More Stall questions

[horsehug]

For those of you with barns, what is the floor of your stalls made of? Dirt, concrete, regular gravel, fine gravel, other? And do you have mats on top of your floors?

Thanks!

Susan O.

 

[CharmedMinis]

Hi Susan,

My 2 stalls are dirt floors and I hate it! Simply because we do have some flooding sometimes and the pee spots never dry.

I would give just about anything to have concrete floors with a drain in the middle

:

 

[Reble]

We took all our cement floors out about 15 years ago, hubby wonders now if he should of kept them in. People we talked to said cement was not good for horses.

We put in sand, and use wood pellets for bedding.

 

[Pretty_Mini]

In the barn, the allie is concrete. The stalls did have, dirt on the bottom that we put matts over (which i liked), but the owner of the barn wanted to put wood floors in (which i do not like). I think in time the wood will bow and brake. But I think the dirt was just plain dirt. lol

 

[backwoodsnanny]

We have wood floors and I dont mind them but they are more work. Have to be cleaned more often and disinfected but no problems from them and the barn has been there for 4 years now. The floors are made from 2X6 rough timber. We bed with shavings over them just as our grandparents did.

 

[erinspaintedacres]

We have 3 barns which 2 were remodled from a pig barns. AT the one barn is cement floors with long narrow pens made from steel panels( they were just pens that were in the barn already, so we just disinfected them) It is really nice as their are drains at the end of each pen for their pee to drain into. The next barn is the main barn that I have portable pens made out of panels (I use this for my large horses and minis) The next barn is dirt floor with wood layed into the stalls. This barn is rarily used to for horses, just cows since I don't like the wood floors. They are getting ripped out after this years calving season. I like the one barn with the portable pens the most as I can arrange the pens any way i want!

 

[Relic]

Hard packed down clay over a base of road crush covered with thick rubber matts. We had cement for 8 years it was a mess after the winters with the freezing thawing cycle l don't think it was poured thick enough to stand up to the heaving when it was put in or just lack of metal rods got lots of cracks and was a big broken up mess..

 

[misfitminis]

We have shavings on top of floormats on top of reclaim(gravel and recycled road asphalt) it packs and drains great.

 

[Shaladar]

I have 3 big barns used previously for Dairy Goats and Beef Cattle.

The one up by the house (30X60) is completely rough cemented with mats in the stalls (portable panels) and mats in the aisle where I groom. The mats don't fit the stalls, there is at least 1 ft at the back and 6-8" around the edges that is not covered. Never had a problem with it. I do occasionally pull the mats (like 2x a year) and pour some Stall Dry powder under them for the urine that might seep under. But I bed deeply and very rarely does any urine get under the mats. These stalls are used all the time and there is no odor. I do use a lot of shavings, by choice. I like a nice deep bed for them.

The back cow barn has hard clay in the stalls. These stalls have paddocks. I actually use more shavings in them to try and keep the odor down. The dirt smells.

And I also have 1 horse in a stall in the cow barn that is rough cemented, with no mats. It is bedded very deep and he is very clean, so it works for him. He also has a paddock and really doesn't spend much time in his stall.

I have heard people comment that cement with mats smell. I wonder if it depends on where you live and the weather? We also don't freeze.

Really moist air or dry air? We have a drier air.

Maybe the type of shavings?

Sue

edited to add:..someone mentioned flooding....we did flood a couple of years ago...had 2-3 inches run through the barn....just opened every available door and swept it out....no problems.

The back barns w/dirt floors were wet (and muddy) forever it seemed.

 

[Marty]

Our new barn floor is done in layers, and I love it

1. bottom: dirt

2. next: a layer of 1/4 gravel about 3-4 inches deep

3. approximatly 12" of coarse sand on top of that

4. shavings

Works perfect.

 

[normajeanbaker]

We have 2 stalls with wood floors, and the other 5 stalls have cement floors. Our isle way is cement. ALL 7 stalls have thick rubber mats over the floor. I really prefer the cement floors. We have had to replace the wooden floors in both back stalls. The cement floors are easy to air out(just pull the mats out and the cement airs out in no time). With the rubber mats, we have never had a leg issue because of the cement. We give them all a good amount of bedding and I find it no harder or more tiring on the legs to stand in the stalls that have a cement floor, as those with the wooden floors. The stalls with the wooden floors used to have dirt floors and I HATED it. So, we put the wood floors down. My choice is cement, but the wood is okay. And, after having the stalls mats, I'll never have stalls without them!

Jen

 

[targetsmom]

Our mini barn has a layer of stone dust over dirt, then rubber mats that we bed with Woody Pet or other pelleted bedding. Some of the mats are regular, thick horse stall mats and some are the rolled about 1/4' thick mats sold at Tractor Supply that also work well in truck beds. Those are much easier to move, cut, etc, and work for most of the minis. One of our minis amused herself pulling the mats up and rearranging things underneath, so she now has the heavy horse mats. The rest all do fine with the thinner ones.

 

[maplegum]

Cement floor with stable matting. The floor also has insulation between the cement and matting.

No shavings or straw...it was so messy! I hated the stuff.

Bailey sleeps on blankets now and he loves it. He looks so snug all curled up on his warm blankets at night..it's very cute.

:

 

[billiethekid40]

Mine is wood. I don't mind it because I only have one horse and so I can do more to avoid the problems like urine build up etc and to replace it isn't as expensive as to replace flooring in multiple stalls. Its not ideal though, and I wouldn't reccomend it to most people, but it worked perfectly for me and it is sooooooooo easy to clean, and I've never had a bad smelling barn. But again, I only have the one horse and he isn't a big pee-er (I'm not sure what that word should be, but I'm sure you get my meaning )

 

[Hosscrazy]

My stalls all have concrete floors, then rubber mats, and then fluffy pine shavings

:

Liz R.

 

[Becky]

My show barn is all concrete with rubber mats and shavings in the stalls. Love it!

My mare barn is dirt floors with rubber mats and shavings. Even though the aisle is concrete, I wish the floors in the stalls were concrete as well because the mice tunnel through the dirt under the stalls and cave in the floor in spots :no: .

 

[lilnickers]

I have concrete with stall mats and shavings. I take the mats out Spring and Fall and hose everything down and after drying, sprinkle medicated lime. No complaints

 

[horsehug]

Thanks so much for all your suggestions!

Lots to think about and decide, for when my new barn is done.

Susan O.