|
|
Discussion on Deep Litter Bedding
|
| Author |
Message |
Member:
scooter
|
Posted on Saturday, Dec 12, 2009 - 8:28 am:
Hi Have any of you tried this procedure. With the price of bedding and as much as I use in the winter I am contemplating it.
Last winter I tried it for awhile out of necessity, it was so cold the pee would freeze in their pee spot and make removal difficult.
While I was doing this I was quite impressed with how much LESS bedding I had to use, and how soft the lean-to stayed. Was the first year I didn't have any hock sores, they don't get them bad, but do rub the hair off their hocks.
There was absolutely no smell of urine, and the horses didn't stink of urine from lying in there.
The thoughts of cleaning it all out in the spring was rather daunting, so when we had a bit of a thaw I would dig some of the urine spot out (tho I believe you are not suppose to do that)
I was really surprised how easy clean up was in the spring and my manure pile was half the size.
Instead of 2-3 bags of bedding a week, I went through 1 a week tops. I only did this for about a month as I said out of necessity, but I am really considering it for the whole winter this year.
Anyone tried this for a few months in a row, or see any drawbacks?
|
Member:
lucyc1
|
Posted on Saturday, Dec 12, 2009 - 10:01 am:
DianE: Would you describe what you mean by deep litter bedding? I know the concept, but the devil is always in the details.
|
Member:
mrose
|
Posted on Saturday, Dec 12, 2009 - 10:19 am:
Good morning, Diane.  Seems like we had a discussion on this once before, but I'm not sure; I may have read it somewhere else.
At any rate, I've done "deep litter" method with straw when we lived in Truckee, but not with shavings. I did remove the really wet stuff on the bottom once a week; even at -40 it wasn't frozen under the straw and I removed the piles on manure on the top each day, but didn't toss through looking for manure. The stalls stayed deeply bedded and warm and didn't smell. I don't know if this would work with shavings. However, with everything so frozen, I think if you'd just take out the fresh manure and add more bedding you'd be fine. It will keep the area softer, and if it starts to get bad, just shovel out what you can or need to. This time of year you don't need to worry about flies, which is the main reason I try to be so meticulous in warm weather.
|
Member:
scooter
|
Posted on Saturday, Dec 12, 2009 - 10:45 am:
Sara I did touch on it last year in one of my threads. I wouldn't try it in the summer...they don't get bedding in the summer!
Lucy I did the same as Sara except with shavings. I believe shaving or straw work fine for it. Right now since our blizzard I have a good base to start with. I haven't removed the pee spot since then, which got me thinking of trying this. Their lean-to is soft now and really doesn't stink, it and them actually stink more when I remove the pee spot, and no hock sores is an added bonus. All poop was removed daily, and I did clean the pee spot out every once in awhile when it warmed up. maybe that saved the big clean up in the spring.I'm not sure of the true protocol of it, but that worked really well for a month or two stretch.
Think this is going to be my next experiment! That bedding is going to drive me to bankruptcy!
|
Member:
mrose
|
Posted on Saturday, Dec 12, 2009 - 11:26 am:
Tell me about it! With 7 stalls that are 14' x 16' crummy weather and various sick/sore horses from time to time, I go through a fortune in shavings! We drive 3 hrs. each way so I can save and buy in big loads. Have to use bagged, and they cost me $3.50/bag now at the mill. In town they are up to $12 for a 9cu ft bag. That's what they were this summer; might be more now. Nothing else is cheaper that I can find within a reasonable distance, and shipping costs are now so high it isn't feasable to ship in large loads of anything.
I'd forgotten about the deep bedding. If it works for you, I'm going to try it on my stalls that are "outside." I have 3 stalls that are in a separate shed row. They are more open, and the horses go in and out except in the very worst weather.
|
Member:
kpaint
|
Posted on Saturday, Dec 12, 2009 - 12:00 pm:
Hmmm, that must be what I have in Diva Mare's stall now. "Litter Bedding". Her stall is always open to the south to her dry lot. I get some weather/dampness by the doorway, but I shovel it up each day. I have been removing the fresh manure and have flipped the straw over to get the wet straw in her urine spot. Fluff the existing straw with a plastic manure fork which usually reveals any fresh manure and the stomped dry stuff falls to the bottom. Add more straw, fluff and Diva's Princess Mattress is complete for the day. Is that "Litter Bedding"? I did it to help protect those ouchy soles with the added bonus of she stays cleaner, it is nice and toasty out of the wind, and protects ankles/hocks from rubbing or breaking open on hard ground.
