Bedding for individual horse pens and yards

Amanda Vesiaho, April 2015 https://www.theseus.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/95954/Vesiaho_Amanda.pdf?sequence=1

3.9.1 Properties of bedding

Studies conducted at the University of Kuopio investigated the relative ammonia and liquid binding capacity of litter, the microbial quality and dustiness of litter, and the compostability and utilization of litter in crop cultivation. The results of the studies are presented in Figures 5 and 6 and Tables 1 and 2. Figure 5. Relative ammonia binding capacity of litter at +17.4 degrees (Airaksinen 2006, 33) Figure 6. Relative liquid retention capacity of bedding (Airaksinen 2006, 34)

3.9.2 Litter usage amounts, costs and litter manure formation

Tenhunen (2014, 12-13) studied the potential for manure utilization in his bachelor's thesis. The work also included interviews with stable owners. 66 stable owners from all over Finland responded to the survey, and the sizes of the stables varied between 2 and 30 stalls. The calculations take into account the grazing time of the horses. Table 3. Annual costs and consumption per litter (Tenhunen 2014,14)

Bedding	Sludge consumption/horse/a (m3)	Bedding costs/horse (€)
Straw	104	103
Peat	16	208
Wood pellet	8	209
Straw pellet	5	308
Chew	65	342
Wood chips + peat	18	500

The results show that straw was used the most, but it was still the most cost-effective. The most expensive was a mixture of sawdust (cutter and/or sawdust) and peat, although it was only the third largest. Sawdust was the second largest and was also the second most expensive.

The amount of time horses spend outdoors affects the formation of manure, so this was taken into account in the survey. Over 80% of respondents reported that their horses spend more than 8 hours outdoors per day. Approximately 70% of the respondents' horses grazed for 2-4 months of the year. The amount of manure also depends on the cleaning of outdoor enclosures. Most respondents cleaned outdoor enclosures weekly or a few times a year.