What do you use for bedding

[twister]

we usually use straw unless they eat it and then we use shavings for those that do.

Yvonne

 

[Lucky-C-Acres-Minis]

We have dirt floors also, with mats on top and then we use shavings/sawdust combination year round and straw over shavings for foaling, though I'm nervous about using straw this next foaling season after having a mare choke on straw this year..

 

[Miniv]

Rubber mats on the stall floors and usually pine shavings on the back half, and banked.

For foaling, we spread grass hay over the entire stall.

MA

 

[Minimor]

straw here too, I have a shed full of barley straw and a few left over wheat bales, and then a newly delivered pile of LOVELY oat straw.

 

[maplegum]

I'm rather embarrassed to say that Bailey is spoiled rotten and won't sleep on anything else other than blankets! Yes, you read it right...blankets!

I tried shavings but he wouldn't even go in his stable. He would paw away at them and then walk out. I laid his blankets ON TOP of the shavings and he was happy again! OH!

Nut case...seriously, he is.

 

[AnnaC]

Come come dont be mean!!

Buy the little guy a duvet LOL!!

Anna

 

[Margaret]

When I had dirt floors in my barn, and was preparring to foal out, I would always keep the Burmuda Grass Hay from eariler in the year that my horses didnt care for.

It was perfect looking soft grass hay, but for one reason or another they preferred to pee on it, or not eat it enthusiastically.

(The only exception to this was moldy hay, and that I would throw away.)

Every year this is what I saved for foaling out time.

I would used 1-2-3 flakes, of this hay per night, and it worked perfectly.

They could eat what they wanted, pee on what they wanted, and sleep on one area of it, and I did not have to worry about what they might ingest..

 

[Miniequine]

Straw. one bale seems to last WAY longer than

a bale of sawdust.

And for composting, it is better for my garden and lawn.

~Sandy

 

[Candice]

At the present moment we're using the pelleted bedding. At first I loved it because there was so little waste compared to shavings. The urine spots are easily visible to be scraped up. The downside as others have mentioned is the dust. I absolutely hate it. Next month is our barn "overhaul month", where we pull all the mats and clean and disenfect all the walls and mats and add more dirt if needed in prepartion for foaling season. At that time I'm switching back over to shavings.

Here in Fl straw is very very expensive and not all that easy to come by in our area. I hunt around for some soft pangola (only have one mare that likes to eat it) and use that in the foaling stalls.

 

[KAYO]

We've used several different types of bedding, mostly shavings. Since we have moved we have access to sawdust (my dad has a sawmill and it's a very short distance from the barn) I recently bought shavings from an Amish distributer but have found that they are very, very dusty. They aren't expensive $2.75 for a nice sized bag, but with all the dust I feel it was a waste of money. We will probably go back to sawdust and just bed a little deeper during the winter. We always use straw with our mares and foals and are able to find it here pretty reasonably priced. Hay is a different matter, I found some Alfalfa grass mix for $3.00 (great price, family friend) but have seen it as high as $6.00 a bale. Oops, got off subject. I am really concerned about the price of hay and grain, worried that there will be horses that won't get what they need to stay healthy. Recently in a town nearby they rescued quite a number of big horses that are in terrible, terrible condition.

 

[MySweetElegance]

my horses are on dirt floors with hard maple sawdust the barn owners get a bucket load which fills up the back of the truck for 10.00 they also might end up getting oak which i dont like cause it gets dark really fast so its hard to tell what is good and what is bad

 

[lcwallis]

Believe it or not, we've settled on Peat Moss! We've tried many different things and

Peat Moss is dusty if you don't sprinkle it with a little water each night. If you get use to it, it works great and you won't believe your pasture where you spread it! I have people come over and get it for their gardens. I keep joking with my husband saying we should open a new business called "Peat 'N' Poop".

It is a bit of a pain getting use to but for us it is worth it.

 

[DrivinTime]

We use shavings, on top of rubber mats, on top of plywood floors. Works for us! I find the shavings are easy to sift and not as dusty as sawdust. And I use Sweet PDZ or Stall Dry every month or so, mostly just in the summer, to really keep the ammonia odor down.

Maplegum, your horse really sleeps on blankets? Truly?! That's so cool. My gelding would, of course, immediately pee and poop on a blanket. The mare might appreciate a blanket, though - or she might give me that "what are you up to?" look... So, if I was going to buy doggie boots for my horses, I'm guessing you at least might not laugh at me? (My neighbors are always commenting on how they "never put blankets on their horses in the winter, etc." so I can only imagine what they'd say if I put boots on mine...)

 

[Meadowind]

Some of our stalls have wood over cement and the rest have rubber mats over cement. We used straw for many years, then switched to shavings. Last year we couldn't get the shavings from our regular supplier. We decided to try flax shives, which we could get delivered to our yard at no cost. There was basically no smell in our barn, and the stalls were always dry. However, it was terribly dusty when putting the shives into the stalls. Rod has asthma, so we are switching back to shavings this winter. We just haven't figured out how to get the shives in without raising so much dust.

 

[Tammie-C_Spots]

I use wood pellets (untreated). They are very very dusty. They work well if it's a well used stall or under straw or shavings. I find since I'm limited on composting space for my manure and the wood pellets are excellent in that respect but top choice is fluffy shavings. I have mats in my stalls too.

Tammie

 

[Danielle_E.]

I use a combination, meaning depends on time of year. I use the woody pet type of bedding in the summer time, since you have to water that kind of bedding and I LOVE IT. It makes my stall cleaning FAST and give much much less waste, all you end up picking up is the manure and the pee spots, your manure pile is much smaller than when using shavings. When the weather turns cold, because of where I live, I go with shavings which makes more work for me, slower to clean, more in the manure pile, but is comfy and warm for the horses. I do have rubber mats throughout my barn, in the stalls and in the aisle. That is one thing I would NEVER be without.