And of course for the human aspect of "I think she looks nice on the straw."
|
Member:
kpaint
|
Posted on Saturday, Dec 12, 2009 - 12:01 pm:
Haffies eat their straw down to the wet stuff which makes it easy to clean up the wet stuff. Of course I put far less straw in their stalls. Vacuum Cleaners.
|
Member:
kpaint
|
Posted on Saturday, Dec 12, 2009 - 12:14 pm:
Hay Diane! Just read several descriptions of deep litter bedding and felt a wee bit smug. I was doing something reasonably right without research! Little Diva's bed sounds fine. The moron twins however don't qualify as having a deep litter bed...
|
Member:
tpmiller
|
Posted on Saturday, Dec 12, 2009 - 2:48 pm:
Use sawdust on rubber mats. Stripped daily with a cheap snow shovel dumping everything on a stall sifter. Good stuff DrOps through screen, bad stuff DrOps off the end into a muck bucket.
Impossible to pick it cleaner. No dust, no smell. Sifter has paid for itself many times over and savings on bedding is huge.
|
Member:
scooter
|
Posted on Saturday, Dec 12, 2009 - 2:56 pm:
See Vicki you are getting horse sense LOL.
Sara I bet it would work well in your "outdoor stalls" Here I pay $6 a bag for bedding, that is more expensive than my hay! I use 3-4 bags a week depending on weather.... here goes the math again 6x4=$24 a week x 4= $96 a month a very expensive poop pile. Last year I was able to use 1 bag a week when it was deep littered bedded. $24 a month....now that I can tolerate.
|
Member:
scooter
|
Posted on Saturday, Dec 12, 2009 - 3:07 pm:
OK Timothy you force me to reveal the other part of my deep litter bedding thought...laziness, or maybe it is time constraints... yea that's it!
I leave in the dark and get home close to dark in the winter, by the time I feed it is dark, and my energy level is zilch.
I never have been a big fan or rubber mats in the lean to either...stalls they are ok, but when I worked at the boarding barn they had rubber mats and no matter how clean the stalls were to begin with they always stunk and so did the horses and their blankets. Don't know why.
|
Member:
leslie1
|
Posted on Saturday, Dec 12, 2009 - 4:07 pm:
I did deep litter bed last year but with some cheap $2.00 a bale hay, was clean and soft but yellow...then hired a farm kid to come out and strip them this spring for 40 bucks!!
|
Member:
lucyc1
|
Posted on Saturday, Dec 12, 2009 - 4:28 pm:
DianE: Just curious. When you worked at the boarding barn with rubber mats, and the stalls, horses and blankets all stunk -- were those mats on concrete?
|
Member:
scooter
|
Posted on Saturday, Dec 12, 2009 - 4:40 pm:
Lucy they were on a packed clay..then packed lime on top base. Same as my lean-to, I'm going to try this on.
My neighbor also has mats, cleans and beds their stall everyday, picks at night... and her horses reek!(they are on cement) I can't stand my horses stinking like urine so if they start my experiment will end. They did stink like urine cleaning it the normal way and believe me I am very good at cleaning stalls... a bit fanatic actually. I wonder if it is because with "fluffy" bedding it moves around and spreads the urine more
Leslie now we need details Did you think it got stinky or did the horses stink of urine? Did you do stalls or a shelter?
I just went out and cleaned the lean-to and decided I was going to try it this winter..nothing to loose anyway. It is soft in there I could lie down in it. It seems when I clean it all and fluff it up nicely the bedding "moves" and the horses end up lying on the ground somewhat (I do deeply bed) I don't like hock sores and it seems by the end of winter Hank and Flash would have a good start on them, I think Sam has too much hair to go through to get to his hocks.
|
Member:
leslie1
|
Posted on Saturday, Dec 12, 2009 - 5:17 pm:
I did the stalls. my guys have 24/7 access to pasture and barn, they are connected.. I did not think the stall stank at all. I went out there and literally sat in it with my horses all the time. I had it bed about a foot deep. I kept fresh hay on top and never had any thrush or any problems. Also my barn is quite airy because I dont have the back doors on as they are open to the pasture.
