Barn floor

[Annetta]

I too am a straw user. Around here people always say that wheat straw makes the best bedding, because it's more absorbent, but I have always preferred oat or barley straw. Those two are "usually" softer, but then there have been times when I've gotten nice soft wheat straw too, so it just depends on the year, and the area the straw comes from.

Marty, I'd much rather my horses eat straw than shavings; I absolutely do NOT want them eating shavings.

 

[Lisa-Ruff N Tuff Minis]

I hate straw and wont use it not even for foaling. For foaling i use grass hay. We have good clean straw here but.. it is still very coarse and for a baby that can be very dangerous. I just dont want my horses tasting it they dont eat there bedding after a day or 2 of sampling it but they dont get coarse hay and they sure wont get coarse ( by this i mean the size of the stems) straw either

 

[user 488]

I hate straw and wont use it not even for foaling. For foaling i use grass  hay. We have good clean straw here but.. it is still very coarse and for a baby that can be very dangerous. I just dont want my horses tasting it they dont eat there bedding after a day or 2 of sampling it but they dont get coarse hay and they sure wont get coarse ( by this i mean the size of the stems) straw either

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DITTO

 

[tuffsmom]

The straw easiest to get around here is wheat straw. It's still got the wheat beards on it, which makes it "pokey", and when the horses try and snack on it, the beards are very coarse and can put slivers on their tounges and insides of their mouths. So...no straw here!

 

[Danielle_E.]

I am noticing here people talking about horses eating woody pet (pellets). I have NEVER had an issue with that but I follow the directions of "watering" the pellets which fluff up beautifully into bedding. I love the stuff and wish I could use it in our cold winter weather but unfortunately it doesn't break down to the consistency it should when I add the water because of the temps.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Barley straw is the best- if you have experience straw being harsh and "pokey" you have been using wheat straw- it is also dangerous for horses to eat wheat straw as the grain in it can cause very serious colic- if you have sensible harvesters who harvest carefully you will not have this problem, if you have idiots who I have actually seen racing one another - with a combine harvester

well, words fail me, and I will NOT use their straw!! Oat straw is used as cattle fodder- it makes a poor bed as it is not very absorbent, neither is wheat straw, for that matter, barley is best all round. Winter barley straw is softer than Spring barley as the stalks are shorter, Spring barley is brighter and slightly harder and longer stemmed, both make great beds if you can get it squeaky clean. Hay, IMO makes a rotten bed- it is not absorbent and has lots of seed heads that can cause infection if they get in the wrong places- it was never intended as a bedding, even peoples mattresses were stuffed with straw!! Having slept on both myself before I got the caravan I can say I heartily recommend Barley Straw- no itching and no seeds!!!

 

[Danielle_E.]

I woulnd't mind bedding with straw during out winter but unfortunately it is not something that suppliers offer much around here at all, I guess because there is no demand for it in the area.

 

[Bluerocket]

I have dirt floors - I have mats in the stalls -- and use woody pet -- not cold enough here to worry about whether or not it is warm enough -- horses get heavy winter coats -- and often I have the barn doors open in the winter (at least a little) to keep them from getting TOO warm.

I love woody pet. I do NOT bed deeply -- My stalls are 6x8 and I initially bed with 1/2 a bag of woody pet in each -- and expand it with water about 75% -- I pick stalls and remove wet spots daily -- horses are stalled about 12 hours a day -- Once a week I add in about 1/4 to 1/3 bag of woody pet (depends on the horse) and again expand it -- but this time only 50% -- approximately 1x per month I strip the stall and start from scratch again.

When I clean the stalls -- I pile all the woody pet up in the middle -- the horses have fun moving it around to where they like it to be -- each one does something different. One loves to sleep on the whole pile!! several pee/poop in one small area to keep the rest of their stalls clean -- several others are piglets in the stall and make a huge mess daily.

I HATE Straw -- and we tend to waste a lot of shavings trying to keep the stalls as clean as I like them.

Woody Pet can be dusty especially in low humidity times of year -- you have to water it down (sprinkle with hose for me) to keep it out of the air in the winter -- I still love it!

One more note -- In My Opinion --- the mats are DEFINITELY WORTH THE EXPENSE -- even if you can only buy them one at a time -- they save you so much in wasted bedding -- no matter what type of bedding you choose to use.

JJ

 

[Hosscrazy]

I also hate straw! My stalls are concrete floors, rubber mats on top of the concrete, and shavings on top of the rubber mats. Clean the shavings 2x/day and I usually use ThoroughBed or Long Beach shavings.