Straw Beds - effective tips for keeping it clean?!

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mischamoo

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What are people's views of a straw bed with woodchip on the base?

I have a very messy TB gelding on box rest at the moment.

He has very thick rubber mats under a current deep straw bed but am finding he's so messy, I'm having to remove most his bed daily where the wet just keeps soaking to the top.

He is a bed eater of his straw however :mad:, especially when first laid and I worry that it maybe a colic case waiting to happen if he decides to munch down his straw bed to the woodchip that I hope to lay underneath the straw as an aid to help soak up the wet.

I'm very happy with him bedded on straw and he seems to find it more comfy than when he was on woodchip so the option of completely changing his bedding isn't a preferred option if possible.

Has anyone used this technique before? Was it effective? Is horse likely to ingest woodchip if he decides to take a fancy and eat his bed?

Any suggestions welcome!!
 
Deep litter on a deep sawdust base packed well down, with garden lime on the floor under the lot.

Then a good deep bed of straw again packed well down. Make a mix of Jeyes Fluid ½ strength and using a pump spray, lightly spray the bed all over - horses generally won't eat it with the Jeyes Fluid on it.

And before anyone starts screaming dangerous stuff - horses for many decades have had it sprayed on their beds with no problems.
 
Straw is not intended to be an absorbant bed, it works much better where there is drainage. Shavings, woodchip, etc. are all absorbant bedding systems, so trying to combine the two, especially with a dirty horse who may churn up his bedding, is problematic. I keep all mine on straw over rubber matting, and there is a camber on the floor to allow urine to drain out. I muck out fully once a day and skip out droppings as needed. This works for mine (and I do have a very dirty, wet horse), with shavings underneath I find the straw gets much wetter and smells too.
 
If he's eating straw does he have enough hay? or does his weight mean he needs limited hay? Ad lib hay may fix the straw eating (but mine enjoys eating straw so not always the case!)
Rather than woodchip have you thought about wood pellets? They are really absorbant and don't appear tasty at all.
Alternative have you tried less straw? It sounds odd but I just put a bed down in 1/3 of my stables and find they are much cleaner than when I bed the whole box - might be worth an experiment.
 
Thanks all for replies.

Polos Mum - He has adlib hay, good quality and never restricted, just likes to eat his straw bed too! Hadn't thought about wood pellets but will enquire thank you. And yes less straw, he's still the same, I would say about 1/3 to 1/2 of his box is currently bedded.

To be honest I don’t normally have a problem with his muckiness and his bed is usually manageable on a typical day as he’s out for most of it! It’s only the 24hour boxrest that it’s come to pose a time -consuming, mucky and smelly problem!

This may be a case of trial and error….:rolleyes:
 
Brimmers said:
Agree with Cortez.

Also, you don't need a massive amount of bedding with rubber matting, just wasting money
Click to expand...

Rubber matting should never be used as a bedding replacement - the reason for rubber matting was to cushion the horses legs against the concrete!

You need a good deep bed to prevent draughts from chilling the horse.
 
Tnavas said:
Rubber matting should never be used as a bedding replacement - the reason for rubber matting was to cushion the horses legs against the concrete!

You need a good deep bed to prevent draughts from chilling the horse.
Click to expand...

Im not saying its a replacement - but you don't need to use as much bedding with rubber matting as you would if it was just a concrete floor
 
Tnavas said:
Deep litter on a deep sawdust base packed well down, with garden lime on the floor under the lot.

Then a good deep bed of straw again packed well down. Make a mix of Jeyes Fluid ½ strength and using a pump spray, lightly spray the bed all over - horses generally won't eat it with the Jeyes Fluid on it.

And before anyone starts screaming dangerous stuff - horses for many decades have had it sprayed on their beds with no problems.
Click to expand...

i have used jeys fluid, horse still ate the bed! hes fine though... lol
 
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