Healthy straw bedding

[luvmypup]

Has anyone tried it? https://healthistraw.com

I have 2 messy mares, and I recently switched from shavings to pellets. Love the pellets but HATE the dust. I tried a different brand without success. Even after soaking the bag as instructed I still have to wet the stalls with the hose daily. Which only helps minimally until it dries again.

So i’m On the hunt for something else. The healthy straw is intriguing to me. I don’t have any locally though which is unfortunate. Curious on others experiences with it before I make a drive to go get some.

Or does anyone have any suggestions beyond these products? I’m located in Ontario Canada so my choices are limited. I have access to the top bedding products and that’s about it. I need high aborbency as my mares pee a lot. I even tried dry pellets in their pee spots and regular shavings everywhere else. It worked so so… ease of cleaning wasn’t as great with pellets only but the dust was better. If I can’t find a better solution I’ll probably return to that method.

[fourfillies]

I’ll commiserate. Love the pellets for ease of cleaning but also couldn’t figure out the dust (stripped and swapped brands twice). And, I can’t water them during the PA winters. So, I also switched to pellets in the pee spots and shavings for the rest of the stalls. I cleaned straw as a kid, no going there. Hoping others have ideas.

[peedin]

We use Equine Straw at the barn where I board. There is virtually no dust which I like. The straw is chopped very fine. Not nearly as absorbent as shavings, but healthier for the horses and the guys who work at the barn. You say your mares pee a lot. I wouldn’t recommend the Equine Straw for your situation.

[Simkie]

FWIW, I find pellets least dusty without adding water past the initial set up of the bed. I add dry when it’s time for more.

The longer pellets can stay in pellet form, the longer you have no dust. It’s the action of the horse walking on and crushing the wood fibers that creates the dust particles–the sawdust that is compressed for pellets is screened for dust before they’re made.

It’s not terribly intuitive!

[JB]

I too have found pelleted bedding least dusty when allowed to break down on its own. Of course if you’re starting fresh with a few bags of pellets, you may well need to water a bit, but water it all lightly, let them start the process of the outer parts breaking down, and let the horse do the rest. It doesn’t take long.

And yep, when I add more, I add dry pellets by pulling back what’s there, spreading the new bag, and pulling the old stuff back on top.

When I did that, with a horse who was regularly in the stall, which meant regular bedding removed and new added, there was no dust issue (or minimal).

The only times I have trouble is years ago when I wet everything every time so it all started out broken down (the most dust, the quickest), and when horses are only installs about an hour a day (normal routine), which means bedding doesn’t get removed much, but does get walked on (if not pulled back against the sides), and that’s also dusty but it just takes longer to get to that point.

Pelleted straw was less dusty than pelleted wood.
Old TSC pelleted wood was more dusty than that they have now (but all dustier than pelleted straw, which I can’t get anymore anyway )

[Pally]

I have zero experience with chopped straw so I can’t really help you there… but I do know there are a few providers/suppliers of various chopped straw brands in Ontario. Plus, depending where you are, you should really have access to more options in shavings (than Not-So-Top…not that I can tell you who is much better these days).

[sherian]

they actually make Healthistraw quite close to me. Very dust free. I do find you have to bed it quite deep or put some pellets under it on the pee spot if you have a big pee -er. Is easier to muck than normal straw, about on par with big flake shavings I think. I would suspect the price of it will be high this winter - after two years of hay shortages in the province straw prices are up still.

[brody]

I’m a big fan of the straw boss which is chopped straw.

[Mouse_amp_Bay]

OP try flax bedding. It is amazing. Super absorbent, soft, virtually dust free. Some feed stores carry it, you may need to call around a bit. It will be a bit shifty under foot (for the human) for the first two days or so. The horses did not mind, leave the pee in there and don’t obsess. Within days you will have a beautiful deep bed that is easy to muck out, comfortable and cheaper than shavings (so far, YMMV!). It composts, is good for the environment and comes in paper bags meaning minimal waste.

https://www.flaxfarm.ca/faqs

[luvmypup]

Thanks for all the very helpful responses!

Thats interesting about not wetting the pellets. I’ve been wetting every new bag I put in. I’ll give that a try!

@peedin thanks for the absorbency tip. I wondered about that.

@sheridan I think pellets under the straw would be ideal!
”‹”‹”‹”‹
@Mouse&Bay funny you say that… my friend just said the same thing. She loves it. I had totally forgot that we had it locally. I’m going to try it… if it doesn’t work for me then driving to get the healthi straw is the next option

[mht]

Ontario here. Check out Goldfields. Dust extracted chopped straw, in two different lengths. They even make it infused with eucalyptus, or lemongrass.

A lot of trainers use it at the racetrack. Very easy to clean, as well.

[OTTBs]

I see the flax is sold where I usually buy shavings. Anyone know how it is in stalls that are rarely used? Does it get dusty?

[Sugar_And_Spice_Horses]

I am currently using straw for my mare because I got a huge load for cheap. I usually get my straw (when I do find a good sale) from a local farmer or feed store. Straw is nice, but it can be a bit messy. It doesn’t absorb very well and if your horse lays down in the stall, it can be a disaster. My white mare is no fun when using straw. However, straw is very good for horses with allergies or respiratory problems. I would stick to the other products people have mentioned if there are no health problems to be concerned with. The main reason why I try to use straw once in a while is that it gives our compost pile a lot of nitrogen which I love using for our garden in the spring and summer. When I’m not using straw, I usually just stick with shavings. Pellets are too much of a pain for me.

[luvmypup]

@mht thanks for the tip! That’s an interesting product. I’m not close to any dealers though