We are getting our first horse in a few days and were wondering if any of you horse experts had an opinion on the suitabilty of shredded newspaper for stall bedding.

-- Walt K. (kraterkrew@lcsys.net), January 04, 2002

Answers

I haven't used it but I've seen ads for it for use as bedding in Lancaster Farming for years. Supposedly it's much more absorbent than other materials.

-- Darren (df1@infi.net), January 04, 2002.

Sort of depends -- are you going to shred it yourself, or are you buying it shredded, such as Yesterday's News? If you shred it yourself, it is much more economical, however, if your horse has white socks or body, expect that they will turn dirty grey from it. Both are low dust, which is good. The bagged sort, like Yesterday's News is more absorbant than home-shredded is (give slick colored sections a miss, they aren't absorbant), but it is also terribly expensive for bedding a horse stall. It is good for composting either way.

Straw is traditional of course, if you can get it, but avoid rye and barley straw for horses. Chopped straw is more absorbant than long as well as easier to clean up. Most people have gone over to softwood shavings due to availability, but that may vary in your area, as bulk shavings are getting harder to find (try a small sawmill & don't take sawdust. Avoid any that contain black walnut shavings like the plague.)

New products on the market include chopped corn stalks (some horses may find it attractive to eat however, and there is the possibility of aflotoxin) and pelletized aspen or pine shavings that are sold by the bag. As nearly as I can tell, these pelletized wood products are virtually the same thing as wood stove pellets, which are probably cheaper and more readily available in a variety of locations, just make sure that you get ones that are 100% wood with no accellerants, if you go that route.

-- julie f. (rumplefrogskin@excite.com), January 04, 2002.

ick! I can't imagine using shredded newspaper for bedding. I can almost smell it from here. And its gonna be mighty heavy to shovel out.

Find a sawmill to get some sawdust...its light weight..and also helps deoterize the smell. And it absorbs well also.

When I was showing AQHA and APHA shows there were people that lived in areas where there were no sawdust available...they used rice hulls. They seemed to work rather well also.

If you can't find a sawmill, check your farm store for bagged shavings.

I would also wonder what would happen if you got a horse that ate newspaper shavings...might not be good.

-- Lynette (fear_the_bear@webtv.net), January 04, 2002.

My sister works with challenged adults, getting them into the work force. I could buy 50 pounds of shredded newpaper for 1$ a bag. We used it for the hens and the goats one year. It was great for absorption. It did I have to admit look funny, sort of like I had trash everywhere, instead of the neat pretty shavings I am used to. But it did work well. They now sell it for much more for packing material. I would be very careful of using something like this on rescued hungry animals. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), January 04, 2002.

I have used the shredded paper as bedding with excellent results. The stuff I used is made from torn up newspaper & old phone books and is more like torn up bits of paper than shreds. It is very absorbant, cheaper than straw or wood shavings, little dust, very easy to clean, breaks down faster than anything else I've seen, and absorbs odor quite well. It comes in compressed bags like shavings does and is a bit cheaper than shavings, but I find it lasts a lot longer. When the horses urinate it almost seems to clump up so you can just scoop out the wet parts. I was first introduced to it while working at an farm that raised very expensive show stock. It was the only bedding they used, including in the foaling stalls. I prefer staw in the foaling stalls as the paper could stick to a wet baby, but I know several people who routinely foal out in the paper with no problems. Only reason I don't use it now is that I don't have a local dealer.

-- ellie (elnorams@aol.com), January 04, 2002.

Newspaper works extremely well for bedding.If it is long shredded it will not work. It has to be confetti type paper.If not you wont be able to pick out the manure

-- tracy (murfette@stargate.net), January 04, 2002.

Hi Julie,

Is there a reason that you don't like sawdust? I use it exclusively, it's cheap and absorbent. I can get a pickup truck load in PA for $15.00- loaded. I asked upfront if there would ever be black walnut in it and the owner said no that black walnut was too valuable for him to mill and he sold it to other companies. I actually prefer it to shavings because it's easier for me to sift the manure out.

I've never tried anything other than shavings and sawdust, but I don't see why shredded newspaper wouldn't work.

Stacy in NY

-- Stacy (KincoraFarm@aol.com), January 04, 2002.

Hello Stacy --

I don't like sawdust because of the second half of the word -- dust. It is very cheap around here (like free, if you haul it), but we pay for shavings instead, due to the problems I've seen with the horses of people who use the sawdust, mainly a big spike in the cases of COPD (heaves) from dust inhalation. As far as absorption goes, it is probably superior to most shavings products, but I just won't take the chances with COPD. One of my present horses has a possibility for an hereditary susceptability, another a developmental susceptability. I'm not sure about the others, but as I said, I just don't want to take the chances with my animals.

If I could find shredded newspaper bedding locally at an effective cost, I'd definitely think about switching over to it for the horses. I've used it for small animals and although it isn't a 'pretty' bedding as already noted, it does work really well for odor control (better than shavings, I think) and forms nice clumps when wet, also as observed, that are easy to scoop out. The composting time is VERY fast as opposed to other wood products, and the resultant compost from it is really nice for garden use.

-- julie f. (rumplefrogskin@excite.com), January 05, 2002.

Shredded newspaper will work as long as your horse doesn't have a propensity to eat it. however, if you don't clean twice a day every day, it will get messy and will clump up. I use sawdust mixed with shavings from a local lumber mill, have used that for 25 years, never had a horse get sick and we stalled 10 to 12 at a time. Smells good, easy to clean, and easy to pick the manure out of. Wet spots easy to see and get to also. Do not use any shavings or sawdust with Black Walnut in them, certain to make your horse ill.

best always,

-- Cindy (colawson@mindspring.com), January 05, 2002.

I haven't noticed an increase in dust when I switched from bagged shavings to sawdust. I have a horse with COPD (our 22 year old Morab) and I switched his stall to one with an opening window, leave it open all the time and I've seen a huge reduction in his symptoms (combined with soaking his hay, using beetpulp and a complete Sr. feed to reduce hay consumption-we started lightly trail riding him last fall. The sawdust I use is coarser than most I've seen tho, it comes from a smallish mill- maybe that's why it's coarser?

I completely understand why you'd rather use shavings tho.

Stacy in NY

-- Stacy (KincoraFarm@aol.com), January 06, 2002.

Shredded paper provides the most dust-free bed of all and is, as a result,often used for horses with allergies and respiratory problems.It is also increasingly used for high-performance horses,such as eventers or racehorses, whose lungs need to be kept as free as possible of dust.Paper is cheaper to buy than shavings, but on the other hand a deeper bed is required because it becomes saturated more quickly than either straw or shavings. On the plus side,it is light and easy to handle and provides a really warm bed.On the minus side,it is often made from printed paper and this may cause staining of the horse's coat particularly with greys, which causes extra work for you to get out.It is also difficult to control a paper- bed muck heap on a windy day.An average stall will usually use three bales a week.

-- Edie (lucricausa@highland.net), January 25, 2002.