Those of you bedding on straw . . .

[PolarSkye]

. . . how do you manage your straw beds?

Just curious really. At new yard, Kal is now on straw and I'm finding that he's actually cleaner on it (he's a very dirty boy). His bed is quite deep (about 6-8 inches). During the week I clear out all the poos and clear alternate wet patches (he has three of them). I generally get less than a wheelbarrow full each time. At the weekend, I lift the whole bed - take out all the wet, let the floor dry, put the used/dry straw down as a base and top up with fresh clean straw for the banks and as a layer on the base. I took out two wheelbarrows yesterday and three today. I find if I completely dig out the wet during the week the base becomes unstable and Kal exposes the concrete floor. The bed is deep enough that the straw on the top stays dry, so he's not lying (or standing) in urine. It also doesn't smell unless I disturb the wet patches.

If he were quieter in his box (he does tend to walk/pace quite a bit), I could probably keep his bed less deep and dig out the wet every day.

How do you manage yours?

P

 

[ruscara]

I put a layer of Aquamax under my straw. The bed is mucked out daily, poo and wet straw, and the Aquamax is dug out once at the weekend. I use about a quarter to a third of a bale per week, and there is less straw to move/dispose of each day as the wet is soaked up by the Aquamax. My horse is in 22 hours a day (he's on restricted turnout for lameness) and so the bed is kept deep and is well used!

 

[LaurenBay]

I take the poos out on the weekends and leave the wet, I add fresh straw and mix in, My stable is well drained and doesn'tsmell. Every 2 weeks I dig out

 

[LaurenBay]

Opps my phone sent before I finished writting! That was meant to be weekdays not weekends! Lol so I remove the poos everyday and add fresh straw in everyday. Every 2 weeks I dig out the wet, leave the bed up to air out then add more straw in.

 

[JoBird]

Almost EXACTLY as you have described. Seems to be the best way!

 

[Jackson]

I chuck all clean straw in to banks around the edge of the stable, remove wet straw and poo, and leave the banks up all day to let the floor dry. (at the moment, with the horse in it) Daily. It doesn't take too long and I don't like to think of mine standing on pee, as he is in 24/7 atm. We are on rubber matting though!

 

[jessykai]

I take poo out every day and wee ever week, but she is't shut in her stable at night so generally only ever 1 poo in there and not that much wee

 

[Queenbee]

oh gawd, I completely muck out every day. TBF ebony can be a bit messy so I find this is best, I also find that the bigger the bed the cleaner she is.

 

[jenz87]

Our beds are Deep litter, but what works best for us depends on the horse and the box.
My own mare is in a small stable so i take out the poos and open up the bed to take some wet out every day, whatever comes to a wheelbarrow, or what ever i feel is necessary. I like to keep a small layer under the straw so she doesnt dig it open to the floor. About once a month throw it back and take out several wheelbarrows.

Other horses in big (20ft box!) are full deep litter, open up once a day take out the wet, but leave a constant amount under the straw, the beds are approx 20-30cm deep. Very soft, fluffy and not smelly!

Much prefer this to shavings and mats, they dont smell and are warm and comfortable.

 

[TheBayMonkey]

When R was on straw his banks were up to my thighs, extremely thick and never came down so they were pretty much stuck to the wall. His "bed" was pretty thick so I could to the drop-a-fork test and I lifted it up onto the banks every day taking out both poo and wet, sweeping any left overs out and re-laying everything back down. At weekends the bed would stay up all day on both days to dry out. (Anybody noticed my ocd yet? )

 

[melissa1971]

I take out the poo then throw all the clean onto the banks and just sweep out the middle daily then once a week get all the wet from round the edges.

 

[dollymix]

Dulcie is insanely messy. Would prefer to have her on shavings, but at 4 bags a week to keep anywhere near decent, it's just too expensive.

On straw, I take the middle out every day...throwing any clean onto the bankings (old straw makes much better banks IMO, as they don't move). I then sweep out the floor and lay a fresh bed of around 6-7 inches. She is a pain about her water....she has an automatic water, but because she is a big girl, I like to give her a bucket as don't think they get enough to satisfy from a tiny bowl! She likes to splash around in it, and sucks up water, swishes her mouth out (like with mouth wash) and then spit out. My YO is amazed as never seen a horse do this so much....literally, there is a river out of her door every day!!! hence a very wet stable!

I take a minimum of 2 wheelbarrows out a day. Time consuming and tiring. It's a good job I love the bloody thing!!!

 

[stencilface]

Ours are on straw on top of matting, so get a half bed with banks. Mucked out fully everyday (one barrow or less, depends on how early I am!) swept, and left up to dry.

Rubber matting tends to get a bit stinky, so on weekends when its not going to freeze I swill out with a bucket of water

We used to be just on concrete, with a much thicker, bigger bed, and still mucked out the same amount (a little more) but it took much longer

 

[kirstyl]

Mine is fully mucked out every day (apart from banks which I dig under every so often). He poos and wees for England, I could never leave wet for more than a day! He is on rubber matting too, and I do find by giving him a decent depth of bed he is less messy

 

[Toast]

Mine gets a full muck out every day. He's a messy baby so i have to, otherwise it'd be squelchy and i dont like the idea of him living in a stable full of ammonia fumes. Nice. His messiness varies from day to day and i find he gets stroppy if he's hungry so i find his bed is all churned up and messy if i muck out later on in the evening before i feed. I find this is the easiest method for mine, clean goes in the banks and poo and wet straw come out, then i rebuild banks with the clean and whats left goes on the floor and i top up with fresh. I go through a small bale of straw every 3 days this way.

 

[BossyBoots]

I manage my boys bed pretty much the same as you, OP. During the week I take out the poos only, fluff it up a bit without disturbing the bottom layer and take the whole bed up at the weekend, putting in few sections of fresh straw once a week... unless his bed gets really gross before.

I use old, clean straw for banks as I find it stays up better. I'm paranoid about him getting cast so my banks are quite big. I don't find fresh straw stays up very well.

 

[Chestnuttymare]

My mare is absolutely filthy on every bedding apart from straw. I muck out totally every day. I also have emvelo stable plus which I spray my bed with too and there is no smell at all, even on my clothes which was the main reason for trying to avoid straw as I always felt I was really pongy.