The kid stripped it this spring. once he got down to the bottom... it did reek.
my guys always like to sleep in the pasture on the hard frozen ground but I truly believe they just prefer to be outside. When the ice storm hit last winter I locked them in the barn and was glad to have done the bedding that way as I didnt have to be out there in sub zero degrees trying to clean icy, slick frozen pee out. I do admit I was glad to hire the kid to come clean it out ...$40 bucks well spent.
Good luck D.
Leslie
|
Member:
kpaint
|
Posted on Saturday, Dec 12, 2009 - 6:15 pm:
Diane, most of the base is mashed over time. I just fluff the top 1/2 and new stuff. She does paw and nose down to the rubber mat over by her water/grain bowl/bucket. Probably searching for a missed morsel;however, that isn't a lay down place as it's in the corner.
I don't like urine smell at all. If it stinks, I'll strip it and bleach it. No concrete in her stall.
|
Member:
kpaint
|
Posted on Saturday, Dec 12, 2009 - 6:15 pm:
Tim, I might try your method this summer!
|
Member:
rtrotter
|
Posted on Saturday, Dec 12, 2009 - 6:24 pm:
Hello all,
I remember many years ago, reading an article on bedding this way using straw as the top part and if I remember right one never cleaned all the way down to the bottom even in the summer. The idea is that the stalls are bedded so deeply first with shavings and then with straw that the entire stall acts like a big sponge and an environmentally friendly compost pile with very little smell. Only requires picking out no major stall cleaning. The stuff on the bottom decomposes and eventually turns into really good dirt or topsoil. It stays very warm in the winter and comfortable in the summer. The only draw back is that eventually it gets very high and you may have to take some of the upper layers out.
It doesn't look pretty after the first few days but it does work.
The trick is to bed down very deeply to start.
I think I saw this in a horsecare book on cost efficient ways to keep a horse.
Rachelle
|
Member:
mrose
|
Posted on Saturday, Dec 12, 2009 - 8:27 pm:
Tim, I've wondered about those sifters; how big a shaving will slip through? Our shavings vary a lot with some being very fine, and others big and flaky. I've been concerned about the big ones getting stuck on top of the screen, so haven't really considered one. How long have you been using one? No problems with it jamming up or anything?
|
Member:
cheryl
|
Posted on Sunday, Dec 13, 2009 - 8:58 am:
The best stall set-up I've ever had was packed screenings under rubber mats with a minimum of a foot of sawdust - not shavings - when I didn't have sawdust available I used rehydrated wood pellets. I cleaned wet spots and all manure every day - sometimes two or three times a day. No urine smell - even when Fox was shut in her stall for months. I didn't have a shifter  but the sawdust is really easy to separate from the manure and it pretty much forms a solid pancake of the urine - which makes it easy to remove. I have shaving now and really - REALLY - don't like them. Cheryl K
|
Member:
paardex
|
Posted on Sunday, Dec 13, 2009 - 11:15 am:
In Holland deep litter bedding in winter is the usual way to keep[esp. young] horses.
There has been extensive research by the government on ammonium etc and health effects.
Strawbedding did well, shavings are so expensive they did not get used very much but obviously did better as they absorb better, but best did the hemp/flaxstem[?] bedding. If treated according to advice at the end of the winter it would come out completely composted ready to be used.Also dryness even when the manure was mixed in stayed good, it was even better if you pick the fresh manure of daily. Only downside: it gets dark[as did the shavings] and doesn't look very nice.
There are quite a few websites who describe exactly how to use their products for deepbedding in Europe[probably also in English as England will use this system to]
Jos
|
Member:
scooter
|
Posted on Sunday, Dec 13, 2009 - 11:42 am:
I think I need to study this further
Temps climbed to 32 today and the lean-to was a wet mess. It stunk...horses didn't. I couldn't take it so cleaned the whole mess up. Probably didn't have the bedding deep enough yet.
