Show Barn Bedding

[Dvrom]

What is the best bedding to use in a showbarn to absorb moisture and the ammonia smell?

 

[moodog5]

Cedar fiber

 

[Carlson Cattle]

cedar fiber?? what is all in that??

 

[vc]

Ceder fiber
Carlson it ceder (ceder wood  chips) do a search and you will see what ceder fiber is

 

[Mainevent]

Not sure where your located but central cedar has a great cedar fiber product, it's not dusty like old cedar fiber and has a great smell! They are located in Antlers, Oklahoma.

 

[Dvrom]

Is cedar mulch any different than cedar fiber?

 

[Redfern]

cedar fiber?? what is all in that??

Freddy can set you up.

 

[Mainevent]

Dvrom the only difference is its a finer bedding

 

[vc]

Dvrom, The fiber is more absorbent and easier to sift the dung out of, you end up throwing more of the mulch out with each scoop. If cleaned constantly, (every time you check on the animal) and turned over and aired out when the animal is out for the night, you only have to add a bad or 2 a week per animal for the season.

 

[Diamond]

I use wood pellet bedding or stove pellet, it absorbs the urine and expands. as long as you keep it clean the stuff lasts for weeks.

 

[showsteerdlux]

I use wood pellet bedding or stove pellet, it absorbs the urine and expands. as long as you keep it clean the stuff lasts for weeks.

It also blows all over creation when used in a cooler fwiw......

 

[Dvrom]

I am located in southwest minnesota. anybody know of somewhere close i can get cedar fiber? right now im buying cedar mulch from menards at $2.87/bag. I could get a bunch from a floral place in bulk but it aint cheep there.

 

[FriedgesCharolais]

I would find your closest wood milling facility they usually sell it pretty cheap may not be cedar but it works pretty well

 

[Diamond]

I use wood pellet bedding or stove pellet, it absorbs the urine and expands. as long as you keep it clean the stuff lasts for weeks.

It also blows all over creation when used in a cooler fwiw......

I have never had that issue with the stuff I use and I run about 8 fans in a dark room. I have had some issues wit woody pet blowing, but the rest of it, no problem

 

[jchumley]

You have to keep the wood pellets wet if you use it in a cool room or under fans. I have switched from cedar fiber to the wood pellets in my cool room and like them much better than the cedar-I just have to soak them down once a day and add a bag or two per week to keep them fresh.

 

[Dvrom]

Thoughts on sand for bedding?

 

[mick rems]

negative on the sand. it might work for dairy cattle but it would get in there hair way to much you'd be blowing and washing constantly. and it'd be way to dusty.

we use wood chips. i dont even know what kind they are. they work really well tho in the show bed packs and in the other pens. we can get 2 dump trucks for like 200 dollars and itll last us for like 4+ months. 3 months if we had to rebuild up the show bed pack completely. we rarely have to clean out the other pens wen we have wood chips in them, shavings or anything else its once a week that we gotta clean out pens and rebed. the bed pack we just clean out the piles. and add a wheelbarrel every other night or so. you can probably get woodchips at most lumber mills. some of the chips are stained and may stain white or smoke colored cattle even white markings on cattle will stain. so avoid those. and avoid the chips that are from them shredding pallets its cheaper but you might still get a nail or staple in the chips.

 

[MOClubbyGuy]

Thoughts on sand for bedding?

We have sand in our barns at our state fair and it is absolutely horrible on the hair and skin. It dries the hair out quickly and works its way deep into hair making it hard to get out when it comes to fitting time.

 

[Boot Jack Bulls]

We use sand and love it! Actually, it is washed lime screenings, so there is no dust. Also its heavier, so the fans don't cause it to move. It also seems to stay cooler. We have never had any negative impact on hair condition, which might be because we have Limis and the hair is markedly different from club type breeds. A good blower will do the job when it comes to getting the sand off the hide, and if the animal is clean to begin with, the sand doesn't have anything to stick to. Our show pens are set up with about 12 inches of screenings of a foot of 4 inch rip rap for drainage. It drains well and we never have to worry about ammonia or odors. We switched to the screenings because we always have a mature bull or two in our show string, and though they toss the screenings a bit, it is nothing like the resulting mess when we used a wood product. Something to consider would be availability and the fact that without a skid steer it is a pain to move and change out the entire bed, which we do every 2-3 weeks. Hope this helps.