Just trying to figure out how many bags of shavings to prepare to go through in a month once the ponies are home. How do you initially bed, and how many bags do you use a week? Both my horses are not too messy in the stalls, and I am hoping to install stall skins at the bottom to help with draining liquids!
Thanks!
The best thing I ever did was to potty train my OTTB. Urine was easy, poops not so much. Put in mats, leave one corner sans mat, place lots of sand there. Almost no shavings on mats at first, he had to āearn his shavings privilegesā. After peeing on sand was established I added shavings, but not too much at first. It took about a month, hes only in at nite. He mostly poops in the back too. Now I can bed deep, except his āsand boxā, no shavings there. So a bag or 2 of shavings lasts a loooooooog time. 
I use to keep my stalls heavily bedded. A foot deep in the center and banked on the sides and back walls about 2-3 feet high. The Initially bedding took 6-8 bags of shavings w/2-3 bags added every week thereof. Once a month the stalls were either fully or partially stripped.
Maybe one bag a week for my OTTB mare. I typically go about 6-7 days before I add another bag unless itās rainy/snowy out (tends to blow into the stall - not a fancy barn at all but it works). My mare is out 15-16 hrs a day and is in at night. She is very, very neat and I only bed about half of it super deep because thatās her sleeping spot :).
Depends on the horse, turnout situation and the size of the stall. When I had my last mare at home, she was in half the day and out the other half. Her stall was 12x24ā. I started out with a pickup bed of sawdust, which I topped with 4 bags of shavings. The sawdust was to prevent mud, since I didnāt have mats. I bedded the whole stall about 6" deep, which was about 3/4 sawdust 1/4 shavings.
She picked one end to lay down in, which was also the side where her food and water were. She pooped and peed at the other end, so it was fairly easy to keep clean and I didnāt really have to add much to it. As soiled bedding went to the manure pile, Iād move broken down but still good bedding to the other end and top up the bedding in the area where she liked to lay down with fresh shavings. I think I went through 2 bags per month in that situation.
When the same mare became injured and had to be on stall rest it was a whole different story. She would get agitated and pace, which ground everything up and made a horrible mess. I was going through 2-4 bags per week, just to keep the stall reasonably decent.
My current mare is at a boarding facility that uses the pellet bedding. She has a 12x12ā with an attached run and 8-12 hours of turnout per day. They used 4 bags of pellets to initially bed the stall, and just add as needed. Lily is a very tidy mare, and usually doesnāt make much of a mess in her stall. I think they add about a bag to a bag and a half per month.
Definitely do stall skins if possible, they are great! Mats are better than nothing, but they have to be installed on a level floor and be tight to each other to prevent stuff from getting under them.
It depends greatly on how much they are in.
Agree! I have in/out situation, so access to large paddock? If I need to keep them up (weather related), I will go through more. Summer is less, winter is more for me. Summer 2-3 bags week, winter & wetter season, 5-6 bags of fresh a week. I also use pellets for bottom, and med-fine shavings for a top coat.
[QUOTE=fordtraktor;7871862]
It depends greatly on how much they are in.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=allons-y;7871613]
The best thing I ever did was to potty train my OTTB. Urine was easy, poops not so much. Put in mats, leave one corner sans mat, place lots of sand there. Almost no shavings on mats at first, he had to āearn his shavings privilegesā. After peeing on sand was established I added shavings, but not too much at first. It took about a month, hes only in at nite. He mostly poops in the back too. Now I can bed deep, except his āsand boxā, no shavings there. So a bag or 2 of shavings lasts a loooooooog time. ;)[/QUOTE]
How big was his āsand boxā? 2x2 4x4 ??? I love this idea. Iād like to expand and have a poop and pee bucket instead of a sand box. LOL
Do you clean the sand box or ???
My stalls are 12 x 14 and have grid mats in them.
Three horses come in at night, out during the day BUT, pasture time is cut short thanks to one seriously insulin resistant horse and another who is showing signs. That equals more shavings to keep the pee spots clean.
The 28 yr old has an old vertebra injury with a lot of arthritis in it; I keep his stall banked in the hopes of keeping him from getting cast.
One gelding pees dead center in his stall so, I have to scrape that area down every day. The other two geldings go to the backs of their stalls to pee and that lets me get away with deep cleaning those areas every 2 - 3 days, depending on heat/humidity or lack of it.
On average we buy a pallet of shavings every month.
Depending on which shavings, a pallet holds 40 or 45 bags and we get a 25 cent discount per bag, if we buy a pallet. <----ask for a discount:yes:
We have a dually and all the bags (even if itās a 45 bag load) will fit in the bed of the truck if the guy stacking knows what heās doing. If not, the truck has a full back seat and we can scrunch 3 or 4 bags back there.
Bottom line is, if you have average sized horses, they only spend their nights in their stalls, you care anything at all about the quality of their hooves (avoiding thrush, etc) and not seeing manure/urine caked on them, plan on using 40 bags of shavings monthly for 3 - 4 horses.
I had four horses until three weeks ago and used the same amount of shavings I used with these three. That is because the beloved old Gent was very particular about where he peeād and tried to be particular about his other business ā right to the time I had to send him on to his ancestors:cry:
Hope this helps:)
I started my geldingās 10x10 stall with three bags of shavings. When my gelding was on stall rest, I ran through two additional bags a week after 'start up". Once he was able to do daytime turnout, I ran through one bag a week.
