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Post by melissa1787 on Jan 2, 2008 13:35:14 GMT 1
FIRSTLY THIS IS NO OFFENCE TO MARGAROT OR MALCOLM OR SHANNON AT THE YARD. TELL ME OFF IF YOU WANT TO.
Was just wondering what bedding people use and why? Is anyone useing Megasorb? Do they find it good?
All comments usefull.
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Post by Casper on Jan 2, 2008 13:40:22 GMT 1
Bobby and Clover have rubber mats in their stables, with a thin layer of shavings and then a full straw bed each. The shavings are there to catch the wee.
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Post by Susan on Jan 2, 2008 13:41:41 GMT 1
used it but found it quiet expensive and I know use recyled paper I get from loacl recycle plant that is actually sold as equine bedding. I even tried it under straw but still that worked out expensive.
I love my paper and it is cheap and cheaper then an y other bedding I used ( except straw) that gave me a dry floor ( straw does not absorb)
I have tried all the beddings and although on rubber mats didnt give up the big bed till 2 1/2 years ago.. now I have reasonable bed one corner enough to be wee'd on and poo'd on and not have urine soaked floor.
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HFM
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Post by HFM on Jan 2, 2008 13:42:47 GMT 1
I have a slightly complex bedding situation as my stables (which i use as field shelters) have earth floors (which is lovely for joints and warmth but not when you have two pee-monster ponies : I have rubber mats down. Then on top i have a thin layer of megasorb on the wee patches. Found it to be very good at absorbing wee when the straw doesnt. Much less of an amonia smell and a bag seems to last for ages. On top of that i have a full straw bed. Seems to work well. Not sure about full beds of megasorb (i personnally think it smells funny) and it tends to go solid in big beds...i think your supposed to do it with deep littering system but i dont really like to do that. I would probably only use it over rubbermatting.
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KateD
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Post by KateD on Jan 2, 2008 13:56:23 GMT 1
Half rubber matting, layer of shavings for absorbency then LOADS of lovely straw. I have just changed from shavings to straw, for two reasons: Maestro's box is quite big - and it was costing me a fortune in shavings and the bed never really looked 'big' enough. And, as we livery on a farm, the straw is on-site and £1.20 a bale, which nearly does a whole box. With straw it looks incredibly inviting and Maestro spends ages riffling through it trying to find palatable nuggets. In the morning the bed looks as if it's got rabbit holes all over it. He does look SO sweet when he's doing it, aaaaahhhh!
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lc
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Post by lc on Jan 2, 2008 14:45:55 GMT 1
Yes I use it on rubber. I really like it but end up putting about 2 bags a week in. If your horse digs up the bed then it's not so good as it really needs to settle down and form a base to work well. You then skip it out daily and take any really wet patches out. Takes time to get used to but it really is very absorbant and great on rubber. I also like Aquamax but you need the smoother rubber matting for that.
Lisa
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Post by rj on Jan 2, 2008 15:12:14 GMT 1
I use a deep litter bed of Hemcore, straight onto the concrete floor, and treat it regularly with Bioprofessional enzyme powder and liquid. Once you get through the initial faff of building up your first bed and treating it every day, for about a month, for the next couple of years you just keep on maintaining it fairly cheaply & easily, then take out the odour-free compost at the bottom, put it on your garden, then start again. This time you have the top layers of the old bed to put at the bottom which means you don't have as much to do at the beginning, and so it goes on. Remove poo daily, tho any odd little bits just shrivel & die, leave as much bedding as possible which soaks up the wee, and bio-degrades without smell or mess. No huge muck-heap to dispose of either. Just keep topping up bed to the same depth until it stops absorbing, then you know it's time to take some out.
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Post by hch4971 on Jan 2, 2008 15:16:58 GMT 1
I used this for Rosie when we had her but found it quite difficult to muck out and expensive to keep topping it up, she was in a small stable for her size and so quite messy. We now use deep litter shaving beds which I love, but whilst the ponies make less mess because they are in such big stables, only one of the horses (and the biggest) has a successful bed. The other 2 horses just churn theirs up (along with droppings)so mucking them out is a nightmare. Our stables are quite big, almost 14ft square, but I guess if a big horse moves around a lot then they are not really 'that' big
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Post by jinks on Jan 2, 2008 15:19:43 GMT 1
rubber matting then a layer of shavings then straw I did try shavings only this yr but my horse is a pig in the stable and it was costing me over £12 per week for shavings, when straw is only £1 Shavings keep the wee soaked up saves it getting under my mats and stinking. Megazorb sounds good though fully biodegradible and not having to chop down trees to make it.
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shandypants
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Post by shandypants on Jan 2, 2008 15:23:29 GMT 1
I have rubber matting and put a sprinkle of shavings for the wee.
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berylsmum
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Post by berylsmum on Jan 2, 2008 16:03:51 GMT 1
I have used Megazorb on Beryl it was ok but I found she tended to churn it up into a hideous mess. I am currently using rubber matting with a 1/2 bed of Aquamax which has worked out really well. It is really quick to muck out and works out quite economical.
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rosi
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Post by rosi on Jan 2, 2008 19:03:30 GMT 1
Yes, we use Megazorb and have done for last three years. I have also used straw and shavings but find this by far the best. It is brilliant stuff - because it is small lumps (granulated makes it sound sharp) it's easy to shake off the droppings and the wet bits set like cat litter, so that you can lift and sweept them straight out. I would recommend this without hesitation and it is easy to muck out with a shavings fork and a couple of sweeping brushes. Having a soft brush means that you can sweep any loose dry bedding off the wet patch and save wasting it. Pricewise, I think that it is on a par with everything else, bag for bag - but if you buy a pallet (60 bags) you should be able to negotiate a price of around £3.75 - £4.00 per bag. Putting down a completely new bed will take about 8 bags, but then once settled, it should be a top up of around half a bag a week. The other good thing is that if you give it a really good muck out at the end of the season, you can bag up what you have left and store it for the banks for the beds for the following winter. That does save a lot. I don't know of any other types of bedding that you can do that with. Most others all end up on the muck heap. Try it!!!!
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ms
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Post by ms on Jan 2, 2008 20:19:28 GMT 1
No experience of megazorb, sorry, I have rubber matting and use a thin layer of aubiose to soak up urine. My horse lies down everynight and never has stable stains or wet rugs so this seems to work for us.
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