What bedding do you use?

[igglepop]

As title says, trying to decide what is best and so far i have found a hundred different types all with pros and cons and struggling to decide. I'm looking for a messy mare who is currently on straw but it's a nightmare.

 

[StormyMoments]

micanthus... im not sure if i like it or not.... it doesnt deeplitter very well at all but they seem clean enough on it and one is the messyist horse alive and box walks and hes relatively clean

used to have them on snowflake soft chip thats good for deep littering and doesnt move so that was good

unfortunatly i have a choice of straw or micanthus at my new yard and my horses are bed eaters

 

[kellybee]

This year all mine are out, but I used shavings last winter purely because Alfie eats a straw bed and ends up with a cough. Tried pellets but found they weigh a ton when you have to take the wet spot out, so went back to shavings. Personally I'd use straw if I could but I have no specific reason why - except maybe that I dont like mucking out with a shavings fork!

 

[ellie11987]

I use straw on rubber matting for my messy mare. I have huge bankings and a large bed and keep it super clean. Very cheap and much cleaner than stingy beds.

 

[little_critter]

Hemcore. I deep litter through the week and have a clear out on Saturdays. It makes a nice stable bed and I only use 1 bag a week.

 

[igglepop]

Also if anybody uses pellets do they question you about the vat if they deliver onto a yard?

 

[kellybee]

I was never asked. Had 25 bags delivered from Corley Biowood as they're just round the corner.

 

[4leggedfurries]

micanthus, was fantastic for my seriously messy tb, never moved, took the wet patch out daily and only needed 1 bag per week top up. Great for my two natives aswell as they ate straw, and only take the wet patch out of their stable (and they share the stable) once a week. My mucking out time has also be reduced down to a quarter of what it used to be and the same goes for my muck heap!

 

[Myloubylou]

Have used shavings and flax and now on Miscanthus. After bit of experimenting find that after initially laying the bed 6" deep it works best fully mucking out every other weekend skipping out in between and putting in a bale a week to keep it topped up. Mucking out weekly means bed isn't as stable so appears dirtier/wetter. I rootle through top layer with a speed skip ensuring all little bits of poo are removed and then sprinkle some fresh bedding from the banks over the bits she pees on.

 

[meandmyself]

I like equisorb.

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

I have a messy gelding on rubber matting. I've tried straw & found it to be hopeless, it is not absorbant at all. I've tried Bliss & this was just the same as straw. I've used cushion bed & that's dusty & very heavy to muck out. I've seen wood pellets used with a mesy horse & it was horibble & dirty & didn't seem at all good for a messy horse. I've gone back to shavings & recently gone onto Bedmax as my other shavings supplier let me down. I'm happy with Bedmax, it's very absorbant, gives a nice fluffy bed, doesn't move about too much & the horse seems cleaner on it. It's not the cheapest bedding but I buy it by the pallet so I get it a bit cheaper. Obviously cost is important but cleanliness of the stable & welfare of the horse has to be paramount.

 

[yaffsimone1]

Ah I'm glad you've asked this as I've been wanting to share my new discovery.

I am a life long Hunter fan all day long. But it does fly around, Red blows it out of his door, it gets wet and I was generally getting a bit bored of it, plus the price was going up. Nearly 9.00 a bale here in Herts.

The otherday I picked up a bale of Eco Comfybed. Its dust extracted woodchip and the best thing I've ever done. Because its woodchip it doesn't move much and makes a nice firm bed without having to deep litter, plus because the particles are quite big the wet just drains straight through and soaks up in the bottom so the top stays nice and day. Furthermore because the bed doesn't move much, not having a box walker does help, the poos just sit on top.

I pay about 5.00 a 25kg bale and use 1 a week to maintain

 

[Undecided]

Wood Pellets! have previously used shavings, bedmax, easibed and straw.

 

[WelshD]

I use shavings. I moved from straw as the pony was eating a lot of his bed.

I put four bales in initially around the 10th Dec, pony has been in most nights since and I only topped up with another half bale today, bed is thick with good banks

Pony is 11hh though and very tidy!

 

[Tinsel Town]

Rubber matting and straw, would prefer shavings but bit more expensive!

 

[spotty_pony]

Wood pellets and Shavings mixed. It's a great combination for a wet/dirty horse.

 

[Holly Hocks]

We did have free shavings for quite a while from a local joiners workshop - they were fab - really absorbent. Downside is that they were really dusty. I've since just been using normal shavings and my horses have only used half a bag a week each up to now (both are reasonably clean), but next time I go to the shop to buy, I'll just be getting whatever is cheapest, and I think that's Equinola which I've used before and is lovely! I also like Easibed, but it's heavy when taking the wet out.

I detest wood pellets....used them at a previous yard and just really really hated them.

 

[ShowJumperBeckii]

When horse was on DIY used shavings cause he was so dirty! now hes on part livery hes on straw cause its included in the price and umlimited

 

[eggs]

I've got six horses in at night. Stables are fully rubber matted and over the years I have tried:

Easibed - liked but it got more expensive
Straw - time consuming to do a full muck out each day
Shavings - OK
Bedmax - didn't like
Miscanthus - OK
Hemcore - liked
Aubiose - liked
Straw pellets - didn't work well for most of the horses
Megazorb - expensive
Rape straw (Bliss and Sundown Yellow)
Wood Pellets - my preferred bedding: very quick to muck out, good stable bed

 

[igglepop]

Thanks for all the replays.