Starting over, don't see anymore warm weather in the near future. I think frozen is the key to my experiment.
|
Member:
paardex
|
Posted on Sunday, Dec 13, 2009 - 1:03 pm:
At first you need to bed a LOT Diane to set up the 'bed' Do not muck out but add so much straw it looks clean again. The temperature should do in enclosed stables with temps of around 45 it still worked well[with good ventilation obviously but your lean to is not closed]
Jos
|
Member:
scooter
|
Posted on Sunday, Dec 13, 2009 - 1:35 pm:
Jos I am using shavings, maybe that's the difference?
|
Member:
paardex
|
Posted on Sunday, Dec 13, 2009 - 2:42 pm:
No Diane same system bed very deepuntil you have a layer underneath that's thick enough to stay in place then you will go back VERY much in usage.
Get the first layer with urine and if you want without manure completely mixed. I think the average was for a 12 x12 box appr. 400 pounds shavings and then mix and leave it for a few weeks.You can get manure out in the meantime. Don't know if this is possible though with a lean to. Stables were build lower for this system in Holland and the horses stood higher and higher during winter.
They even said to water the initial layer a bit to get is to make a 'bed' faster.
Jos
|
Member:
rtrotter
|
Posted on Sunday, Dec 13, 2009 - 4:15 pm:
Diane,
You gave me the idea to do this for the winter. I started mine today. My horse is out 12 hours and in 12 hours and only has a few piles to clean up even when not picked out constantly. I had just put three bags of shavings in 2 days ago and that was after a good cleaning. So today, I just picked the poops and left the pee and leveled the stall as I would normally do, then I put three more bags of shavings in. My stalls are approx. 12' X 10'. Right now I'd say I have about a 10" cushion in the stall. For this week I will probably add about a bag every other day, unless I feel it needs more and then I'll see where I am at the end of the week. I am on a dirt floor and it was pretty level with good drainage to start with.
Now if I can stand it looking dirty everything will be fine. And I can't tell my husband, he'll tell me I'm being a Gyp.
Rachelle
|
Member:
paardex
|
Posted on Sunday, Dec 13, 2009 - 5:34 pm:
I couldn't stand it Rachelle even with six horses on average 15 to 20 hours stabled! But the friends who could were less worn down rode more and their horses seemed just as happy and healthy as mine [and they saved money that might convince your husband!
Jos
|
Member:
scooter
|
Posted on Sunday, Dec 13, 2009 - 8:10 pm:
HMMMM OK I am going to do a redo, I am almost afaraid to use that much bedding at once in case it doesn't work. The lean-to is 12 wide by 36 long....
I am just doing 2/3rds of it in bedding 12 x 24. They had really worked the wet spots up last night...they do lay on the pee spot...must be warm.
When I rented land their favorite spot to sleep was the manure pile.
Jan. 02
They did love their manure pile! Rachelle let me know how it works for you I am still going to try it too.
|
Member:
ajudson1
|
Posted on Monday, Dec 14, 2009 - 7:37 am:
I think you all make this way too complicated. I use no bedding horses are out 24/7, the few times they are locked in they get some extra hay to lay on. (O.k., I am ducking now! ;-) )
Now, on a more serious note, when I had cement flooring in stalls, an old cow barn converted to my horses, I used straw. I bedded very deeply, removed the manure, picked back the top dry straw, and then removed the heavy wet underneath. I then refluffed the straw, made sure there was a big pile in one area for them to lay on. The horses would paw and walk around, make their bed. I would completely clean it out once a week and redo it. I can't remember how much straw I used but I don't think I added much more during the week.
One of the reasons I don't buy bedding now, besides the cost, is I really love good ol' oat straw, and no one bales it any more.
A manure is like a heating pad for your horses, lol! A smelly one, huh?
|
Member:
kpaint
|
Posted on Monday, Dec 14, 2009 - 7:47 am:
Oh Angie. If it has to do with horses, we must complicate it. If we don't, they do it for us.
I did yesterday what you described as your weekly routine although I add some straw each day after Diva princess has squished her mattress over night. I started her new bed with 2 wheat straw bales (2 string) and will add some today after picking the fresh deposits.
|
Member:
scooter
|
Posted on Monday, Dec 14, 2009 - 7:52 am:
I never used to bed my horses either, a snow bank or manure pile was good enough for them. Then the old mare got arthritis and seemed worse when lying out in the cold, so now they get bedding! If it was just the stinky geldings they would be in the snow bank. She is VERY spoiled!
|
Member:
rtrotter
|
Posted on Friday, Dec 18, 2009 - 9:21 pm:
Hi all,
Just a quick update on the status of my deep litter bedding.
