Wet stable floor.....

9

{97702}

...
Joined
9 July 2012
Messages
14,849
Visit site
Horse has a stable with a standard concrete floor, which as you'd expect slopes gently from back to front. There are rubber mats over the front area of the stable, and he is kept on straw.

Unfortunately he seems to be quite a wet horse, and of course every time he pees in the stable it runs down to the front of the stable and under the rubber mats.... which then stink!

What is the best way of dealing with this? I was wondering if I could put wood pellets or similar under the mats to absorb the wet, then remove them say weekly? Or is it just a matter of disinfectant regularly?
 
My stable is set up like yours. I have a mare which pees for England. I put a bale of cheapish shavings under the straw and it works well. She needs a new bale every 9 to 10 days. She is in during the day and has a full muck out every evening. The more expensive shavings don't seem to work as well.
 
I used to have this problem with my mare flooding the stable nightly, involving lifting the mats to wash out the urine every day. I put her on a bed of wood pellets and shavings on top to make it a bit nicer to lie down on, which absorb it all and stopped her flooding the stable.
 
People who use wood pellets under straw or shavings can you tell me if you damp them when you them down or do you leave dry? Thanks
 
I had the same problem with my youngster - but my only solution appeared to be removing the mats and providing him with a really thick bed of flax on concrete.

I would still rather have the mats just for insulation but he insisted on peeing at the front of the stable (there was less bedding here to absorb it) and the urine would run underneath (or through the gap) to the back.

I need better mats perhaps (I had EVA mats).
 
My stables are the same. I don't have mats at the front because at least it's easier to sweep away. I'm going to the wood pellets this year as the smell on straw is horrible.
 
Wood pellets with a topping of shavings - personally can't stand hay or straw mixed with shavings. If they have a consistently wet patch that gets partially removed every few days and filled in with pellets, we get through about 1-2 bags of pellets and 1 shavings per week once the bed is set up.
 
I unfortunately have this issue too. When she switches to coming in over night in a few weeks, she will have a bale of flax under her straw I think. Not sure how I'll get on with it as I like to bank up during the day to allow the mats/ floor to dry out, but I think its worth it if it helps to get rid of the smell but also I worry about her airways with the amount of ammonia.
 
Definitely pellets under the straw.....

Straw in itself isn't that absorbent, but pellets are very much so.

Edit - as they are underneath, I would put them down dry, in the area that horse pees...

Fiona
 
I use woodpellets under too, I tried putting them down dry but they just never activated and the pee ran down between the pellets instead of being absorbed so I always wet first, let them dry out a bit and them put them down. This also means I can bash them down with a shovel which means they stay in the right place. Dry pellets would just move about a bit too much and not be where I needed them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top