Ohio State University Fact Sheet

Community Development

700 Ackerman Road, Suite 235, Columbus, OH 43202-1578

Newsprint Bedding For Horse And Sheep

CDFS-123

By Sereana Howard
Joe E. Heimlich

This fact sheet, one in a series, reports data from a study that examined newsprint as an alternative bedding material for farm animals. The study was funded in part by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Litter Prevention and Recycling.

The study addressed newsprint with black ink and examined the supply of newsprint in Ohio, effects of the paper as a bedding, as well as the absorption and decomposition. The bedding was evaluated on management and disposal, animal behavior, and aesthetics.

The newsprint bedding was shredded into small bales. Evaluators commented on the ease of use, stall maintenance, storage and disposal of the newsprint. They also observed animal behavior such as grazing on the newsprint, grooming of the animals and insulation qualities. The general appearance of barns and fields were qualitatively assessed as to dust levels and stall and barn appearance.

Horse and sheep production are important to both the national and state economies. Total value of the horse industry in the United States in 1987 was $15 billion in Gross National Product each year (1.). In 1987, there were approximately 185,500 horses in Ohio which contribute $557 million each year to the Ohio economy. In 1988, there were approximately 270,000 sheep in Ohio with nearly a $21.4 million production value.

Currently, there are several different bedding products being used in the horse and sheep industries. Horse management uses the following bedding products: wheat or oat straw, shavings, and cedar sawdust. Sheep management uses several bedding products including wheat or oat straw, hay, sawdust, woodchips, and ground peanut shells.

This fact sheet examines the management and disposal, animal behavior, and aesthetics of the newsprint. The Newsprint Study was conducted in The Ohio State University horse barns and sheep center. It was a four-week study for the horses and a twoweek study for the sheep. Sixteen quarter horses were housed in 10 foot x 12 foot boxstalls. Half the horses were bedded with sawdust for the first two weeks and the other half were bedded with paper. During the last two weeks the bedding was switched. Twelve sheep were divided into two pens. One pen was bedded with straw the other with shredded newsprint.

Results

Management

The newsprint is difficult to manage. Although the newsprint was easy to store and transport in the small bales, the newsprint scattered easily when bales were broken. The longer shreds made stall cleaning difficult because the shreds tangled, and paper trails caused the barns to look unclean. The newsprint tended to tangle in the manure spreader blades and clog the gutter cleaning system. There was virtually no dust with the shredded newsprint.

Animal Behavior

Some horses appeared to graze on the newsprint because it tangled with the hay on the floor. After the hay was eaten, some horses actually grazed on the newsprint out of boredom. The horses in the newsprint stalls appeared cleaner than the horses in the sawdust stalls because the newsprint did not stick to the manes and tails. Because the newsprint balled up in stall corners, sometimes the horses had to lay on bare stall floors, whereas the sawdust kept a uniform depth.

The sheep did not appear to graze on the newsprint and the newsprint did not interfere with the normal eating patterns of the sheep. Evaluators observed no grooming problems or ink stains, and the sheep were insulated satisfactorily.

Disposal

The disposal of the newsprint with a manure spreader was not visually pleasing and gave the impression of littered fields even though the newsprint decomposed quite rapidly. When the spreader was loaded the paper would blow out, littering the area around the barns.

Implications And Recommendations

1. Barn management practices will influence the feasibility of newsprint use. Storage location in relation to location of use is also important because shredding allows more pieces to escape from the bales and increases the litter in the barn area, which in turn increases the cleaning effort. Feeding style would affect grazing on the newsprint because if the horses were fed out of mangers and not off the floor, they would be less likely to eat any of the newsprint.

2. The floor composition is important because it is part of the total environment. Dirt floors differ from concrete floors in the amount of bedding needed. Concrete floors require thick bedding that remains relatively uniform in depth throughout the stall. Because newsprint has a tendency to ball up, it would not be the bedding of choice unless the depth could be constantly maintained.

3. The disposal method of the used newsprint bedding will make a difference. People are accustomed to seeing straw litter on the fields and view paper as offensive litter. However, if another method of disposal is used, and the newsprint is not as public, then the newsprint might be considered desirable. The disposal system of each operation may not be able to accommodate the newsprint and this factor alone could determine the feasibility. Due to the increased labor needed to clean stalls, the newsprint would need to be inexpensive in order to use it.

4. The paper shreds must be between 1 inch x 1 1/2 inch to 5 inch in size and baled in uniform weight to overcome most problems. Shorter lengths of the shred would assist stall maintenance ease. A shred too small would cause concern with fibrous inhalation. Other shapes of newsprint could effect the amount of maintenance necessary. Square-form and triangle pieces have been used in other bedding trials. For baling, preliminary results suggest 4 inch x 5 inch pieces would work best.

5. As an insulation material for horses, shredded newsprint is equal to other types of bedding material if it remains uniform in depth throughout the stall. Newsprint bedding keeps the horses cleaner and easier to groom.

Conclusion

Newsprint has the same insulation qualities and storage qualities of straw or sawdust, but requires more cleaning and maintenance. As an alternative to those products already in use, newsprint would need to be produced to make stall cleaning easy and less trashy in appearance. The newsprint would have to be competitively priced to entice the customer to use it. For grooming qualities, newsprint is excellent because it keeps horses cleaner than other bedding products. There is a large supply of newsprint in Ohio, but whether or not it is utilized will depend on its form, price, and farm manager being able to use it in their operation.

(1.) 1987 American Horse Council Report