What kind of bedding to use?

[Marty]

Melissa look here: In front of every feeder I have a piece of plywood or mat that I keep swept off for the slobs that like to throw their feed on the floor. No ingesting shavings. I also put their hay on it. If someone is eating their shavings, that is a sign something is wrong: they could be lacking minerals or have been put up without hay, or bored or lack of turn out time and grazing and exercise.

 

[MelissaAH]

Thanks again marty.

I always fed the big ones that way. Always had a feeder over the rubber mats. But these little mini's are vacuums the old owner said. Since I work from home I have the ability to feed in 3 feedings. I like them to at least feel like they can graze all day.

 

[Black River Farm]

We use a pelleted straw product called Streufex. I have horrible allergies and have trouble with all shavings, can't use straw, etc. Streufex up here is a little more expensive as it's trucked up from the US. The straw is baked and cleaned to remove all the allergens (OK -- it's a little more complex than that!) before it's pelletized.

Streifex is a little darker than shavings, but it has a bit of an orangey smell to it -- our dank, nasty old dairy barn was completely deodorized once the bags were stored in the barn! Plus the Streufex is like kitty litter to muck out -- the pee spot clumps together and gets picked out and then just the solids. I have the worlds smallest manure pile after 2 years!

This summer we have bedded the Tb and QH on a 2:1 Streufex to large flake shavings mix, the Stbd rescue on all shavings (he's a pig!), and the two "B" size mini's get 1/2 bag Streufex each in their smaller pens. We found that because of the excessive amount of rain in Ontario this summer our bank barn was very damp, and the Streufex tended to clump in the horses hooves. Cutting it in the big horse stalls with shavings has reduced the moisture waaay down, and kept our costs down from using up extra Streufex just for the dampness. FYI -- Streufex doesn't need to be dampened -- the horses hooves just crush it pretty quick. It doesn't puff up so it isn't an issue if they "snack" on it -- most of them will try a few pellets and then give up in disgust!

 

[wildoak]

I've never heard of the pelleted straw - interesting. I've finally found the perfect solution - for me at least -after 40 plus years of using bedding. I use Northcutt pelleted bedding (much like Woody Pet, but a little smaller pellet) underneath with good pine shavings on top. For the little stalls after the initial bedding, I refresh about once a week with one bag of pellets and half a bag of shavings. I love the pellets, they are super absorbent and I get very little odor. Downside is when it's dry here they tend to be dusty. Putting shavings over them cuts down on the dust, and makes the stall a little softer & less slippery when you first bed it. I bed the back 2/3 of the stall, and have mats.

Jan

 

[Cara]

at the barn i ride at they use the same as minis, which is soft wood pellets that turn into like a dust sorta thing, but doesnt make the stall dusty, anyway its amazing, it makes it really easy to remove poop and pee, the pee clumbs together, and the poo jsut seperates from the beding it saves money by far for us and its easy on the hoofs!!! pm if u wanna know more

 

[Matt73]

I use wheat straw. I prefer pine shavings as I love the smell in the barn and how well it absorbs. But...when you live on a farm that grows wheat and have a barn full (or more) of straw, it's more economical. I've gotten used to it. I kind of like it now. They can munch on it when bored. My only problem is that one of the boys likes to munch on it too much and I may switch him to shavings eventually.

 

[Michelle@wescofarms]

Another option as you're in California is rice hulls. We use them and love them. If the horse does eat them they're eating the exterior of rice. It does make their manure look funny if they do - and will make you look at rice crispy treats differently - lol. They also break down really well - which I like.