Hi
I am thinking to make paper bedding for my Horse but i wanted to know is their any chances that staple pins or paper pins could hurt my Horse???
Thank
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I have on occasion used it when I’ve done the shredding and know there are no staples or plastic etc. in it. It worked good and composted quickly. I don’t know if those shredding places that do bulk shredding have a way to remove metal/plastic in their shredding if you are planning on using something like that. I used to buy shredded newspaper that was made for stall bedding (Stable News).
Depending on the paper type it can get very wet and very heavy and very difficult to get rid of.
From commercial sources that don’t care about small amounts of metal you’ll likely get small amounts of metal. Their normal customers deal with that sort of thing.
I’ve seen it tried and results were generally more negative than positive. I’d pass.
G.
I have occasionally used my own shredded paper but I only add it in with shavings for a very neat horse.
It is not absorbent, but does make a nice fluffy bed.
I always pull out any staples before I shred. Not willing to take a chance, even though they are tiny little pieces of metal.
I just switched to a commercial shredded paper product and love it. But it’s shredded newspaper especially processed for equine bedding. It is very absorbent, cheaper than using shavings, low dust and helps keep amonia smell down. I bought some locally at the beginning of August and slowly switched all 4 of my stalls to it. It is excellent and my one mare is actually finally taking naps in her stall now. The last mare I JUST converted to it and I have a feeling she will figure out how to bank it for a comfy bed this winter.
I would not make my own, but the processed newspaper is a pretty good product. It breaks down faster than pine if you are one to spread manure. But I don’t think it lasts as long if you have a very messy horse because it breaks down quickly.
IPEsq- well, I would say in my case with two VERY messy horses it is lasting longer. I just cut my bedding down by over 1/2 the cost by switching. I have 4 horses, two of whom are disgusting pigs and I use about 5 bales of the paper a week between the 4 of them. The first month is a bit more because you need to sort of “build up” your stall base if you know what I mean but my big mare is laying down and actually sleeping in her stall now. Mine are in about 12 hours at night, so it is seriously making my life less difficult as the one mare was getting a bag of shavings every other night. It is more noticable when it tracks about. So, if you are a neat freak, that might bother you, but if it ever rains here, it will just dissolve into the dirt (grass is long gone)
@mellsmom That is interesting. I wonder if the barn I knew used it just didn’t bed deeply enough to start? They wound up having to strip some of the stalls more regularly because the wet messy ones just basically had the stuff disintegrating. Which, to be honest, was probably less expensive than pine in the long run because they were messy enough to need frequent stripping with shavings as well. Do you have mats or just dirt? I wonder if the less drainage from matted stalls makes a difference too?
I have mats. My stalls are just slightly less than 12 x 12 so 11.5 x 11.5 by estimate. I put one bag in for the first day after I stripped the stalls. I pick pretty thoroughly and pull out the wet/clumped paper and the solids daily after I turn out so I have the whole empty stall to work on. My nasty stalls can go about 4 days before I need to add another bag. These bags are equivalnet to about 2 bags of pine. perviously I was using 1-2 bags a week of the pelleted bedding put down dry in the wet spots and adding shavings over that. that was costing me a fortune. I like having only one product. IT does take longer to pick thoroughly, but I like the fluffiness and the top stays drier. This product comes from a company that packages this specifically for equine bedding so that may make a difference. But yes, once it’s wet it acts like clumping cat litter. But it is a lot less smelly, less dust and lighter to carry the bag and deal with in the wheelbarrow. I also find it more absorbant than the shavings/pellet combination I was using.
