Tiny bits of poo in shavings - how do you deal with them?

[Mole1]

I'm looking for that magic eureka moment

All those broken little bits of poo that break away and nestle in amongst the shavings and fall through the shavings fork, how do you get them all out?

At the moment I'm doing it by hand but tick tock the time it takes me!

Please someone give me a light bulb moment.

 

[milliepops]

Ignore it! lol
Seriously, life's too short. As long as it's clean-ish and dry then if you've got a messy horse, it's easier to learn to live with it than go mad over having a pristine white bed.

( I switched to pellet beds which are really easy to sift the poo out of.)

 

[RubysGold]

I also ignore it. Normally by the time I've thrown it all up, and bedded back down removing bits as I go along with the fork.
There isn't many small bits left
You will always miss some and it really doesn't bother the horses

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

I'm looking for that magic eureka moment

All those broken little bits of poo that break away and nestle in amongst the shavings and fall through the shavings fork, how do you get them all out?

At the moment I'm doing it by hand but tick tock the time it takes me!

Please someone give me a light bulb moment.

Leave it, if it does not stay in the fork I ignore it. When you have 9 boxes to muck out every day you learn to ignore it.

 

[Lanky Loll]

Leave it, if it does not stay in the fork I ignore it. When you have 9 boxes to muck out every day you learn to ignore it.

This. Plus put it to the bottom of the bed to help form the firm base to stop hocks getting to the concrete. Nice clean shavings on top - sorted.

 

[hihosilver]

This. Plus put it to the bottom of the bed to help form the firm base to stop hocks getting to the concrete. Nice clean shavings on top - sorted.

yes I take the very wet shavings out but I use the dirty brown dry shavings to put where my boy wees! that way the bed is more absorbent.

 

[Penny Less]

Ooh good not everyone removes every bit of poo! I gave up trying to keep a super clean bed with horse that minces everything up. If you were really desperate to keep it clean why not try one of those garden sieves , although perhaps holes wouldn't be big enough let shavings through either?

 

[Nativelover]

I have to confess I have a bit of a thing with my shavings bed.
I'm way too ocd with it and my heart starts racing whenever my sharer has done it as quite frankly it's ruined!! ( not an ott reaction in the slightest!!)

To me the only way to care for a shavings bed is ;

Hand pick the droppings sifting through to pick up the little bits, a brief neatening of the banks, sweep front of stable to meet the bed. Then smooth base with back of shavings fork patting flat as I go. Any little bits left picked up by hand. Whole thing takes 20mins.

If I'm taking the wet out, the only added thing is I scrape off the base leaving only the wet patches. Take theses out relay the base and pat down, take down a bank and replace it with new shavings. Bed flattened and smoothed as above.
Simples

 

[Mole1]

Well quite frankly I'm disappointed. *tongue firmly in cheek*

Where is the magic gadget huh? The "oh I bought this and it does the meanest job no bits left at all!"

Looks like those tiny bits of poo are here to stay. Nooooooo!

Could I not train a mouse to pick them out?! They'd have it done in no time for a bit of cheese I reckon....

 

[milliepops]

Ah, well, the magic solution is leave horse in field, then stand back and admire your pristine stable :lol:

 

[Mole1]

Ah, well, the magic solution is leave horse in field, then stand back and admire your pristine stable :lol:

Crikey I am in trouble.... she hates being out at the moment so comes in at lunch - spends more time in her stable than out in the field hahaha

I'm sure the mouse idea must have legs.....

 

[C1airey]

You may find that there are fewer 'bits' once the grass starts coming through. I usually notice a hay-heavy diet produces poos that are more likely to break. I pick up the bits by hand - just a quick once over every day, takes barely a minute.

 

[Archangel]

You could always run a labrador over the bed to clear up all the bits - this is what i do with the kitchen floor

 

[Enfys]

Ah, well, the magic solution is leave horse in field, then stand back and admire your pristine stable :lol:

What is this shavings fork you speak of? I go in with a muck bucket and gloved hands, flip everything into the bucket, then I rake it over. Little bits, well, as someone said, there is only so much time in a day.

 

[Pinkvboots]

bucket and gloves for droppings fork for wet

 

[pansymouse]

I have to confess to being a bit of a mucking out slut - I hand pick the everything I can find without taking an age (not very quick or competent with a fork) and brush up the bits so it looks reasonably neat. My friend is an obsessive an hers is manicured which only serves to make me feel more sluttish. I prefer to use my horse time for riding.

 

[smja]

I have to confess I have a bit of a thing with my shavings bed.
I'm way too ocd with it and my heart starts racing whenever my sharer has done it as quite frankly it's ruined!! ( not an ott reaction in the slightest!!)

To me the only way to care for a shavings bed is ;

Hand pick the droppings sifting through to pick up the little bits, a brief neatening of the banks, sweep front of stable to meet the bed. Then smooth base with back of shavings fork patting flat as I go. Any little bits left picked up by hand. Whole thing takes 20mins.

