# Straw Bed - Daily full muck out vs deep litter?



## SkyBlue (29 October 2010)

I've started using straw to help cut costs and would like to know your thoughts about doing a complete muck out daily or to deep litter?


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## Allover (29 October 2010)

I have done both, deep litter is warmer and you get a good base, i dont know how you plan on deep littering, some people leave poo in also, i like to remove all droppings and form a base with the wet straw with a good covering of dry straw on top. It can take a while to establish a good base and i think it is important to keep the base nice and flat. If the horse is very wet or dirty or is prone to thrush etc then a complete clear out every day is probably the best option


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## SkyBlue (29 October 2010)

If i were to deep litter then i would take the droppings out and leave the wet in. My only worry is my boy is bare foot and i want to keep him this way, so wonder if the wet base would soften his hooves while i bring him at night so he has some dry standing.


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## Allover (29 October 2010)

Umm not sure but i would presume that a complete much out would be better!


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## beeswax (29 October 2010)

go for wood pellets very cheap and you only remove the wet patch and the droppings, do not move about the rest of the bed and it makes a nice thick base like you are on a sandy beach and dry too.


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## Orangehorse (29 October 2010)

You really need to remove the droppings or they are effectively standing on a muck heap.
Also droppings are worse for feet than urine (which is bad for respiration),according to a trimmer.  If your horse is nice and tidy that should be easy enough.  If it is a bed trasher then full muck out will probably be the only option.

Deep litter can work OK, you need to sit down on it and find out if it is smelly. How often do you plan a clear out.  It is a massive job and think of your back!

I use straw and much out each day, but I put a couple of buckets of shavings in the wet area, which really speeds up the mucking out and makes much less to take out - my stable is an old farm building with a dip in the floor.


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## FairyLights (29 October 2010)

I've been mucking out for some 40 years (!) and have had beds of straw,shavings,sawdust,cardboard,paper. My preference is for straw, providing the horse has no allergies to it. I have tried deep litter straw and daily full muck outs. I have come to the conclusion that daily dropping removal followed by weekly wet straw removal is the easiest to do. Deep litter is just awful to muck out at the end of winter and I feel that more straw is used anyway,as the bottom starts to decompose and it needs more and more to stop the top layers being trodden into it. 
with weekly wet straw removal its easier to handle and once a week the stable can be cleaned thoroughly, I often find that horses will wee in just one or 2  places in the stable too, and a few shovelfulls of shavings can be put down to soak up the wee. A really good thick bed is best too,it stays cleaner and is better alround.
Hope this helps.
Make sure the horse is turned out,or at least well away from the stable during the weekly wet straw an -turn-all-the bedding muck out as the amonia is bad for the lungs of the horse.


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## Honey08 (29 October 2010)

We have rubber mats, and deep litter Monday to Friday, removing all droppings and visible wet bits daily, then adding a couple of slices of straw on top.  There is no smell, and the feet don't touch any wet patches.  At the weekends we take it all out, swill out under the mats, and put a new bed in.  One horse, who is really clean, has a perfect bed all week - you wouldn't know it was even deep litter.  The others do fine. This week I've been off work, so been mucking out normally, and have noticed that when the beds are thinner, they churn up more, and so the horses are standing in wet more than when they're on semi-deep litter.  We find it cuts an hour off the mucking out time each day doing things this way.  I'm very much a traditionalist, who likes deep straw beds and banks, but 'm totally happy with the horses being this way, and see no detrement to them.


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## Tiaan (30 October 2010)

Ditto honey and horsesforever


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## Umbongo (30 October 2010)

I much prefer straw beds to anything else however they must be nice and thick. Thin straw beds are trashed, stink and horrible to muck out.

I normally muck out every day, nice thick beds with rubber matting underneath and this works for me. With deep litter just remove the droppings and place fresh straw on top. It may take a few days to establish a good flat base however. 

