# What is your preferred bedding for stalls?



## OutdoorDreamer (Mar 29, 2012)

What do you all prefer for bedding in the barn? Wood shavings, sawdust, straw? And what type of floor are you using with that bedding? I use pine shavings, but they seem to get dirty quick, I just have a dirt floor in my barn. I want to do a raised wooden floor here soon, my friend has one and it seems a lot easier to clean out. (We don't own a tractor, so everything has to be done by hand)


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

We clean out by hand too. It's a lot of work, but you just do it. We prefer straw and we have dirt floors (hopefullly going to get sand put in this summer so there is some drainage). It's cheaper and it's easy to find here. It clumps together to make cleaning out stalls easier. It absorbs the wet better. Straw seems to work better for kidding because it doesn't stick to the kids like shavings do.


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

We use hay. We can buy good hay for only $3.50 a bale. Shavings and straw both cost almost twice as much. So we just use the hay...


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## SerenitySquare (Jun 28, 2014)

now dont laugh I tend to be a little overboard but here is what I do.
I put down some of the PMZ enzyem then some bedding pellets(love these)they expand when wet so you dont need a lot. Next is some white shavings. next a dusting of DME. This is I all use in the warmer months. In the winter I use straw on top of everything.
I pick out the icky stuff every day or so depending on the weather and just put in a little of the pellets and shavings in the bare spots. 
In the summer they will get off their but and pee and poop outside.
Then when needed I clean out everything and start again.
I also clean mine out by hand that is why I avoid the heavy straw unless needed for warmth.


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## CountyLineAcres (Jan 22, 2014)

Our flooring is either tarps or stall mats. Works great for easy cleanup.



SerenitySquare said:


> now dont laugh I tend to be a little overboard but here is what I do.
> I put down some of the PMZ enzyem then some bedding pellets(love these)they expand when wet so you dont need a lot. Next is some white shavings. next a dusting of DME. This is I all use in the warmer months. In the winter I use straw on top of everything.
> I pick out the icky stuff every day or so depending on the weather and just put in a little of the pellets and shavings in the bare spots.
> In the summer they will get off their but and pee and poop outside.
> ...


You're not overboard! This is exactly what we do. Put down DME, then we get the pellets that expand and then use shavings or hay on top. It works perfectly.


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Inside for the babies I put down a stall refresh power for the smell, pine shavings to absorb the pee, then straw to keep em off the wet shavings and dry


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## janeen128 (Dec 31, 2012)

Dry den pellets, shavings, then old hay... I put DE in between the layers...


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

I just use straw and my flooring is wood.


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## lottsagoats1 (Apr 12, 2014)

I use shavings on top of dirt. I scrape the stalls twice a day to get the hay and as much poop out as I can. A bag of shavings keeps the stall clean for about a week as long as I rake it out daily.

In the winter, I will add straw to the kidding nest for the few days of life if it's cold so the kids can snuggled into the straw.

I even use shavings when they kid and have never had a problem.

I pay 4.50 for a HUGE bale of straw (50 pounds) and about the same for the shavings. I hate using hay for bedding because it packs down so hard and I clean by hand with a pitch fork.


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