Yard owners - chalk floors

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Turtlebay69

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I have been hearing alot about chalk floors recently in stables and how 'amazing' they are, however I cannot find any info about them? Are they better than standard concrete flooring? I am imagining a chalk floor like the chalk boards from school - I know this MUST be wrong but I literally have no idea and I am really interested for my own stables?
 
I was a livery once at a yard that had chalk floors but Im guessing the chalk was there anyway (on the north downs) they work well just put bedding on top. My husband has put down a chalk floor for a sheep barn he has built, it comes as crushed chalk which you then have to roll/tamp down.
 
We have well draining earth floors, sandy soil, in three of our boxes and concrete that we put down the first year we were here, in one. I am intending breaking up the concrete this summer and putting it back to earth. The earth floors are excellent, don't smell, but do sometimes need sand adding to level them. Never had chalk down, but recomend earth floors.
 
We have chalk floors in the 3 older stables here (the new ones have concrete) - they aren't very flat anymore having developed dips where horses have peed over the years etc and think it is telling that the newer blocks are on concrete even though we have a lot of chalk about.
 
It certainly keeps the smell down and is very porous BUT it is slippery when wet and will gradually develop holes were urine will collect which makes it worse. Chalk requires regular maintenance.
 
I've been at a yard which had Limestone floor in the stables and aisles. Yes, it did help to absorb urine in the stables and kept them drier which meant the fact the drainage wasn't brilliant didn't matter, but as others have said over time it ended up with big holes everywhere. The aisles eventually had to be concreted as they were so holey! It was also very dusty to sweep/rake!
 
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