[CANDYGIRL]

How do you muck out?

Do you do a complete muck out, including the wet everyday, or do you deep litter?

Do you put a bank up the sides, if so why?

Do you use shavings/straw or rubber matting?

Do you allow your floor to dry while doing other jobs?

I have put this in GH, but it leads to a post I wanted to do on Coughing stabled horses now the winters coming and alot of us will be bringing in every day which I shall do in health called COPD an Coughing Stabled Horses.

Just a few photo's of how I do the job every day.

This is Folly's shelter/stable, I hand get up all the muck first,then throw all the clean shaving up against the sides to find her wet patches



I turn all the banks over to get any wet/urine that has seeped under them



I leave the bed up to dry and air the floor out



Clean finished bed with deep banked sides (although you can't see just how high they are from the photo)


Check Health Section

[MissBandit]

You do it similar to me. I actually use the scoop and toss method. Pick off the large obvious pieces first, then use the pick to scoop and toss against the wall. This makes the manure roll off the top and onto the bottom of the pile. I scoop and toss left and right until the floor is completely bare and shavings are banked up on both sides of the stall. It's absolutely THE quickest and most efficient way to muck a stall. It aerates the shavings and exposes the urine for easy cleanup. When I scrub and refill the buckets I let the floor air out. Then I rake the shavings back into place, finding any last bits of manure that were hiding, and put in as much clean shavings as I removed.

Using this method, there is a LOT less waste of shavings and it seriously cuts down on my stall cleaning time. I can do six large stalls an hour, including mucking, new shavings and buckets - easy.

:Forgot to mention, I prefer to use rubber mats wall to wall, and bank up the sides to prevent casting, and muck every single day - no excuses for that.

[cassidy]

lol jane you full of questions well i use shavings an i deep litter!

i also have bank an this is because of saftey in case my horse were to get cast!

i dont have rubber matting underneath but when not deep littering (bluebell's) i chuch my shavings to the side an brush the floor especially where it is wet!

[Lucky Duck]

I do pretty much exactly the same as you , MissBandit... now if only I could get my husband to do that too!

Anyhow, we use pine shavings and I usually clean and fill buckets, as well as prep the next days feed while the floor is drying.

[CANDYGIRL]

Just to add, that I do the chuck up and roll down muck lol, but at the minute with my back, I sit in the bed, with a rubber skip and rubber gloves, yes right sight LOL.


I do get the massive piles up by hand first though anyway, bad back or not, Folly dumps like a elephant LOL

[MissBandit]

What is a rubber skip?

And who has noticed that geldings are neater than mares?

[cassidy]

its like a rubber bucket with handles that you use to put the muck in instead of using a wheelbarrow!

no i think my mare is cleaner than my gelding although he tends to do it in one place unlike her (maybe its cos hes bigger though) i dunno

[minnie_mouse]

Originally Posted by MissBandit

And who has noticed that geldings are neater than mares?

not me!!! lol my mare is neater than all of the galdings at out yard! lol

well min gets all the poo taken out every day...but not the wee. she gets the wee taken you 2 tyimes a week. then i do the same as you candy. chuck it all up the sides to leave the wet. a 2 hour job when she is in heat!!! lol

minnie alsways has a really thick bed and everytime we dig her out (wee) we put another bale od shavings in. she also have 2 foot high banks....very high!lol this is to prevent her from getting cast.
and yes we allow to floor to dry...

[My Mr. Ed]

I use pine sawdust for my bedding with rubber stall mats to the wall underneath. I go in and pick out the large biscuits, and then use the smaller pick to get the ground in pieces. I also get the wet spots out everyday, down to the floor, and then let it air dry. I also sprinkle backing soda once or twice a week, depending on how messy the boys are. I go to the price club or bj’s to get it in bulk containers. About two times a month, depending on my schedule, all dust is taken out and I scrub down the mats. I always bank the sides, just is what I was taught. Water and feed buckets are scrub and refilled everyday and I tried to add as much dust as I took out.

When I cleaned the barn at college, the trend was the mares were a lot cleaner than the geldings. My boys are very messy, especially Mr. Ed. He grounds his manure into the dust.

[SammyDoodle]

As I use rubber mats and megasorb it is easy for me to muck out - I take out all the poop and all the wet. I dont have bankings to deal with.

Then I pick up the little bits of stray poop with my trusty "marigold gloves" and my rubber skip.

I lift my mats once a week and clean the undersides (if they are mucky) and allow the concrete to dry before I put them back down. I am lucky to have a spare box - with matting that I can use in the winter if I hit a drying problem

I find the mats really good. I save so much time and money on bedding since I put them down