Stall cleaning

[wingnut]

One thing that has been a challenge for us is keeping the stalls clean to the level I would like. We use saw dust. Up until last week, the girls were stalled at night. We're currently experimenting with leaving them out 24/7. Our stalls are also their run-in shed area so it serves a dual purpose.

Their manure breaks down into small pieces if not picked up immediately. Even our smallest pitch fork (made for use in a trailer) won't catch this small stuff. The little pieces of manure having been adding up and of course it draws flies. I needed to figure out some way to deal with it without throwing out good sawdust.

Over the weekend I mulled over the problem as I did other barn work. I finally decided that what I needed was a way to screen the little bits of manure out of the sawdust. I first tried a little sand toy. The idea worked but the toy was too small for the volume of sawdust I needed to sift through.

We purchased some small opening wire mesh screen/fencing at the hardware store and my husband used scrap wood to build a frame. It measures about 2.5' by 3'. We put it over a 30 gallon plastic tub inside the stall. My husband would shovel a pile of sawdust on top of the screen while I sifted it through the screen and into the tub.

It worked perfectly. It took us just about 45 minutes to sift through a 12x6 stall. We were also digging down into the saw dust and clearing out any urine soaked spots and laying down fresh lime at ground level. At the end, the stall looked like we had put down totally fresh sawdust.

I'm sure if we had a larger barn with more stalls, this might not be a terribly practical way to go about. I'm curious to see if anyone uses anything similar or what other ways people have of dealing with the mini manure our minis produce!

 

[Casnos Minis]

TSC has a black basket maure fork in the equine isles that works perfectly!!! I love mine and I can do a stall like tht in no time. I think it runs about $25.

Christy

 

[Marty]

Come forth with your invention Wingnut and thee would like thou to cleaneth my stalls for me, all 14 of them.

 

[vickie gee]

We sprinkle diatomaceous earth onto the barn floor. It literally destroys crawling insects and even parasites. It is not harmful to humans, livestock, or pets. It doesn't cost much and is ready available at ag supply stores. We even sprinkle it in our little indoor dogs' food periodically even though we deworm them monthly. You can do a google search and find lots of information about it. There is lots of information about its scientific composition, how it eradicates bugs, and other general uses. Just don't get the kind designed for swimming pool filters because it IS dangerous. Like you I try to scoop the manure as soon as possible. I use the big fork for the larger piles and the mini fork for those broken pieces of manure.

 

[wingnut]

Marty: LOL! Two stalls is about all we can handle...14 is out of the question!

Thanks for the info Christy...I knew there had to be something already out there! We'll be on the look out for that.

 

[Anne ABC]

[SIZE=12pt]Every morning when I turn the stalled horses out I grab a bucket and a rubber glove and start picking up poops. Then take a stall fork and turn the wet spots so they dry and I am done. Takes about 3 minutes per stall. About once a month, or when needed as some can go longer, I remove all the shaving and we start over.[/SIZE]

 

[Willow Tree Miniatures]

WHAT ABOUT A LITTER BOX SCOOPER...?

 

[LittleRibbie]

I am a fanatic when it comes to poop. I do as Anne does...my hand (gloved) picking up all the piles being careful not to get too many shaving...my shaving are monster flakes.. then use pitch fork only for pee spots. Doesnt take to long. Have you seen the pitchfork thats electric or battery and has a little blower on the end...its supposed to "blow away" the shavings and only leave the poops on your fork. I saw it on RFD.

 

[CrescentMinis]

You'd like the Woody Pet fine tines fork....we don't have Tractor Supply here, but they carry it, so I ordered it online (could be the same one Christy is talking about). It's designed for pellet bedding to fall through so less waste, but also the tines are so closely spaced that it picks up nearly every little broken piece of manure.

