Straw smelly to muck out??

McNally

McNally

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I use shavings but straw is included in my livery cost and money is v tight right now so it might be as well to use it!

I find that if i muck my friends mare out (straw) I stink, I can smell wee in my car and on my clothes and people comment (ie- other half and daughter when i get home!!) whereas i can muck 10 shavings beds and no one says i stink of pi**!

Is it just this mare? she is a pig!
The real reason i dont use straw is because i am asthmatic and worried as to how the dust will effect my breathing- but thats something i can try out!

Does anyone else notice a difference between people smelling relating to the bedding they use!?
 
Wear an oversuit, hat and wellies and once you've washed your hands you won't smell. Try a mask if you think it'll exacerbate your asthma.
 
Overalls are a good idea- as are wellies actually! I tend to only ever wear long leather boots which i try not to hose off if i can help it.

A mask is also an idea, even if just for shaking up new stuff.
I find the smell really hard to get off my hands even- I think its ingrained into her rugs! but i guess gloves! My god, i will look like some sort of chemical disposal guy!
 
I actually find it the opposite, if i muck out my friends mare who is on shavings i absolutely stink whereas when i muck my gelding out who is on straw the smell is barely noticeable.

i have had all my horses on straw and never had an issue.

Give it a go you have nothing to lose :D
 
straw does smell more, overalls are good, defo wellies and gloves. For your asthma a friend on my yard is asthmatic she takes antihistamines before she does her stable and it stops the asthma
 
Yup, it sticks. I hate it. Even without any medical breathing problems I used to get horrid blocked/bleeding nose from blowing so much when mucking out on straw. Don't really like it for the horses either. Having said that a thinner shavings layer underneath with straw on top to keep horse/wet patches apart could work well (as long as you/horse wear masks/aren't too bothered by the dust) and might work out cheaper?
 
I would expect you to struggle with the dust as I did (also asthma). When you blow your nose after it comes out a dirty black colour (an be seen through tissue). In terms of smell though, I did a full muck out every day & it was a very sweet smelling bed. I would have been happy to lie down in it & get up clean & dry. Does smell if you deep litter. Newish bedding on the market, called something like uncle jack's. Is finely chopped straw. Friend uses it, cheap, much more absorbant than straw & much less dusty, may be good compromise for you.
 
It does smell bad - I had to put my mare on straw for a month whilst waiting for new mats to arrive at new stable - hated every minute of it. It has to be the least absorbant material in the whole world!

Why don't you try to talk your YO into making something like wood pellets the "freebie" - they are cheap, very muck heap friendly and high biodegradable!
 
straw does smell more as it drain the wet through it rather than soak it up like shavings BUT it does depend on how deep the beds are. Ive mucked out shavings 'beds' where they just 'scare' the floor with a scattering of shavings to soak up the wet and this stinks more than straw beds! A good deep straw bed wont smell that bad if it is looked after well.
 
I have all mine on very deep straw beds and i have some serious muck monsters, but i enjoy mucking out so they get a darn good muck out every day and i have no prob with stinky straw.
Do find if i am running low before my delivery and they get a shallower bed there can be quite an aroma.
But i had no choice but to change to straw as most of them i was using nearly a bale of shavings a day
 
Y/O wont go with any other freebie bedding as she rents the yard- i suppose Y/M not Y/O! and straw is included off the farmer she rents off.

I had NO idea my boots were rotting! good tip there as i live in mine- although the only beds i muck out are immaculate anyway really.

If i use straw it will be really deep and mucked out properly every day but as far as i know my friends mare is mucked out properly every day aswell!

The horses breathing is the other thing i do worry about- he is only 3.5 and has no problems but i am very keen to keep it that way having had serious breathing problems which led to our last pony being pts (after years of it)

Our stables drain well and i have noticed and been slightly grossed out by the little streams of wee coming from some of them!
Will see, think i have about 8 bales of shavings left and that will last me a while anyway but think after that i will perhaps give it a go.
 
Straw does smell al bit more, but mainly if they have rubber matting as well, as the wee sits under the mats. Straw is not meant to absorb, its meant to let the wee drain through, and the stable should slightly slope to the door...

We changed from shavings to straw, and it saved a fortune. We find it quicker to muck out too. I'm not asthmatic, but find it less dusty than a lot of shavings! I also think its better for the horses legs - warmer as their legs are in it, rather than them standing on top of it - good for drying wet legs. I love that I can put bandages/boots on without shavings stuck to everything. Also having a mare that has stamped on it's own coronet twice, it was much easier to treat when on straw, rather than when shavings are sticking in the sore! Finally, although it won't affect you if you're on livery (not your problem!) the muckheap seems to rot down much quicker, and is easier to keep tidy!
 
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