PLACE AN ORDER ONLINE!
SET UP GUIDE
- Start with a clean, dry stall. Rubber mats are suggested but not required.
- Add 275-300 pounds of Hempsteed to a 12x12 stall. Adjust proportionally for bigger or smaller stalls. Getting a 5-6" depth in the stall is ideal. Using less bedding will most likely make its effectiveness diminish and you will only need to use more sooner.
- Bank the back walls of your stall with bedding to pull from later.
- You will need a wheelbarrow, fork and a broom.
- For very messy horses and box walkers, we recommend the watering technique: after bedding is added to the stall simply spray the entire bedding surface with a hose or watering can. approximately 5 gallons of water should be added. allow 1.5 hours for the surface to be dry before bringing your horse back in. This method may seem counterproductive, but it activates the base faster and prevents a box walker from stirring up urine before it has time to settle at the bottom and create a base on its own. If your horse isn't very messy or a box walker, this technique isn't required.
maintenance & MANAGEMENT
Stall maintenance is very different with hemp bedding, and if managed correctly, a more effective and cost efficient product can be achieved.
- Manure should be picked at least once per day. Removing from the top only. DO NOT DIG. Digging can expose a urine spot before it's ready to remove. Try and remove as little good bedding as possible.
- Recognize where your horse's urine spot is; it should start to feel different under your feet after a few days. As urine starts to pack at the bottom over the first few days, exposed wet spots should be covered with fresher bedding and stomped down. This helps to keep wet spots consolidated and packing.
- After about 6-10 days the urine soaked bedding should be ready to be removed. You will know this when the color has changed to red or black, at or just below the surface. If you need to dig down into the bedding to find the wet spot, it's not ready to be removed.
- Scrape any good bedding away from the wet spot, exposing the red or black color, and remove with a shovel or fork. Remember, if the bedding isn't red or black it's still OK. Brownish hemp bedding is still working.
- After removal, put back the good bedding that looks the oldest but still effective first. Pull from the banks to replace what you took out. Unless the bedding is red or very dark brown it's still working!
- Add new bedding to the banks, about equal to the amount you took out.
TIPS & REMINDERS
- Do not dig at manure; pick from surface. Avoid exposing urine spot.
- Exposed urine spots that aren't ready to be removed should be covered and stomped down to assist the pack.
- Brown Hempsteed bedding is still good. If too much brown has surfaced, push it down to base and cover with clean bedding from the banks; press the clean bedding down.
- Hay and grain mixed bedding reduces effectiveness and should be removed. Loose good hay should be removed or consolidated prior to picking of stall. Managing feeding time with stall cleaning can greatly reduce the need to remove hay and mixed bedding. Hay nets or cages to keep hay off the ground is very helpful.
- Your waste heap is a valuable compost in little to no time!
- All horses and barns are different, and some management of Hempsteed bedding will be unique to your facility. Discover and develop techniques that work best for you and your horses.