So long as it is done properly and enough new straw placed on top, it should not damage his hooves. We have many barefoot full thoroughbred horses on deep littered straw and their hooves are amazing (they don't get ANY hoof supplements). Can be a lot of work when you do give it a full muck out (we use the farm machinery ). However I do like the idea of deep littering all week then once a week muck out. Our youngster sheds are cleared out a couple of times a year.

Depends on what you want to do...I think there is only a marginal difference with how much fresh straw you use either way. As someone said...deep littering can provide warmth and is very quick, however I just prefer to muck out properly everyday as I do have the time too.

A few people have told me they have moved on shavings etc as straw smells of urine etc...they are not laying down enough straw/managing it correctly!!! You could always put down a sprinkle of shavings underneath the straw, something I have had to do with a very wet mare before.

Ha sorry...I went off on one a bit....huge lover of straw beds and I hate mucking out anything else!


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## miss_molly (30 October 2010)

I use straw beds with shredded paper underneath to soak up the wet (some people use shavings but the paper is free from work). I put a layer of paper down then loads of straw on top. I make massive solid banks which generally dont get touched most of the winter. I remove droppings twice a day, top up straw when necessary and then muck out the middle of the bed at the weekends. The banks I only do about 4 times a year. I find I only throw out 1 wheelbarrow of wet from pony and between 2 and 3 from very messy horse. The beds look clean and tidy all week. No smell. My pony is bare foot and no issues with feet. Main thing is to use enough straw to begin with to make bed, then only top up as needed.


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## 3DE (30 October 2010)

With straw, in winter I deep litter, removing just the poo and the wet if it starts to rise. I summer I take the bed up every day.

You need a plan to remove the deep litter as it can take hours and hours to clear the bed out. Think a whole day!


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## Orangehorse (30 October 2010)

The weekly full muck out sounds a good plan - you don't want to do anything else at the weekend do you?

I confess that if I am pressed for time for one reason or another I don't do a full muck out every day, just remove droppings and add more straw and this works out fine. It is also much easier if you are getting anyone else to look after the horse for any reason, I don't expect them to completely muck out.


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## skint1 (30 October 2010)

The weekly deep litter routine works fine for my pony as he is very neat.
My TB mare is another story, she is just too dirty, no matter how much straw you put in she destroys her bed so she really needs a more or less full muck out every day.

I've never used any other sort of bed than straw, I like how you can make a big fluffy bed with it.


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## littlemisslauren (30 October 2010)

As mucking out is basically my job, I love having horses on deep litter.
We only deep litter horses on shavings / wood pellets and never on straw.

I personally dont think straw is absorbant enough to create a good deep litter and I really dont like the idea of a horse being in a stable with that level of ammonia for a whole week. 
All our straw beds (20+) are fully mucked out everyday and skipped out later in the day if the horse has been stood in all day. We go under and reform the banks each day and sweep the floor under the banks and base to prevent any smelly build up.

It really doesnt take that long to do a full straw muck out, it takes me 15 mins with the clean horses, including re - making the bed and half an hour max for the dirtiest horse in the biggest stable!


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## spotty_pony (30 October 2010)

Ideally, I think a full muck out everyday is better as it prevents problems such as thrush and gets rid of the smell of ammonia. However if you can't do a full muck out everyday, I think a combination of both works well. (A full muck out every three days, and then on the days in between just skip out and add more bedding.) It does depend on the horse though, as I have found some horses are just too messy to deep litter and need a full muck out everyday.


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## beeswax (13 November 2010)

what was your final choice and how is it going


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## Izzwizz (14 November 2010)

I would love my mare to be on straw, she is on shavings and rubber mat, but she is a greedy one and eats it.  Have to watch her weight very closely so not an option unfortunately for me.


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## overthejumps (14 November 2010)

I have found rubber mats to be a godsend, I deep litter with shavings and take out poop and wet every day, it doesn't take long.  The main issue with mats is without good drainage you will have stale urine collecting underneath.  If you deep litter you should be ok.


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