Excess Bedding

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Mini Mouse

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I was wondering what everyone did with the excess bedding when you clean it all out to replace it? I've been spreading it around in muddy places but will soon need to do something else with it.

Thanks
 
We have burned it, made a god awful smell for a couple days but at the end of those two days - no more giant pile of used bedding. The other thing is that it is GREAT compost after a while. We have holes out in the "big" pasture that we use the composted bedding to fill in and then reseed with grass.
 
I put it under the hot walker. Makes a nice soft cushion for the horse and they grind it up really good walking over it.

Robin
 
I use it in the hallways of my barns, especially during this time of the year. But in the summer it helps hold down the blow dirt. It keeps the barns warmer and it helps to block the drafts. And, if someone happens to get out of their stall into the hallways, there is bedding for them to lay down on instead of the COLD ground. Now, of course if the shavings are really bad they go to the dump.
 
Hubby hauls all of ours to the dump...always puts it on a trailer along with all the poo he picks up from around the pastures and goes about every other week. Keeps the place nice and clean that way. Mary
 
We have burned it, made a god awful smell for a couple days but at the end of those two days - no more giant pile of used bedding. The other thing is that it is GREAT compost after a while. We have holes out in the "big" pasture that we use the composted bedding to fill in and then reseed with grass.
I have a compost pile made of the manure so do you mean I can put the excess bedding in there as well?
 
We use ours as mulch for the flower beds, around trees, and to fill in holes in the driveway. During the spring when I am reworking all of the flower beds I till some into the ground and vola, instant fertilizer! I also put the shavings down along the path from the feed shed to the barn, and where ever else I feel like spreading it out at. I don't spread anything in the horse pens though. I go out once a week and pick up all the poop out of the pens and put it in the flower beds also.
 
We composte the bedding and manure together.....Then we use it as mulch for flower beds, pots, etc. We also give it away to people who want it for the same reason. It eventually breaks down into wonderful rich soil!

MA
 
We have been putting it in the ditch that we have between our house and the road considering that there isn't any drainage culverts or anything of the sort. We want the ditches filled in so on top of us putting the used bedding on them, our neighbor has been dumping any dirt that his company pulls from their sites into our ditch too and then brings the bobcat to level it all off. We've got it half full right now.
 
Most of it we put in the dry lots for the horses to pee on. I put some in the lands scaping (saves on mulch). In the winter time we spread it on the ice if we get an ice storm... I would never throw it away - too many uses.
 
We use expanded wood pellet bedding (like Woody Pet). We have a small manure spreader attached to our riding lawn mower/tractor. I spread the soiled bedding and waste materials over areas of our paddocks that need fertilizer - and we use it to fill in holes in the paddocks as well.

I especially use in in areas that are overgrazed to encourage the horses to graze elsewhere.

JJay
 
I have city trash pick up and I fill 3 trash containers a week cleaning 8 stalls. I used to have a manure spreader, but it put the cleanings so heavy on my pasture, that it killed the grass! Just the opposite of what I was trying to accomplish!

I do use some around my trees, shrubs and flower beds. Saves a lot of $$$ on mulch!
 
We pay the city dump to haul it all away.

We don't live in a rural area, so neighbors won't appreciate compost and manure sitting around!

Andrea
 
Our local dump has a program whereby one can take in compost material (bedding, manure, etc) and they put it in a special composting area, and give you a credit, and when you have enough credits, you can pick up a load of finished compost, rich and black and beautiful. We haven't tried this yet, but it's a good idea I think, especially for any of those who don't have room for or the inclination to compost their own.
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I use a pelleted bedding product and we put all our manure and bedding together on our vegetable garden all winter long. About late March we put a huge black tarp over it to help it 'cook' for about 6 weeks, rototil the heck out of it and then begin planting our garden in May. We grew some awesome veggies on it this year.

I did some research that while using our bedding and manure makes a great, fluffy soil...the wood bedding uses up a LOT of nitrogen as it decomposes so you have to make sure to replace that. At first our veggies looked a little sickly and I couldn't understand why with all that rich compost, but discovered this nitrogen problem and was able to remedy it quickly in just a few days.

Now I have two neighbors wanting any wheelbarrow loads we won't be putting on our garden, so I am happy that I will not have to come up with another plan if or when our garden gets full. In the winter I have about two full wheelbarrows a day of mostly manure and some bedding. Our garden is 30 x 30.

One thing I don't understand is putting that bedding in your paddocks or traffic areas. Here in the NW where it's wet all winter, that would just be MUD in a matter of days. We work hard to REMOVE organic material from traffic areas. Funny how things are different in various climates.

Jayne
 
We use pelleted bedding so there just flat isn't a lot of waste. Most of what goes out of the stalls is used in the yard, around trees and to fill in low spots. We have a still new yard we are working on so it's very useful.

About filling your ditches with manure.......we had an "episode" with a neighbor several years ago. We lived on a rural road with maybe a dozen houses. My husband was using the stall manure & shavings to level our ditches so he could keep them mowed - since the county almost never mowed it. One of the neighbors from nearly a quarter mile down the road asked him to stop, as it was "running down the road and polluting his pond". Now keep in mind that this neighbor and his family have had that pond for many years, and have cattle grazing all around it, but it was our manure that turned his pond green. Nothing to do with cow manure or the hot summer that was producing a bumper crop of algae. Anyway, long and short of the story is that he turned us in to the environmental arm of the county government, had an officer come out and rudely threaten my husband with 5 years in jail if he didn't stop filling the ditch. There were words exchanged LOL, but he did stop. Then he came back and demanded that he remove what he had already put out! Didn't matter where, he could put it right back across the fence as long as it wasn't in a "public waterway". It was rather insane - obnoxious neighbor and an officer throwing his weight around. And the funny part is that he scooped up most of it and gave it to another neighbor who wanted it for his yard...directly uphill from the pond. :bgrin So the moral of the story is, watch where you shovel your manure, someone may be watching!

Jan
 
Hahahaa! That is tooo funny WildOak. :lol:

Thanks for all the good advice everyone. I had no idea there were so many good uses for it. :bgrin
 
We composte the bedding and manure together.....Then we use it as mulch for flower beds, pots, etc. We also give it away to people who want it for the same reason. It eventually breaks down into wonderful rich soil!

MA
DITTO!!

We have three years' worth compost behind/downhill from our barn. Lots of folks come by and ask if they can have some for their flower beds!
 
I spread it. Have a 2 nice manure spreaders a huge one and one for daily that atv is hooked too. The huge one is new and I have to get a tractor. Right now my nieghbor allows me to borrow his tractor.
 

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