Tell me about straw beds...

holeymoley

holeymoley

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Have i lost my mind even considering swapping to straw?!

I love wood pellets. But I like a big bed so equally I love shavings. This year though finances have been a bit tight and i could do with making a saving somewhere. Our lot are now only out 4 hours per day so a lot of time is spent in the stable which is going through a lot of bedding. Shavings aren’t getting any cheaper and at the moment with christmas, i can’t afford to put out money on a pallet of pellets.

I’ve not used straw since i helped at the riding school i was at as a kid in the 90s. I’ve mucked out a friends and thought it was blimmin awful but that may just be their horse/mucking out etc. I find it has an aroma to it? My idea would be to put either a bag of pellets down on the base and then straw on top and up the banks. What’s your thoughts?

Also which straw is best?

ETA- we have a plentiful supply of straw, no risk of running out or price hikes
 
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I absolutely love a good straw bed.
If you are mucking it out fully every day then there is a pong.

I’d semi deep litter with a wood pellet base and deep straw. Just skip and set all week then dig on weekend.

Your issue will be finding decent straw this year, there is a real shortage and prices have rocketed. If you find really good clean non dusty straw then good luck but I know round me, lifelong straw supporters are very reluctantly shifting to bagged bedding this winter
 
I swapped B over to straw during the summer and use wood pellets underneath. It’s skipped out daily and I dig it out once a month to replace the pellets. I bought a huge bale in September and have just over half left which should see me through to February. Quick, easy to do, lovely thick bed and doesn’t smell.
 
rabatsa said:
Straw is in short supply this year so it may end up being an expensive bedding. I am using shredded cardboard and love it.
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Thanks, i’m up in scotland and it’s been a good year for us, farmer has plenty in stock. I used to use shredded paper years ago but the supplier closed and we never found it again without bringing it up from england which ended up too expensive.
 
Round bales of straw which normally cost £12.50-£15 a bale, are now selling to farmers at £35 a bale.I have seen small bales at £4, so unless you have a cheap supply of straw I doubt it you would save much money.
I do semi deep litter, with pellets or rape straw, you just have to accept it's not going to be fluffy white and not turn the bed over. When I do use straw it's part of their diet and the waste goes on top of their beds. I just hate the smell of straw, it makes you and everything you wear stinks.
 
I have a straw bed in my field shelter area. I hate it but the horses love it and it's cheap and easy to get as my farmer neighbour just drops off a couple of big bales at a time. The horses eat it too which helps me mentally be able to give them less hay! They need less hay cos they are fatties but I really struggle with them not having food in front of them so the straw means I can manage them better.

When I have stables I'm going to try wood pellets underneath.

No shortage here as far as I'm aware.
 
I can only stand straw with pellets underneath because otherwise I don't think you can get away from the smell.
it's so expensive round here I'm about to give up and put shavings in my nursery stable :rolleyes:

Mine hoover up oat straw in preference to hay, i have struggled to get wheat which they don't eat ;)
 
I’ve never understood the ‘smell’ issue with straw tbh? I’ve got 5 horses and ponies, only one is on shavings, and as far as I’m concerned, all their p**s stinks regardless of what bedding they’re on! For me, straw is the preference, it’s quick and easy to muck out, you’re not bothered if it’s contaminated with dropped hay, unlike a shavings bed, and ordinarily, it’s by far and away, cheaper than anything else. I’ve had horses for 47 years, and these are just my long standing thoughts on it. ?
 
Straw is included in livery and its lovely clean non dusty stuff. Yo puts big round bales out and you take what you like. I generally put a huge barrow full back in each day. I like a nice deep fluffy bed. This year I have started with a very thin layer of shavings where he wees to try and stop all the wet going through the mats. This is working well. Just now he is in shavings. He had to be starved to be scoped so I had to remove all the straw as he would eat it and replaced with shavings. On wow is he messier on shavings. I am spending ages going through the bed taking all the little bits of poo out. Taking me much longer to muck out. On straw there are 2 piles of poo and then a patch of wet. With shavings it is everywhere! I can’t wait to get back to fully straw. Straw does make bigger muck heaps but we just dump it in the midden loosely and then farmer removes every day and puts in the cow shed as bedding.
 