 

[Taylor Jo]

I'm neurotic about my stalls being clean. If one of my horses starts to poop I RUN over there to catch it!!!!!! I HATE a dirty stall, drives me nuts. HA, I drive my husband crazy he say's horses stalls were meant to have poop in them. I say NOT my stalls.... I have a "pooper scooper" I got from Pet Smart that I use to get the manure up with and it gets the little pieces pretty good. I then take a close tine fork and pull back the shavings and pick up the wet spots and take them out and leave the spots open to dry if the horses are going to be out of the barn for the day. Some day's if they're going to be in the barn cause of bad weather I have to recover them but at least it's with dry shavings. TJ

 

[Just Us N Texas]

My hubby Jerry "invented" a stall cleaner. He took wire mesh, framed it with sides, built it on slanted legs, added an appliance( I think old washing machine?) motor to it. We put a manure bucket at the short end of it, turn it on, pile on the shavings or woody pet, and the vibration shakes the bedding under it, and the horse apples go down to the bucket and in. Clean stalls in no time flat, and all cleaned out well! He was asked to submit his plans and etc. to a farm magazine so that people could duplicate it, but he never did. Wish he would manufacture them, would make a lot of money maybe.

 

[Taylor Jo]

My hubby Jerry "invented" a stall cleaner. He took wire mesh, framed it with sides, built it on slanted legs, added an appliance( I think old washing machine?) motor to it. We put a manure bucket at the short end of it, turn it on, pile on the shavings or woody pet, and the vibration shakes the bedding under it, and the horse apples go down to the bucket and in. Clean stalls in no time flat, and all cleaned out well! He was asked to submit his plans and etc. to a farm magazine so that people could duplicate it, but he never did. Wish he would manufacture them, would make a lot of money maybe.

HEYYYYYYYYYYYYY, tell him there's a LOT of us that would buy one. I know I WOULD!!!!!!!TJ

 

[mydaddysjag]

Is it something like this?

Stall shifter

I always wished I could have one of those, because I HATE dirty stalls. Too expensive at the moment though. Maybe one day when we have more stalls if might be an option.

 

[Just Us N Texas]

Yes, it is made about the same. His of course looks sturdier, but not as fancy because it is homemade. It cost him maybe 15-20 dollars to make as he used scraps of things around the farm. Sorry he didn't patent it when he "invented" it. Either someone has thought of the same thing, or he told someone about it, or someone saw it, and went with the idea. Oh well, I guess he could still make it and market it much cheaper!

 

[mydaddysjag]

Do you have pictures of yours? I always thought they looked great, but couldn't justify spending that much money on something like that. If I could make one cheaper, that would be amazing.

 

[gatorbait4sure]

I have a stall sifter, but it only works with pelleted bedding, and it works WELL! 100% OF EVERYTHING IS GONE!

 

[OhHorsePee]

TSC has a black basket maure fork in the equine isles that works perfectly!!! I love mine and I can do a stall like tht in no time. I think it runs about $25.Christy

This is what we use and I LOVE it! It is higher priced here but so well worth the money.

Just watched the video on the sifter. That is pretty cool!!

 

[fallin4minis]

TSC has a black basket maure fork in the equine isles that works perfectly!!! I love mine and I can do a stall like tht in no time. I think it runs about $25.Christy

TSC just opened about 30 miles far from where I live so I went yesterday to check them out and I saw the black basket fork. I debated whether or not to get it b/c it cost $31 and I don't mind using my future fork. It's my hubby that hates my current fork, said it takes too long to get all the little poop balls out. After telling him about this thread and review, he's telling me to go back and get it, no matter the cost, lol! It's not often that I need his help b/c to me, stall cleaning is 'therapy' but when I'm short on time, this could be helpful for me and him.

 

[Leeana]

I am very picky about our stalls being clean, actually the whole barn in general (as well as the horse trailer...pastures...you get the idea..). I am most picky and find myself actually trying to catch the manure as it falls right after i put in new bedding .. normally for the next day or two i am almost obessive with keeping the stalls clean. I like to keep the stalls clean however im not picking up manure with my hands, i normally sift through the stalls 1-2x a day ... if i am working midnights i will sift through them as soon as i get home as i know when i wake up at 6-7pm i will not feel like cleaning stalls then LOL. With the cost of pine shavings and pine pellets i try to make it last as long as possible, which is my biggest expense...i would have to add it up but am sure it tops my hay and grain bills.

I have the black fork from TSC and i actually do not like it ... if you are using shavings you will be wasting a LOT of shavings as it does not really sift well at all. However, for pellets it works great. I use the regular twine fork from TSC and like it much better overall ..