Does anyone else muck out their horse fields?

[Bec]

I was just wondering how many others muck out their horses fields and how often? I muck ours once a week.

 

[patandchickens]

Not really feasible in large (1/2 acre or more) fields, but paddocks and pens really oughta be picked up regularly, at least the worst of it, not just for health but for footing reasons too.

My horses have about 5 acres so although they live out 24/7 I don't make any attempt to pick poo in the summer (it'd be impossible anyhow), I just let the roughs be roughs (don't drag or mow 'em) and they don't graze there so it controls the parasite egg problem *that* way.

However I do clean around the run-in shed every day during the winter (i.e. for whatever part of year they are spending more time there, which pretty well coincides with the part of the year when insects are not breaking down the poo piles, too). Not so much for parasite reasons, although there is that, but just to prevent MUD! Takes me about 15 minutes on a typical day in the winter, or more if it's been a horrible blizzard and they've spent 24 hrs hunkered down in the shed, or when the poo is frozen hard onto the ground and needs to be whammed off with a shovel <hate that!>.

Pat

 

[Bec]

I don't pick mine in the summer either, between the insects and the geese, they break it down well. But now that it is colder, I am back to cleaning out the fields. mine have 2 acres out front and 1/2 acre in the back. I do both and their stalls. Mine are out 24/7 as well so i pick up where they tend to like to poop. They have certain "potty" areas. I think in the winter when the grass isn't growing, a clean field just looks nicer. That's just my view on it I guess

 

[BeardedChick]

Nope. Three of our horses are in a 17 acre turnout, the other one is in a 35 acre turnout (shared with her cow).

 

[Bec]

Well that is a lot of room for 3 horses!!

I don't think I would be mucking out that one!!


LOL- Her cow!!

 

[BeardedChick]

The horse and cow (a little Dexter heifer) are really cute together.

 

[Bec]

That is soooo cute!

 

[TMNTCkins]

Our horses are on 1 ac and I don' t pick up but the chickens do a great job of breaking things down and spreading around.

 

[reallemons1]

I clean only the barn area too. I have 1 horse and 3 ponies in a 4 acre pasture, and rotate around 4 goats and another pony stallion through 2 other 1 acre pastures. The peacocks and guienas do a good job breaking up the biskets.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
The only time it really bothers me (note that we get very very frequent snow up here, to cover things over

) is for the couple weeks between the snow melting off in the spring and the grass starting to green up a little. During that time I will admit that the more-sheltered areas of the pasture, where the horses spend more time, do look a bit horrible. Sort of a moonscape-bombed-by-horse-apple-piles kind of effect. Fortunately those areas are out of easy sight of the house

Pat