I love it! It's been about 5 days and other than the original 6 or so bags of shavings I started this out with, today was the first day I put any shaving in and the stall still looks clean and Does Not Smell. I think my horse likes it too, every time I walk in the barn he is sleeping( what a good baby!) I still have an 8 to 10" in cushion. Agway is having a sale this weekend so, I am stocking up, I may be able to get through the winter with 5 bags of shavings a month thats pretty good. I do believe the trick was to bed it down thick to begin with.
Rachelle
|
Member:
rtrotter
|
Posted on Friday, Dec 18, 2009 - 9:33 pm:
Diane,
I think I can answer your question as to why the stalls, horses and blankets stank on rubber mats.
The rubber mats have no drainage, so the pee sits on top of it and gets absorbed by the bedding, or as much of it that can get absorbed ( always seems to leave a pool of pee). Then the horse lay down in the pee pool and it gets all over everything then it starts to stink.
Hows that for a scientific analysis
Rachelle
|
Member:
scooter
|
Posted on Friday, Dec 18, 2009 - 9:34 pm:
Rachelle I bit the bullet and put down a thick layer of bedding too. What a time and money saver!!!
I just added one bag yesterday, usually I go through a bag a day or every other day at least. The old girl takes an afternoon nap in there where she never used to lie down during the day...no hock sores starting and no stink (so far) I took a good whiff of the horses and all they smelled like was that wonderful horse smell!
I do believe on the weekends I am going to take some of the pee spot out just to avoid a horrendous clean out come spring! That's what I did last year and it seemed to work.
|
Member:
scooter
|
Posted on Friday, Dec 18, 2009 - 10:04 pm:
Very Scientific! Good enough for me anyway.
|
Member:
rtrotter
|
Posted on Friday, Dec 18, 2009 - 10:10 pm:
I am leaving the pee spot alone, I think what's supposed to happen is that as the urine soaks into the bottom layer of bedding, it actually breaks it down and composts it. If you keep taking it out that layer does not form as well or as fast.
What I am hoping for is that by the time the spring comes that bottom layer will add several inches of really nice composted material to the floor of the stall and I wind up not taking any of it out except for the some of the stuff off the top, just so my horse isn't standing in a stall 4 feet above ground level. This remains to be seen though as I hate flies and if I see that this is not working, I'll be the first to strip out the stall.
I'd be curious to see if you left it alone and did not clean it out (now) or in the summer if it would just dry out on its own and give you a head start into next winter, just add shavings and stir. You certainly would not have to restart it again as the first layer would already be there.
Rachelle
|
Member:
scooter
|
Posted on Friday, Dec 18, 2009 - 10:23 pm:
I don't bed in the summer much unless they are locked up, the lean-to has a nice hard base and I think if I left the old stuff in it I would be asking for mud, one thing I don't have in the lean-to paddock and want to keep it that way. When we get a strong south wind in the summer with rain, it can get wet in there..stalls may be different.
|
Member:
paardex
|
Posted on Saturday, Dec 19, 2009 - 10:58 am:
Rachellyou are completely right, the 'wet' layer underneath is supposed[and will] start composting though it takes a while to get a layer thick enough to have a nice bed on top and composting stuff underneath.
Diane if you do it right the stuff composts and isn't very heavy when you get it out.
It certainly is a moneysaver and in your climate and open stalls a very good solution!
Jos
|
Member:
rtrotter
|
Posted on Sunday, Dec 27, 2009 - 1:37 pm:
Update:
Its been about 2 weeks since I started this and my stall still looks pretty good. I have put a total of two bags of shavings in since I started. The weather here has been mostly below freezing and we had two feet of snow last Saturday that put my exercise program out of commission, so my horse has been in more than normal.
