Who was it that got shredded paper from a company to use for bedding?

Ravenwood

Ravenwood

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A little while ago, I read on here that someone managed to get shredded paper from a large company and used it as stable bedding - I thought this was a fantastic idea and lo and behold this very scenario has fallen into my lap!

I am able to get probably minimum of seven large bags but more likely 10/12 per week and want to know how good it is as bedding (especially for an extremely wet mare!) and how far 10/bags a week would go, and anything else I haven't thought about.

If anyone here reading this does use shredded paper as a bedding could you let me know the logistics and how you get on please?

Very grateful for any replies - will pick up my first load at the weekend.
 
Thanks - is 2 bags enough or do you mix it with something else?

I have just spent ages on Google trying to find out the pros and cons of paper bedding. Generally its a thumbs up from most people and only disadvantages I can find are that it tends to blow around and heavy to muck out the wet.

Do you clean yours out daily or semi/deep litter?
 
What do you do with your muckheap? Some contractors wont pick up paper bedding, as they can't safely spread it on fields due to the ink on the paper, so you have to use different people to collect your muckheap, and usually pay through the ar*e for it.
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I'm a huge fan of paper bedding, but have always had to buy it... & compared with straw it's quite expensive. If I could get it free I'd go back to using it like a shot. I have found that the chopped is easier to work with than the the shredded.
As a guide I was using about three/ four bales to start the bed, then two / three bales a week as a top up depending on the horse. I used it in a semi litter system & found it very labour effective, clean & easy to handle.
 
I have an industrial shredder and get newspaper from work as they give The Times free and have always got some left over.
I have 4 horses on it and shred one morning a week. I use old Alfa A bags to put it in and each horse has one bag a night. It rots really well and makes great compost but I do have tiger worms[ think they are called that] on my muckheap.
I also burn it sometimes but we are a long way from anyone and I get away with it.
I don't think any paper except newspaper would be very absorbent
 
We don't have our muckheap taken away, it tends to grow and grow and then rots down in the summer. But youre right, I have read about not spreading it on fields.
 
I could burn too and do so in the summer - again we are very remote.

Re: only using newspaper - I came across several studies on Google and the overall opinion was contrary to that.

Anyway - I will give it a go - it is free afterall - and see how I get on.
 
I used to use really really fine shredded paper (secret documents) and it was like very fine shavings but much more absorbant. I probably used about 2 bin bags a week and I wasn't being stingy with it as I was getting about 10 bags a week. I used it with rubber mats.
 
From what I have read, cross cut paper is much easier to manage whereas long strands get more entangled, hence making it harder to separate. But of course people do use both and yes we are talking about just normal office paper, although my supply is all confidential waste and so I imagine will be shredded finely.
 
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