Straw or Shavings for bedding?

[gc 53]

One of our barns has a concrete floor. We used the 3/4" stalll mats and about 8 inches of shavings. But the new stallion was use to Straw for bedding. We keep the 2 stallions in this barn ( just 2 - 12x16 stalls in the barn) as it's less than 80' from our front door.And like to keep an eye on them.
Do you folks recommend the shavings over straw or??
Thanks.
Gary

[Laurierace]

I can't stand straw, I only use it for late term broodmares then switch back over to shavings after the foal is born. Basically it boils down to personal preference, I don't think the horses care one way or another as long as the bedding is adequate in amount. Do whatever is easiest for you.

[gc 53]

We've used it for mares foaling also. And occassionally when the Feed store ran out unexpectedly.
Thank you for your input on this.
Gary

[madelyn]

I bed my foaling mares in straw, with sawdust underneath. A good 2" coating of sawdust under the straw will really absorb the urine and when the water breaks it's just so easy to fork aside the straw and pick up the wet sawdust. But if you have a stallion who has a respiratory reaction to sawdust, and therefore must have straw, sawdust is not an option.

There are various plants that end up as straw - there is oat straw, wheat straw, barley straw, etc. etc. Depending on the height of the mature plant, the straw will be long stem, short stem, dusty or full of chaff, etc. In my experience it costs roughly five times as much to bed in straw as it does in sawdust. And sometimes, the straw will be palatable and the horse will munch on the bedding.

You could look into using shredded paper bedding and shavings for that stallion, if straw is too expensive, difficult to find, or burdensome to use.

[gc 53]

The Farm we got him from used straw as they supplied most of their needs off their 500 acres, including hay for feeding and straw for bedding.
The stallion had the problem of bleeding through Lassix (spelling??) when he ran that's one of the reasons he was retired at 8 yrs old, 51 starts.
When I put shavings in, he grabbed them by the mouthful. And that concerned me. I recently found a Sawmill that cuts only oak for rough cut lumber (Nothing but Oak) and the sawdust is just 20.00 a pickup truck load. But will sawdust be a problem for this stallion?
The farmer I just found for a hay source (alfalfa or Alfalfa/Orchard Grass mix..3.75 a bale) also has Wheat straw, very clean bales for 2.00 ea. So Cost isn't a problem either way and with us not having alot of horses (7 to be exact), the cleaning of stalls isn't an issue either...best of all it helps me burn calories...JOY!!
I just would like your thoughts Madelyn on which is better for the horses comfort......
Thank you for your response.
Gary

[cng]

Although I prefer softwood shavings, wood shavings can be a breeding ground for Klebsiella. It might not be the best choice for a breeding stallion especially if breeding live cover.

[cng]

The Farm we got him from used straw as they supplied most of their needs off their 500 acres, including hay for feeding and straw for bedding.
The stallion had the problem of bleeding through Lassix (spelling??) when he ran that's one of the reasons he was retired at 8 yrs old, 51 starts.
When I put shavings in, he grabbed them by the mouthful. And that concerned me. I recently found a Sawmill that cuts only oak for rough cut lumber (Nothing but Oak) and the sawdust is just 20.00 a pickup truck load. But will sawdust be a problem for this stallion?
The farmer I just found for a hay source (alfalfa or Alfalfa/Orchard Grass mix..3.75 a bale) also has Wheat straw, very clean bales for 2.00 ea. So Cost isn't a problem either way and with us not having alot of horses (7 to be exact), the cleaning of stalls isn't an issue either...best of all it helps me burn calories...JOY!!
I just would like your thoughts Madelyn on which is better for the horses comfort......
Thank you for your response.
Gary

Any wood that makes a nut (acorn) is asking for potential trouble as horse bedding. The oils from those hardwoods can cause blistering as well as digestive problems if ingested. Walnut shavings is the worst with oak probably being much lower on the scale. I have used oak with few problems but the greener it is the more problems can occur.

[madelyn]

Oak sawdust is our preferred sawdust - cedar and pine can cause respiratory problems.

Bleeding through Lasix - I'm not a scientist but I can't really connect EIPH to bedding. We bed foaling mares in straw because it is comfier for them to lay on, and they spend quite a bit of time lying down - as does the newborn foal - and we don't have to worry about sawdust clogging the baby's nostrils and clumping in the navel and causing infection.