I am still just taking out the poops and leaving the pee. I think the pee acts like a thermal bed because I see my colt is laying down more than he did before. This could be due to the warmth or the fact that his bed has much more of a cushion in it. I am about at 10" in depth. I have been averaging 1 good sized wheelbarrow a week in manure. Which worked out good since most of the days this week I couldn't even get to the manure pile to dump it.
Rachelle
|
Member:
scooter
|
Posted on Sunday, Dec 27, 2009 - 4:33 pm:
Rachelle I had to give up again!! We had a deluge of rain then a deluge of snow and it all blew into the lean-to the whole thing was soaking wet...wheelbarrowed it all out yesterday after hubby plowed me a path to the manure pile. I give up! Mother nature doesn't want me to do this It was working very well, until the weather got to it.
|
Member:
rtrotter
|
Posted on Saturday, Jan 9, 2010 - 11:00 am:
Update:
This has been working really well for me. Since I started, almost a month, I've used a total of 4 bags of shavings and the stall still looks pretty good. The only time I wind up taking out more shavings is when I have misjudged how much hay my colt is eating and the leftovers get mushed in with the bedding. But, it has not been bad. I still have about a 10" cushion and the colt seems to like the deeper bedding.
Rachelle
|
Member:
mrose
|
Posted on Saturday, Jan 9, 2010 - 1:32 pm:
I'm also doing this for the mare that has founder and it's working good. My only problem is with my sliding stall doors the shavings get in the way and fall out into the aisle way, but that's not a major issue.
|
Member:
kpaint
|
Posted on Saturday, Jan 9, 2010 - 1:47 pm:
Rachelle, are you having any trouble with frozen manure balls or do they work themselves down through the bedding and don't present a hazard?
|
Member:
scooter
|
Posted on Saturday, Jan 9, 2010 - 2:20 pm:
I started doing this with Sams stall too, my gawd I was going broke buying bedding and keeping it deep.
I clean all the poop out and just leave it smushed down, it is very cushy and dry.
|
Member:
rtrotter
|
Posted on Saturday, Jan 9, 2010 - 3:48 pm:
Sara,
I sweep clean a rectangle the width of the door and about 18 inches into the stall. I only get a little shavings when my horse walks in and out, but I have stall gates, no sliding doors.
Vicki, I've gotten into the habit of cleaning my stall in the morning before I bring in my horse. Everything is frozen by that time and the poop is easier to pick up, so I very rarely have poop balls except for what he does during the day. I haven't had any problems with it at all.
|
Member:
rtrotter
|
Posted on Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 - 9:47 am:
Update:
How time flies, I can't believe its March and I haven't updated this thread for several months.
My deep litter bedding was an uncompromised success and I intend to keep it going. I think I used 10 bags of shaving over the entire winter, even when he was stuck in the stall for days on end. I did cheat a little during February because he was gelded and kept turned out 24/7 for a few weeks, but I think that helped the composting process. Now, the bottom layer is nicely packed down and pretty dry and as the weather gets nicer, I will be taking just the top layer off to get it down in depth.
I am bringing my race mare in to day after a 4 month vacation in my backyard and will start the process with her. With her though she is so neat that I am not sure, I will get the same effect as I did with my colt who is messier and basically ground up most of the manure before I could get to it sometimes.
I will mostly like update this at the end of the year after I've gone through a full seasonal cycle, but right now. I am going to continue this and track the dollar amount in shavings that I save over a year. Should be significant.
Rachelle
|
Member:
mysi
|
Posted on Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 - 12:34 pm:
I don't think I ever commented on this post all winter but I tried this for the first time too! I LOVED IT!!!!!!!! I saved so much money and I really think the horses liked the cozy bed as I think they held more warmth than more loose shavings as I've done all the years before. With my 4 horses I probably went through about 34 bags all winter so far with starting it the beginning of December. Considering the nasty winter we had in NC (not as bad as all you northerners)and with my horses were in many nights compared to the last 2 years here that's not bad at all. And one horse was in 24/7 with an injury! And Rachelle, she's as neat as they come, one pee spot and poops in one corner and it worked fabulously for her, I only had to add 1 bag a month!
I plan to keep mine up as long as possible!
|
Member:
npo33901
|
Posted on Monday, Mar 22, 2010 - 7:29 am:
My "toilet" outside is smelling of urine . It is made up from bad hay (very coarse, they don't eat it). It is on pea gravel .