If I'm taking the wet out, the only added thing is I scrape off the base leaving only the wet patches. Take theses out relay the base and pat down, take down a bank and replace it with new shavings. Bed flattened and smoothed as above.
Simples

Flipping heck, if I did that I'd be at the yard all night! 5 mins per horse unless I'm adding new bedding, then they get a whole 10 mins

 

[FlashyP]

I'm with the ignore it-life's too short camp! Spend the time doing fun stuff with your horse instead

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

I am on straw, you can imagine how that gets. Pick out the dropping on top. Stomp down anything thats not so clean but has compacted to the floor, ensure there is ample straw over the top. As a result, he has a nice, solid, cushiony (not a word!) base, loads of clean straw over the top which totals a huge big bed.

 

[WelshD]

If I have the vet coming I stick a bit of chicken wire over a barrow and use it as a sieve

On a weekend I use a very fine fork (the sort used for woodpellets) to rake over the bed (like you'd rake up leaves) and find that pulls a fair bit to the front that then gets scooped up and disposed of

In general though I think the best way is to try and configure the stable to minimise traffic over the bed, things went from bad to worse when I moved the haynet location!

 

[Beausmate]

Looks like those tiny bits of poo are here to stay. Nooooooo!

Could I not train a mouse to pick them out?! They'd have it done in no time for a bit of cheese I reckon....

I'm sure the mouse idea must have legs.....

Noooo! Bad idea. The resident rats 'muck out' my stables during the day and they do a mean job of breaking all the poo down into tiny pieces. It's a right pain to pick out afterwards, although they do sometimes get the bits down small enough not to notice if you don't look too closely...

 

[Illusion100]

After taking the 'easy' lumps of poo put and the wet, throw the shavings up the banks and turn them a couple of times, the tiny bits fall to the bottom of the banks and then just rake them up.

 

[Bubblewrap]

I am also OCD with beds! Big tub, 'builders' heavy duty gloves, lift out all the big bits,then shaving fork the bed to one side, picking out the small bits as i go. Lift the two, always two, wet patches, sweep wet bit left on mats with little soft brush into a spade. then put bed back down, picking any little bits that appear ,with hands. Tubs tipped out onto muck heap. Takes me just under an hour to do two. They look lovely when done! Job satisfaction!!

 

[Abby-Lou]

Plastic gloves and and poo scoop for droppings, then shovel for wet both are on matting so new fresh shavings each day (light covering). No issue with leaving tiny bits of poo, they both seem really clean mares, although I did know a gelding once which would plop just in one pile now he was a dream to look after LOL

 

[HuntingfieldHoney]

You could always run a labrador over the bed to clear up all the bits - this is what i do with the kitchen floor

Can confirm a high rate of success with this method

 

[mperson01]

I used a 'surfacesaver' at Tushingham arena. I think the guy who runs the place is a bit of an inventor! It might be what you are looking for?
http://bazzaenterprises.com/

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

I have to confess I have a bit of a thing with my shavings bed.
I'm way too ocd with it and my heart starts racing whenever my sharer has done it as quite frankly it's ruined!! ( not an ott reaction in the slightest!!)

To me the only way to care for a shavings bed is ;

Hand pick the droppings sifting through to pick up the little bits, a brief neatening of the banks, sweep front of stable to meet the bed. Then smooth base with back of shavings fork patting flat as I go. Any little bits left picked up by hand. Whole thing takes 20mins.

If I'm taking the wet out, the only added thing is I scrape off the base leaving only the wet patches. Take theses out relay the base and pat down, take down a bank and replace it with new shavings. Bed flattened and smoothed as above.
Simples

could you see yourself doing this for 9 beds??? just curious

My welsh A does minute droppings and so many of them I give up in the end. When i was younger I took more care but after mucking out 9 horses 6 days a week you begin to care less

 

[windand rain]

why I dont like shavings beds i dont use gloves just crawl around on my hands and knees picking the little bits out. I can muck out a straw bed and relay it in under 5 minutes it takes an hour to do a shavings one to my OCD standards so no I couldnt bear to do 9 It would take me all day and then some. I like beds to look like new

 

[Nativelover]

could you see yourself doing this for 9 beds??? just curious

My welsh A does minute droppings and so many of them I give up in the end. When i was younger I took more care but after mucking out 9 horses 6 days a week you begin to care less

Sorry but yes I would, such is my ocd problem. Incidentally I did do this for about 3 weeks when standing in for YO. Once the beds were to my standard it took me about 20 mins per bed. Obviously longer if the wet comes out, which is only twice a week.

 

[MyBoyChe]

I take out the big piles by hand or with a rake, then throw the rest up on top of the banks to the side. I find that the little bits of poo fall back down to the floor so I can sweep round the edge and gather them all up. The I relay the middle, sweep back to a nice straight line and set the banks square. I then sweep over the top of the bed with a really soft broom to level it off and drag any odd pits of poo the the front whuch are swept out. I then put my horrid horse into his nice clean bed, he digs a hole, has a wee, which Im never quick enough to catch in a bucket, knocks the banks down, sighs and tucks into his hay