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  Discussion on BEDDING WITH NEWS PAPER
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New Member:
Liliana5

Posted on Tuesday, Oct 18, 2005 - 8:46 pm:

Hello,

Recently I read in a magazine that news paper can be used for bedding?! I have only used it to train dogs!

Has anyone use this form of bedding? did you like it?

Any comments
Thanking you all in advance
Liliana
Member:
Mrose

Posted on Tuesday, Oct 18, 2005 - 9:27 pm:

I know they make a bedding from pelleted or finely shredded newspaper that's been treated to be really absorbant and non-smelly, but I don't know anyone who's used it.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Oct 19, 2005 - 6:55 am:

Running a search on newspaper bedding I came up with this post, Archived Discussions members_only » Care for Horses » Pastures, Fences, & Buildings » Bedding, Flooring, and Footing for Horses » Discussion on Managing deep litter.
DrO
Member:
Maggienm

Posted on Wednesday, Oct 19, 2005 - 11:50 am:

I have a friend whose mare had a respiratory illness.
These are my observations.
Paper from the local newspaper office was used as bedding for several months. I helped re-bed the stall.
It took more paper to absorb moisture and the dry paper had a tendency to blow off the wheelbarrow. It was more trouble to transport and store than straw or shavings.
If a person knew they were going to use paper regularly these difficulties could be dealt with.

It was dustfree, inexpensive and readily breaks down into compost. It didn't tempt the horse to eat her bedding. It was also lighter to move dry or wet than straw or shavings.
Member:
Imogen

Posted on Thursday, Oct 20, 2005 - 2:11 am:

Our local equine vet uses newspaper for horses with respiratory problems. A lot of newspaper these days is printed with a glaze or lamination - you have to be careful to try and avoid this because it doesn't absorb like traditional "fish and chips" style daily newspapers.

I think it's great from the recycling point of view but it doesn't look as absorbent or comfortable as straw or sawdust.

All the best

Imogen
Member:
Canter

Posted on Thursday, Oct 20, 2005 - 7:52 am:

I would also wonder about the ink. I know after reading thru my Sunday paper, the tips of my fingers are stained with the ink. Not a problem on a dark colored horse but on a light colored one, you may have to do a little extra clean up.
Member:
Dres

Posted on Thursday, Oct 20, 2005 - 10:43 am:

A long time ago I boarded at a stable that bedded with this ''gray'' stuff..Right out of the truck that dumped it,it was moist never dry / dusty like... I asked what it was and it was newspaper that had been processed for bedding... I HATED IT... it was heavy as heck when really wet and I felt did an awful job.. it became packed down firm like, when stood on....sorry I don't recall the company or the process that was used...

On the first day God created horses, on the second day he painted them with SPOTS..
New Member:
Pepette

Posted on Thursday, Feb 2, 2006 - 6:30 pm:

Hi,

We used it to extend our bedding and reduce costs. We recycled our own paper with a shredder, and received paper from boarders who did the same. We mixed it in with shavings, and it worked really well that way. We have a farmer who uses our manure pile for fertilizer, and he liked the paper, because it broke down more quickly than the shavings. I lived in England for a while, and we used it there, too, for the same purpose. I also like the recycling aspect. We had good luck with it.
Member:
Lindsey

Posted on Friday, Feb 3, 2006 - 11:04 am:

Hello everyone,

I can only say very positive things about newspaper. When we first moved to the US, we searched high & low for a supplier but couldn't find one, so reverted back to shavings.
All the years we lived in England we had our horses on confetti (very fine shredded) newspaper. It's very popular in the UK, it comes baled in the same style as shavings but at a lesser cost.

The issue is the ink used in most newspapers! It appears that in the UK they use lead-free ink in their newspapers, which makes it ok to turn into bedding. Newspaper publishers would sign up deals with horse bedding people, offering their excess stock virtually free to the shredders, who could therefore offer it at nearly half price of shavings.
When we moved to the Netherlands, we thought of setting up a shredder facility and offer the same thing, but turned out the ink was no good.

I had my grey on the bedding and never did he come up stained if he had a thick enough bed.
The confetti was extremely absorbing and the wee would convert into little balls, rather then wide areas as you have in shavings. The paper fluffs up even days after you have put in a new bale. One bale of confetti would last us twice as long as one bale of shavings. Again lowering the cost. The trick was really the confetti or fine shredding, we also tried the longer paper strips. These were NO good whatsoever and turned out to be less absorbent and more difficult to muck out because it would get stuck on your fork. Admittedly confetti bedding is not all recommended if you are doing deeplitter! It then makes mucking out very heavy and if the wee comes through you can have stains on white horses. Confetti only works well if you muck out everyday, meaning clearing all wees daily.

The paper is indeed as good as entirely dustfree. My horses loved it and all the livery yards that used it, still swear by it over there. The only downside however is that if you don't have a confined muckheap in summer, when paper is dry, it tends to blow away with the winds. In winter it's usually wet enough to stay in place.

It also burns your muck fantastically. Laws in the UK are probably not at precise as in the US, regarding muck removal, so with a good self-built incinerator, one was allowed to burn it. It went instantly, wet or not. So that saved us a ton on manure removal.

So this has been our experience with paper. All my horsey friends back in England are still using it and wouldn't even dream going back onto shavings or any other bedding, their horses love it, dustfree, extremely economical and very cheap.

Hmmm, I almost sound like I have shares in that company. Perhaps I ought to go & work for their marketing dept. Haha. :-)

Regards,
Patsy.
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