[QUOTE=back in the saddle;7871885]
How big was his āsand boxā? 2x2 4x4 ??? I love this idea. Iād like to expand and have a poop and pee bucket instead of a sand box. LOL
Do you clean the sand box or ???[/QUOTE]
The sandbox is about 4x4. he pees religiously there. I do scoop out the sand when its saturated and smelly, usually 1x a month. I just put another wheelbarrow load of sand on top and weāre good to go. I swear he waits outside at dinner time - holds it til hes in. But at least he finally poops outside right before he comes in- I make him wait, then lots of verbal praise and right in to dinner. BTW yes he is a rocket scientist, sometimes. Most of the time he just a rocket (OTTB).
[QUOTE=back in the saddle;7871885]
How big was his āsand boxā? 2x2 4x4 ??? I love this idea. Iād like to expand and have a poop and pee bucket instead of a sand box. LOL
Do you clean the sand box or ???[/QUOTE]
The sandbox is about 4x4. he pees religiously there. I do scoop out the sand when its saturated and smelly, usually 1x a month. I just put another wheelbarrow load of sand on top and weāre good to go. I swear he waits outside at dinner time - holds it til hes in. But at least he finally poops outside right before he comes in- I make him wait, then lots of verbal praise and right in to dinner. BTW yes he is a rocket scientist, sometimes. Most of the time he just a rocket (OTTB).
[QUOTE=back in the saddle;7871885]
How big was his āsand boxā? 2x2 4x4 ??? I love this idea. Iād like to expand and have a poop and pee bucket instead of a sand box. LOL
Do you clean the sand box or ???[/QUOTE]
The sandbox is about 4x4. he pees religiously there. I do scoop out the sand when its saturated and smelly, usually 1x a month. I just put another wheelbarrow load of sand on top and weāre good to go. I swear he waits outside at dinner time - holds it til hes in. But at least he finally poops outside right before he comes in- I make him wait, then lots of verbal praise and right in to dinner. BTW yes he is a rocket scientist, sometimes. Most of the time he just a rocket (OTTB).
Sry, me or the computer seem to be having issues here, hmmm
walkinthewalkā¦sorry for your loss. I have a spot in my heart for those oldies! Thank you all for the advice. I will have 2 12 x 12 stalls, one with a QH mare, another with a Shetland pony lolā¦a 12 x 12 for him seems overkill, but got a great deal on some prieferts from craigslist!
I was hoping to keep my usage to less than a pallet a month, and it sounds like that is very do able with your comments! Now iāll hope to stick to maybe a pallet every other month! I am totally going to try the āpotty - trainingā method too!
I am glad to see about the discount on the pallet, Iāll have to ask around here. We only have a suburban, so I bet I cant stackthem in there. Iāll see about delivery, or hitch up the trailer!
three horses and we go through about 25 bags/month. My horse is really wet so he uses 5 bags a week the other two are 2 bags/week.
I started using that pellet bedding a few years ago when I live on the Island in BC, it was wet and damp there. I found that the horses didnāt go thought the pellet bedding as fast as the shavings. I used 5 bags to start the stalls (12x16) and then I would use a bag every 3-4 days. 3 days if it was really wet out. My guys where locked in from 5-6:00 pm till 7:00 am every morning. I like a deep bed and found that the pellet bedding works best if it is deep.
I have 12x12 stalls with runs attached, and the horses are generally out during the day, in at night. I start each stall with 5 bags of bedding, gives me a nice deep base. If the runs are open and the weather is nice, 1-2 bags a week is plenty to keep the stalls nice and pleasant. If the runs are closed up and the horses in full time (raining or what have you) then I end up using a little more, sometimes a bag every other day.
It really depends on how often you clean. I work from home and can often pick the stalls 3-4 times a day, in which case they donāt usually need much extra bedding. If iām sick or busy and the stalls only get done 1x per day, I use a little more. If iām out of town for a couple of days and the stalls donāt get done at all (Itās hard to find reliable help, I usually give up on cleaning and just go for reliable feeders) then I may have to strip half the stall and start over when I get home.
In general, with 3 horses, 2 of which are out 24/7 except inclement weather, and one of which is in 12 out 12, I go through a pallet every 3-4 months.
[QUOTE=MightyG;7872092]
I am glad to see about the discount on the pallet, Iāll have to ask around here. We only have a suburban, so I bet I cant stackthem in there. Iāll see about delivery, or hitch up the trailer![/QUOTE]
I ordered two pallets of shavings once. Those pallets were TALL. I had a flatbed trailer but the load was just itching to tip over. If you put a strap over the shavings bag you canāt get it tight because the shavings just settle under the tension.
I had to unstack both pallets almost half-way and pile the shavings bags all over and even still I was really nervous about the straps loosening and losing the load. Oh, and it was a Friday at rush hour, to boot. I got home and swore to never do that again.
Moral of the story, shavings by the pallet are hard to move unless you have a very tall enclosed trailer.
David
[QUOTE=DHCarrotfeeder;7872929]
I ordered two pallets of shavings once. Those pallets were TALL. I had a flatbed trailer but the load was just itching to tip over. If you put a strap over the shavings bag you canāt get it tight because the shavings just settle under the tension.
I had to unstack both pallets almost half-way and pile the shavings bags all over and even still I was really nervous about the straps loosening and losing the load. Oh, and it was a Friday at rush hour, to boot. I got home and swore to never do that again.
Moral of the story, shavings by the pallet are hard to move unless you have a very tall enclosed trailer.
David[/QUOTE]
LOLā¦Sorry that happened to you! I will definitely remember that!
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