Even straw at $2 a bale is going to run $60 a month to bed, vs sawdust - we get a dumptruck full of sawdust for $175, bed 10 stalls, and use less than 2 truckloads a month. I figure we spend $30 per month per stall on sawdust.

As to which is better - different equipment is required. Straw can really only be managed with metal pitchforks, whereas sawdust is manipulated with plastic shavings forks. It composts differently. We compost our sawdust/manure until it is fully rotted, at which point we spread it on our pastures, and sell the excess. It is fabulous to cover seed that has just been spread. I do not believe straw would work as well for this purpose. The resulting product would be much too heavy and need peat moss or something.

As for the horse, if he has serious respiratory issues, bedding him in straw but keeping him in a barn with other horses bedded in sawdust might reduce the dust in his environment a bit but not solve the problem.

[ratherrapid]

i also use sawdust UNDER straw to provide cushioning. wood shavings when dry keep the air filled with dust. If you picture yourself standing on dry shavings 24 hrs. a day and think of how you'd like this, you'll probably make the right decision.

[majxmom]

Well, I guess I'm in the minority for preferring straw. I use a bucketful of pine pellets in the horse's wet spot, and then shake out the straw over it. The pellets absorb all the urine and save the straw. It isn't cheap, but it really keeps the stall dry and horses love the straw bedding for comfort. I also find that a straw stall is cleaner after you pick it than any other type of bedding, but the volume of soiled bedding is tremendous. I'm not a fan of shavings, because the stall only looks clean right after you put in brand new shavings. Shavings always have little chips of manure off of the horse's hooves all through the bedding, and the stall needs to be stripped more often.

But when time gets tight, pellet bedding is fantastic for being labor-saving. I have probably 1/4 the volume of soiled bedding, and it takes me maybe two minutes to clean a stall. I do agree with cng about the risks, though. I've only had one case of laminitis in my whole life, and it was right after I put a horse on pellets. Who knows if that was the cause, and if it was, if they got some black walnut mixed in or what? I put him back on straw and he recovered fully. Another downer to pellets: I actually got a tiny chunk of pellet in my own eye last week, and had to go to the emergency room. I wonder if it gets in a horse's eye easily? Plus, America's Choice has announced to their dealers that they are going to concentrate on pellet stoves this year, no certified horse bedding from them for a while.

I read a study once that said that performance horses do noticeably better on straw than any other bedding, because they get more REM sleep on it.

[sulphurfire]

I use either chaff (rice hulls) or shavings mainly pine. I really like the ease of cleaning you get using chaff. Some horses though tend to eat it, but not many.

[BlazingColours]

I use shavings and love it over straw. Easier to clean and maintain. Looks clean and smells nice too.

Straw I use for broodmares just before foaling and for about a week after they have the foal. Shavings under the straw is nice and comfy for the horses and keeps a clean dry stall. But it is a PAIN to clean. If I only have a couple horses in big stalls, I may consider that. But with 40+ horses it would take wayyyyy to long to clean stalls.

[TrueColours]

I sell a pelleted straw bedding called EcoStraw:

http://www.angelfire.com/on3/TrueColour ... Straw.html

Depending on where you are located, it may be do-able for you to consider purchasing some and getting it shipped to you

The pellet is compressed and not extruded (or dehydrated) so you dont wet the straw pellets like you do with wood pellets. Plus being straw based and not wood based, you can virtually spread it on your fields and/or re-use it right away - you dont have the nitrogen stripping issues like you do with wood based products

I love it for how easy it is to muck and how well it holds the urine and doesnt allow it to flow into the good bedding. Plus from a decomposition rate, the EcoStraw, peat moss and hemp are all the quickest - 2-4 weeks for full break down compared to sawdust at 6-8 months, paper and cardboard products at 3-4 months, straw and small flake shavings at 2 years and large flake shavings at 3+ years so something to very much consider if you have small acreage and/or have problems getting your manure pile removed

[ireneinwa]

I prefer straw over shavings. Much easier to clean (for me). The health risks of dust using shavings. I don't want my horses inhaling the dust it produces. Hard enough making sure they have good lungs when they get to the track.....