
Oberon, I'm in the same boat! I've been let down on my pellet order and will need to find straw for this eve..even if only till pellets arrive..I love miscanthus pellets too on rubber matting, loose fitted and nothing smells. Can't beat it from my allergy point either.May I ask where was everyone buying their pellets and what were you paying? last lot I bought a ton loose..this time I think it will have to be bagged as house move is pending so shouldn't really be having it in barrels outside the house, not all buyers are horsey so doubt they would understand!!!;-/
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About £230 per tonne, delivered LWP in small bags.
 
I love our straw beds, have never enjoyed dealing with anything else but perhaps because I have more straw practice!

No rubber mats and we only do a proper muck out once a week, the rest of the time just poo pick and top it up, so I only get smelly once a week :p. We only have two so our muck heap gets transported down to the local allotments once a year :D
 
Ester - this year I involved the local allottments to take away the muck we collect from the field which is kept in a separate pile to the stable muck - I think by the end of the year the stable stuff will be ncie and well rotted enough for them to take though - can't wiat to get rid of it!
 
I love Straw. I deep litter and only do a full muck out at the end on the winter. when my boy goes out 24/7, then i will disinfect the stable which has old quarry belts down as rubber matting as i don't have a very good floor. I dont smell because i do not disturb the base when i muck out daily. And i muck out in my lunch hour then go back to the office and believe me the guys would tell me if i stink.
 
yup we keep ours in two piles :), last year when collecting both piles with their mini digger they made an earth wall to keep the poo in :) and stop the badgers digging it all out and making it a mess. Our straw will be a year old when they take it, certainly anything bar the top layer is good to use.


It is also possible that I like my straw muck heap too much :o, with proper walls and everything, I get a bit sad when it goes :o.

also takes minutes to sort in the week and mucking out at the weekend is a barrow and a bit, 20 mins tops.

nice bed
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nice muckheap

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:D :D
 
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Our straw muck heap is held in with metal panels, doesn't look hugely pretty (although we are growing a hedge around it) but keeps it nice and compact.
 
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