STUDYING THE SUBJECT
Although determining the best bedding for your situation may require some trial and error, several scientific studies have yielded interesting information about the attributes of various materials.
• ! study from Finland compared wood chips, straw, peat moss, sawdust, shredded newspaper and mixtures of each. “According to that study, peat and peat mixtures had the best ability to absorb ammonia and also had high moisture holding as well as manure fertilization value, but the number of fungi and bacteria were lower in shredded newspaper and wood products,” says Jenifer nadeau, phd, an equine extension specialist at the university of Connecticut. the researchers also looked at composting times and found that only peat was ready for spreading and plant production after one month of composting.
• ! study conducted in Germany showed that gaseous ammonia in barns varied with the type of bedding used. Ammonia, which is created when urine breaks down, can be damaging to human and equine respiratory systems. the researchers found that wheat straw had the highest ammonia production rate at mg per cubic meter followed by paper cuttings at
mg per cubic meter wood shavings at hemp at linen at and straw pellets at only mg per cubic meter.
“they did a companion study looking at airborne dust particles and found straw pellets were also significantly lower in mean particle generation,” says nadeau. “the lowest dust levels were in straw pellets, followed by wood shavings, and then wheat straw.”
• ! study from Canada examined dust and ammonia in stalls with different beddings and ventilation rates. “Airborne particles and ammonia were managed under different conditions with high and low ventilation rates,” says nadeau. they used paper and straw as beddings. At both ventilation rates, the overall number of airborne particles was higher with straw than with paper.
“But the study also found that ammonia measurements reflected accumulation over time. in stalls with low ventilation the ammonia levels were significantly higher than with high ventilation, regardless of the bedding type,” says nadeau. this means you can’t expect to solve all the problems with bedding type; you also must deal with ventilation issues.
• !ustralian researchers investigated the use of sawdust impregnated with canola oil to reduce dustiness. “that study found reduction in inhalable and respirable airborne particles following addition of canola oil to the bedding,” says nadeau. “the oil would continue to reduce dustiness for a long period of time, whereas dampening the bedding with water would be temporary because water will evaporate. the drawback with oil is that it would also stick to the horse’s coat.