I have two on straw, it’s ok and I use it because it’s free and free muck heap removal.
I don’t actually much like it. I think it seems to absorb the atmospheric damp a lot. My stables/horses are clean and easy to muck out in dry weather but pretty rank in wet weather.
You do smell, I don’t care what anyone says! I wear waterproofs to muck it out and would need to shower before going anywhere non horsey IMO
I may give the pellets underneath a try. I’m not sure I could manage to keep it all separate though ?‍♀️
 
poiuytrewq said:
I have two on straw, it’s ok and I use it because it’s free and free muck heap removal.
I don’t actually much like it. I think it seems to absorb the atmospheric damp a lot. My stables/horses are clean and easy to muck out in dry weather but pretty rank in wet weather.
You do smell, I don’t care what anyone says! I wear waterproofs to muck it out and would need to shower before going anywhere non horsey IMO
I may give the pellets underneath a try. I’m not sure I could manage to keep it all separate though ?‍♀️
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i find the pellets stay put pretty well, i chuck a couple of bags in where they pee and it definitely helps. I agree 100% re the smell, i can smell horse pee on me from doing the straw stable but I never can with the wood pellet or shavings ones.
 
I’ve had my very wet horse on straw for a couple of years but got fed up of having to do a full muck out every day and smelling of a stable so I swapped over to chopped rape straw at the beginning of winter and rate it. I skip out during the week and take out the very wet at the weekend but leave the not so wet down as a base. It is more expensive but makes a nice bed.
 
I'm in Scotland and I have found straw easy and cheap to get a hold of.
Pros are it's cheap and lays a beautiful bed.

Cons.

It blooming STINKS!
- the fatties eat it.


The smell hangs on your hair.. clothes... Boots..

If I was on a yard there is no way I would use it but being at home I have the luxury of being able to jump in a shower straight after doing the horses.
 
I've always used straw. Muck out to the floor everyday. Quick easy and cheap and here we have no disposal issues. Wouldn't use anything else. Yes it smells.......of horse. Why wouldn't it? Shower afterwards if you're bothered.
 
milliepops said:
i find the pellets stay put pretty well, i chuck a couple of bags in where they pee and it definitely helps. I agree 100% re the smell, i can smell horse pee on me from doing the straw stable but I never can with the wood pellet or shavings ones.
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I do have a load of pellets here as I use them for another horse. Do you put them down dry or wet them first?
 
I absolutely love big straw beds.

I put a bag of dry pellets in each week at the bottom with a deep straw bed over the top.
Then I can just skip out during the week and on the wet one, I scrap off wet straw mid week too.
I then full muck out at the weekend and replace the pellets, so easy and even the box walker can’t manage to mix the pellets up with the straw on a nice thick bed.

It’s so easy, the beds never smell and the boys love their beds and are always lying down.

I wouldn’t use anything else by choice.
 
Don’t understand those who say straw beds smell at all - I used rape straw for years and it was brilliant. The wet all went to the bottom and formed a compact layer in time (as I semi deep-littered) and I skipped out the poo twice a day in minutes.

I would put 2 round bales (they were smaller than the average round straw bale!) to form a massive deep bed, it would stay clean and smell free for weeks ?
 
I use barley straw as its softer and my two share a stable . Plenty here in Wales, I poo pick of course and pull out most of the wet then I use a poultry powder that gets rid of the smell, a few shavings on top to give a dry base, older straw on top, then fresh straw on top of that. It never smells and is very cosy.
 
I've got an earth floor in my stable as its at home, then got layer of sawdust then I'm deep-littering with straw, just adding a bit every few days now its nice and deep. I've never had problems with smells and we get square bales of good quality for £3.50. No shortages I know of around here. Can be frustrating can't get all poo when its trampled in but you get the big bits and mix the rest in :)
 
Fabby replies thank you. Some mixed thoughts which is good to hear. Smell was a biggy for me but 2 of the stables in the barn already use it so mine could smell like roses and I’d still smell like straw... I think i may give it a go. I’m quite on top of using dettol, etc on the floor so if i have to wash the floor when i lift the base or spray the base then I’m cool with that. I just hope he doesnt eat it and go to town!
 
I don’t like how full the wheelbarrow is on straw. I can muck two out and only have a wheelbarrow full on shavings, her it’s one heavy barrow per stable on straw. I have it in my shelter as that’s near the dung heap and shavings get damp when the wind is blowing the wrong way.
 
Love a straw bed. Horses seem very happy in them, just a feeling I get! Dries off the legs nicely, does good things to the feet. I think barley straw is the best.
 
I use straw, and I really like it! You can make a nice fluffy bed, it’s lightweight, usually fairly cheap to pick up. BUT it does smell! I usually muck out and leave the bed up allowing the floor to dry best as possible, then bed down before bringing in
 
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