Keeping my stall dry????

[misty'smom]

I clean Misty's stall everyday. I rake through all the pine shavings, removing all manure and wet shavings. Then I put all the shavings that are still clean in a pile. I also remove any hay that has fallen to the floor or mixed in with the shavings. This time of the year the weather is nice and I have 2 windows in the stall, back and side with a double door in the front which I keep open to dry the stall mats. When dry I rake the clean shavings around. However on damp or very humid days it takes a while for the mats to dry!! I noticed during my viewings of Mare Stare some of you were putting down something on the mats.....is this to absorb moisture? What is it? Also do you have to sweep it up or can you rake dry shavings over it?? And most important is it safe for the horses which I am guessing the answer must be "a yes"!! The wet "urine" spots do not smell bad but I still would like a thoroughly dry mat before I put down clean dry shavings. I may sound like I am picky but I think I am when it comes to a clean barn!!!!! lol Here is 2 pictures of one side of the stall with Misty and Josie.....

 

[amysue]

I use powedered limestone. A bag of lime is cheap, like $3 cheap at any hardware store. Other products exist such as Sweet PDZ and woody pet and StableFresh they all basically do the same thing but lime is the cheapest.

 

[shorthorsemom]

I put pelleted bedding down as pellets in the wet spots. If you read the bag they tell you to add water to reconstitute, I don't do this, just put the pellets down and then the regular pine chips down on top. Then I leave the base undisturbed for the week and pick the poos daily if I can. Once a week I chisel down, scrape up all the soaked pellets and rake and then add some powdered limestone same as mentioned above in post. Then I put the base pelleted bedding down again and put the fluffy chips on top. I have no pee spots or stink in my stables and since I started doing this my horses never ever have pee stains on them from laying in the stable. The pee was pooling in puddles in my stable because my boys love nothing better than to go into the stable and pee and leave. Mine mostly do not poop in my stable, it is a run in, so my system works here.

If you want a perfect barn you might not like my idea since the pellets work best undisturbed for the week or even a few days left alone to soak up and dry up the pee. You could try putting down a handful of pellets, let them soak up the pee and then rake and add lime and keep your normal routine. I just wrote in because I love sweet smelling horses and even though I don't clean down to the dirt daily, I have clean smelling horses and that is important to me. Before I did this I was always spot cleaning my boys with cowboy magic and this doesn't work so well in winter.

best wishes.

Your stable is gorgeous by the way. thanks for sharing.

 

[bevann]

I use a product called Barn Dri on my mats.Granular or powdered limestone and not as cakey as limestone.It is available at Southern States which is a VA based farm store.After cleaning the stalls I find the wet spot and clean it carefully with a shovel sprinkle Barn Dri(smells nice and very absorbent)sprinkle with woody pellets(southern States has their own brand-cheaper than woody pet)top with shavings.Nice clean stall and sweet smelling.

 

[disneyhorse]

I also use barn lime (Sweet PDZ brand) as well as the pelleted bedding where my pony likes to urinate. I have a box stall with mats, so absorbency is important.

 

[shorthorsemom]

I too use barn dri. Recently I noticed TSC sells something similar for around 3 bucks that works just as good.

 

[eagles ring farm]

We use pelleted bedding only. we have mats and love it so much more than straw or shavings

we used to use both in the past years. We also don't wet pellets but do mix new with old broken down

pellets. I only have to add a bag maybe once every 2 weeks or longer depending on the horse

so even though it's more expensive it is really cheaper. and storage is much easier too

I would never want to go back to shavings or especially not straw

although with a new foal we spread hay on top of broken down pellets

for the first day

 

[AngC]

Wow! Your stalls look great.

Ours have access to go outside 24/7. Nicky never goes in his stall, so he get some pellets on the bottom (not wetted) some pine shavings over that and then lots of straw on top.

Our two girls get the same but no straw, just pellets and then some shavings; and even that is sparse. Unless it was really stormy out or unless the coyotes were running, our girls never used to go in the stall; then the vet said we had to lock Baby up when she had laminitis and she decided bedding was what you potty on. I've been trying lots of things. I've taught her (Baby) to pee in a bucket, etc. but it was kicking my hind-end to keep up on all that. I have tried the PDF Stall Sweet as mentioned by others; I don't care for the powdery type--it makes me worry about potential respiratory issues--unless it's used to sop up a puddle. The granular, which I just got some, I'm going to try underneath. It does seem to knock back the odor.

 

[Miniv]

We have products in our area....One is called PDZ and the other is "Stall Dry". One is courser than the other.

 

[secuono]

Wow, I used to be jealous of all the pretty and fancy stalls everyone has. Now, after reading this post, I'm glad I have an open, breezy and dirt floor barn! You guys are always hard at work cleaning and trying to dry them.

I used the pelleted lime TSC has for when I had rabbits, dried and helped keep flies away.

 

[misty'smom]

Thank you for all the great replies!! Lots of good ideas for me to try!! I am going to check at our TSC and Co-op to see what they carry, at least now I have the brand names!!! Letting the mats just air dry works well most days but sometimes I need to get done all at once. Especially when it turns cold and we have a cold rainy day, I usually keep them in on those days. Most days they are outside even cold days as long as it is a dry day.

AngC and Shorthorsemom, Thanks for your compliments!! My barn is small but I just love it!! It is very functional and I love the lay out too!! I looked at lots of barns online to get ideas of what to build 2yrs ago! So I combined some floor plans and came up with what I thought would work!!!!