Earlier the "toilet" was on earth and I could clean it an put fresh pine needles/hay.
Now it is impossible to clean it and it stinks .
Any suggestion of chemicals to put on the dirty soiled material, which is not danger to horses ? To compost the remains/stuff which remains after the worst is taken away on the spot , or to get rid of the smell ?
Woud LIME be OK and which one. There are two kinds , I believe .
|
Member:
stek
|
Posted on Monday, Mar 22, 2010 - 10:55 am:
Anna-Marie Sweet PDZ has worked well for me, I think it is lime-based? For an outdoor pee spot I usually add some of the very coarse sweet PDZ, looks almost like small gravel, mix it into the pee spot, then sprinkle with granular PDZ once a week or so.
|
Member:
mrose
|
Posted on Monday, Mar 22, 2010 - 11:45 am:
If you can't find PDZ in France, try deodorized kitty litter. It works pretty good also, but you might need quite a bit.
|
Member:
npo33901
|
Posted on Monday, Mar 22, 2010 - 6:14 pm:
Shannon, thanks, but what is PDZ.?
Sara, I like french cooking - but I live in Portugal . If I don't get PDZ (which I don't know yet what it is) I'll try kitty litter .
|
Member:
stek
|
Posted on Monday, Mar 22, 2010 - 6:39 pm:
Sweet PDZ is marketed as a 'stall freshener'
https://www.sweetpdz.com/
I have also used regular old agricultural lime (I think it's calcium carbonate?) in the past but I seem to remember reading that it is not recommended, I'm not sure why...
|
Member:
scooter
|
Posted on Saturday, Jun 12, 2010 - 8:21 am:
So I am trying this with Flash since she is locked up and insists upon getting a hock sore. I kept the diaper wrap on her until the sore was gone, kept the wrap off for ONE night and it was back. The problem with her is she is TOO neat. She poops in the paddock and pees right in one spot at the very front on of her "stall" her bedding stays VERY dry, spreads while she is laying down, and ends up with the hock sore from Hades.
Would watering it down with the hose work the same??
|
Member:
mrose
|
Posted on Saturday, Jun 12, 2010 - 11:18 am:
Diane, If you can still get stove pellets or pelleted bedding this time of year, put a couple of bags of it down, dampen it until it "fluffs" and spread it around, then put the dry shavings on top of it. I've had very good luck with this mixture in the past.
|
Member:
scooter
|
Posted on Saturday, Jun 12, 2010 - 11:37 am:
HMMMM they have pelleted corn cob bedding at the "farm store"
I did water her bedding down and put a layer of dry over it to see if it would work, if not I'll try that Sara. THANKS
The diaper wrap is working very well, I have the sore cleared up again, but she can't run around with a diaper on her leg forever!
|
Member:
rtrotter
|
Posted on Saturday, May 14, 2011 - 5:44 pm:
Just thought I'd update this.
My colt has mainly been in the stall for the last several months. Because he is a vacuum cleaner, I felt I was having a problem with the sand he was ingesting out in the field, so I had to change my management practice of how much turnout he gets and where he gets it and I make sure he only gets fed in his stall with a mat underneath. He also uses a small mesh hay bag so his hay lasts longer. This was despite mats under the feed tubs, etc. He was pulling the grass up from some really sandy soil and ingesting it that way.
I followed Dr. O's advice, started keeping him in(no sand in the stall), feeding him as much hay as he could eat to move the sand out of his system. I also did the sand Clear routine. Seems to have done the trick.
Anyway, since he's had to stay in the stall so much, I wanted to see if the deep litter bedding would work without smelling up the barn. It absolutely does work! But, I found out that I have to not use dust free shavings, which is just fine for me since those cost $2.50 more than the non-dust free. I was losing too much shavings with the dust free because the poop did not sit on top of the shavings, it sort of got rolled up with it and made the stall more difficult to clean. Since I switched, my shavings usage has DrOpped and I think my horse is much happier. I am going to see how it goes during the next few months and see how the stall handles the summer heat.
Rachelle
|
Member:
vickiann
|
Posted on Saturday, May 14, 2011 - 6:20 pm:
Good news, Rachelle.
Thanks for sharing this.
|
|
|
