What kind of bedding to use?

[MelissaAH]

I will be moving to the new property this weekend and getting the barn ready for the horses. I never used bedding for the big horses but now I want to use it for all of them. What is the best type of bedding to use for my daughters Quarter horse and the minis?

 

[CrescentMinis]

I like the wood pellet bedding. It lasts a long time with just adding a little each week once you have the stalls bedded initially (mist the pellets with water when you first put them down so they fluff up). The only down side I see is that there is a lot of dust in the barn when I use these, but the horses stay cleaner and the stalls are easier to keep really clean than with shavings.

 

[ThreeCFarm]

I use shavings if the horses aren't in 24/7, or if the horses I have are neat. However, if I have one that must stay in all the time or one that is a pig (I have one mare that makes SUCH a mess!!!!), I put down a bag of pellets on the bottom, then a bag of shavings on the top. Of course, the size of your stalls would determine how much of whatever product you would need.

 

[Hosscrazy]

I use pine shavings - Fox Feed carries America's Choice, which is a good brand - it's not dusty at all.

Liz R.

 

[MelissaAH]

I use pine shavings - Fox Feed carries America's Choice, which is a good brand - it's not dusty at all.

Liz R.

I was told not to use this by the previous owner because they eat them. But I know a few that do use it. Won't it pass thru their system?

 

[OhHorsePee]

I so love the pellets! Never noticed any dust from them on the kind we bought. After mine were misted with water and the horses would work it around a bit it resembled sand in appearance. VERY absorbant!

 

[Alex]

We use pellets at the barn we board at. They work good, but I could do away with the amonia smell it leaves. Id rather use shavings, more comfy and they smell gooood! But the pellets are pretty decent.

You will have to see if she eats them, just watch and see. Before our stallion got here he didnt know what pellet bedding was and ate them because he thought it was grain. Good thing they are non-toxic!

 

[Rebecca]

We use pine shavings here, and my horses have never eaten them, if they have, I haven't noticed and it hasn't been a problem. I don't know if I'd use shavings with a newborn foal, but with a full grown horse it should be fine, I doubt they'd intentionally eat them unless they're really bored.

Plus as stated the pine shavings smell nice and aren't dusty.

 

[Jill]

I've always used sawdust (10 years). At foaling time, we use either straw or hay (usually hay and switch to straw at a couple days). The saw dust we get is kind of coarse (so not dusty) and I like it over shavings (find it much easier to clean). We bed the stalls as well as the run ins. If you use sawdust, you must be sure it contains no black walnut.

 

[Carolyn R]

You will have to see if she eats them, just watch and see. Before our stallion got here he didnt know what pellet bedding was and ate them because he thought it was grain. Good thing they are non-toxic!

Don't bet the farm on them being okay because they are non toxic. I had a mini filly eat them and get an impaction, had to put her down after 5 days of treatment. They may be non toxic, but if a horse roots for the intact pieces and eats them, wether it be boredom or lack of fiber in the diet, due to the very nature of them expanding, they can easily cause an impaction in a smaller animal.

Sorry Alex, I don't mean to call you out on this, it was just the same exact statement that half a dozen employess at the TS store said before I purchased them. It was a few years ago, but I really dislike using this type of product.

Carolyn

 

[Kari]

We use pine shavings from the mill here. Only $1 per truckload!!

The plus side of living in a logging town.

Kari

 

[Indian*R*A*I*N*Dance]

We use pine shavings.

 

[Jill]

Some of you saying pine shavings / truckload -- I wonder if you're using what I call "sawdust"? We also get it by the truck load cheaply at the sawmill. It's not "fluffy pieces" like you get in a bag of shavings, but it's not really fine like "dust" either (even though I'm calling it sawdust).

 

[MelissaAH]

Some of you saying pine shavings / truckload -- I wonder if you're using what I call "sawdust"? We also get it by the truck load cheaply at the sawmill. It's not "fluffy pieces" like you get in a bag of shavings, but it's not really fine like "dust" either (even though I'm calling it sawdust).

I am wondering that too. The pine shavings I seen someone use was small kind of like the shavings you put in hamster/rat cages but a tiny bit bigger. All her horses had their noses in it scrimaging thru it for I guess lost food. I want to get the right stuff so my minis don't colic or get impacted.

 

[OhHorsePee]

I've never had any amonia problem with ours before Alex. I even had someone smell a handfull of wet bedding because there was no smell. We found it odd that there wasn't. Maybe a difference in brands!??!

 

[Miniv]

We use pine shavings.......like was just posted, they're like the hamster bedding but slightly larger.

We have rubber mats, so don't bed the entire floor of the stall, just the back half. I find they tend to go potty more on the shavings and leave the mat alone. Plus, I put their hay down on the rubber mats. The horses don't show any interest in eating the shavings.......everything is kept separate.

 

[Marty]

Here you go: These are pine shavings which come in a bale. You can find them at most tack/feed stores or Tractor Supply. There's a lot of different companies that make them. They are anywhere between $4.50 and $5.50 in this area. I use two for one 10 X 10 stall in summer and more in winter to bed heavily for more warmth. They are very clean and absorbant. My horses like to lay down and snooze in them and roll in them and they keep them clean. Just a light dust off with a brush. These are very easy to use and store. I keep mine outside the back of the barn on a pallet.

In this town we can also buy nice clean flussy shavings by the truckload from an independant company which I used to do, but then there is an issue of storage outside. I used to have a covered bin which was an eyesore and then extra shoveling back and forth from the bin to the barns. A pain. Baled shavings are much more convenient.

We also have access to that middle of the road sawdust with saw mills everywhere here in sight free for the asking. It's not fine like beach sand or nice and fluffy like the baled shavings. They are just like Jill said. There was a storage problem again with them and they didn't work well for us so I chose not to use them. The free part was good though!

 

[MelissaAH]

We use pine shavings.......like was just posted, they're like the hamster bedding but slightly larger.
We have rubber mats, so don't bed the entire floor of the stall, just the back half. I find they tend to go potty more on the shavings and leave the mat alone. Plus, I put their hay down on the rubber mats. The horses don't show any interest in eating the shavings.......everything is kept separate.

That sounds good. They will be in the same stall. It's a barn with a 12x12 stall that leads out into a 12x24 paddock. And then I have a 1/3 turn out to play on. I figure I will feed them outside in the paddock. The floor of the barn is dirt but in the paddock I will put a rubber mat to feed on.

 

[MelissaAH]

Thanks Marty...I like visuals. Tomorrow I am making a run to the feed store and buying supplies. That was the stuff I seen the breeder use and her mini's were picking thru it. I would venture to guess they are picking for food scraps. What is they are ingested. The previous owner said not to use them because they eat it.

 

[Leeana]

I like nice pine shavings that i can easily pick through but that leave the barn smelling nice and piney fresh ahh. We use to use sawdust from the mill but the sawdust was left outside even in the rain and we started finding a bit of mold, also it didnt leave that lovely fresh pine scent i look forward to every morning

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