miss_thenorth
Frugal Homesteader
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It'the time of year... straw or wood shavings for horses...
- Thread starter miss_thenorth
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patandchickens
Crazy Cat Lady
My take on it is that my horses only spend about 3-4 nights per year in the barn, plus a coupla hours every 6 weeks on Farrier Day, and straw left alone for that long without being *thoroughly* cleaned out would mold and give my older, somewhat heave-y TB a giant asthma attack -- so I use shavings, period. And very few of them, like maybe a dozen bales per year, tops.
OTOH if for some reason I had to keep the horses stalled overnight on a regular basis -- like if I had not yet constructed a good all-weather paddock and shed for them -- I would still lean strongly towards shavings because I don't think they're that environmentally more unsound than straw (at least here in Canada, land of Much Wood Product Production) and they are a LOT easier to clean stalls with, in my opinion. Given enough manure and moisture and time (or a bit of extra turning, if one's in a hurry) they do compost down just fine. And really I do not think they are any much less 'renewable' than straw is -- AFAIK they do not shred down perfectly good trees for shavings, they use what is naturally produced from the production of other lumber and wood products. Transportation is the only real issue, AFAIK.
If I had a very ready supply of straw (like, my own or someone close by who'd give me a good price) and didn't mind the extra aggravation factor of stall cleaning, and had a better ventilated barn with nobody heavey in it, I could certainly see using straw. I'm not arguing against it really, just stating a personal preference
JMO since you're taking a poll,
Pat
OTOH if for some reason I had to keep the horses stalled overnight on a regular basis -- like if I had not yet constructed a good all-weather paddock and shed for them -- I would still lean strongly towards shavings because I don't think they're that environmentally more unsound than straw (at least here in Canada, land of Much Wood Product Production) and they are a LOT easier to clean stalls with, in my opinion. Given enough manure and moisture and time (or a bit of extra turning, if one's in a hurry) they do compost down just fine. And really I do not think they are any much less 'renewable' than straw is -- AFAIK they do not shred down perfectly good trees for shavings, they use what is naturally produced from the production of other lumber and wood products. Transportation is the only real issue, AFAIK.
If I had a very ready supply of straw (like, my own or someone close by who'd give me a good price) and didn't mind the extra aggravation factor of stall cleaning, and had a better ventilated barn with nobody heavey in it, I could certainly see using straw. I'm not arguing against it really, just stating a personal preference
JMO since you're taking a poll
,Pat
enjoy the ride
Sufficient Life
I have an advantage in having kept horses when shavings were not readily available. Straw was almost universal.
On the good side for straw- comes with little packaging, is generally a way farmers have of making the most income off their land - the main crop is oats, wheat, etc. The straw just makes a small extra income. Uses little processing. Makes a good cushion and warmth in the stall. And is good as a mulch or ground cover in gardens. Can be kept clean with the right techniques- I always thought it less bad for breathing. You need to flip it over, take the wet spots daily from the bottom and bank the rest to dry out during the time the horse is not in the stall. Best for foaling. Usually less expensive. Makes useful paths in winter. Hardly every a shortage.
Bad for straw- messy to carry in a wheelbarrow- I always leave a straw trail coming and going- composts down more slowly so piles are larger and it blows in the wind. More variable in absorbancy and quality- can be moldy if not maintained or baled right. Some horses get addicted to eating it.
Bad for shavings- I think will get more expensive as more wood being compacted for burning. Comes in plastic bags. I think more dusty - at least makes me sneeze when I break open a bale. Depending on location, needs more trucking. Can cause allergic reactions in some horses.
Good for shavings- dries poops up really well in the stall when kept up. Easier to pick out. Composts well. Neater to handle. Better to keep for a stall walker.
I always love the feel, smell and sight of a well-bedded straw stall but it is more time comsuming to keep well. First you need to put in a lot at first. I turn over all the straw after taking the obvious poop piles and take the urine soaked parts away each day. The remains are banked along the edges of the stalll and I kick it back into the center in the evening. Neglect one day and you can't really save the straw. But if it is well filled to start, you can usually get away with not adding more for a week or more depending on the horse.
On the good side for straw- comes with little packaging, is generally a way farmers have of making the most income off their land - the main crop is oats, wheat, etc. The straw just makes a small extra income. Uses little processing. Makes a good cushion and warmth in the stall. And is good as a mulch or ground cover in gardens. Can be kept clean with the right techniques- I always thought it less bad for breathing. You need to flip it over, take the wet spots daily from the bottom and bank the rest to dry out during the time the horse is not in the stall. Best for foaling. Usually less expensive. Makes useful paths in winter. Hardly every a shortage.
Bad for straw- messy to carry in a wheelbarrow- I always leave a straw trail coming and going- composts down more slowly so piles are larger and it blows in the wind. More variable in absorbancy and quality- can be moldy if not maintained or baled right. Some horses get addicted to eating it.
Bad for shavings- I think will get more expensive as more wood being compacted for burning. Comes in plastic bags. I think more dusty - at least makes me sneeze when I break open a bale. Depending on location, needs more trucking. Can cause allergic reactions in some horses.
Good for shavings- dries poops up really well in the stall when kept up. Easier to pick out. Composts well. Neater to handle. Better to keep for a stall walker.
I always love the feel, smell and sight of a well-bedded straw stall but it is more time comsuming to keep well. First you need to put in a lot at first. I turn over all the straw after taking the obvious poop piles and take the urine soaked parts away each day. The remains are banked along the edges of the stalll and I kick it back into the center in the evening. Neglect one day and you can't really save the straw. But if it is well filled to start, you can usually get away with not adding more for a week or more depending on the horse.
patandchickens
Crazy Cat Lady
I think it really depends. When shavings are dusty, they are MUCH dustier than adequate-to-'enh'-quality straw. OTOH straw is more apt to mold, both before you buy it and after, and IME barns seem to have a harder time getting really dustless straw than really dustless shavings. (this may vary regionally).enjoy the ride said:
FWIW I would have said that *shavings* compost more slowly than straw, based on barns where I've worked that used straw vs ones that used shavings. Go figure
I haven't seen it in the past 6 yrs (which happens to coincide with when I moved to Canada, so I don't know if it's a time thing or a location thing) but I *used* to be able to get brown-paper-baled shavings, in most places I've lived. As long as you can keep track of the copper staples (which some of the plastic bags have as well) and not get them lost where they'll get eaten, IMO that's a pretty good deal all round. Do they still sell shavings that way in the states?
The plastic shavings bags are always pretty handy around here, though, so although I would prefer paper I think the petrochemicals do get fairly good use in the long run <g> -- garden mulch, cover the tackroom ceiling where roof leaks would otherwise drip in, staple up to close off drafty barn windows in winter, heavy-duty trash bags for pointy objects, small tarps to put dirt on when digging postholes so it doesn't all disappear into the turf, etc.
Plus of course the most economical thing is always to just get a big dump-load of shavings delivered -- and then packaging is no issue at all
I am not convinced there is a huge amount to choose from between the two, really.
Pat
