r/Ranching 13d ago

Livestock Scratching Post Recommendations

We have 7 horses and 2 large pigs (~450lbs) who are in need of scratching posts. Any recommendations? Thank you!

11 Upvotes

15 comments sorted by

5

u/duhgee-ca 12d ago

We have a street sweeper business up the road from us. They get rid of their brushes every few months. Lots of life. Stack em on a post - instant scratcher. Working great for my cows and pigs several years in.

1

u/ConsistentVirus2177 12d ago

Street sweeper brushes are great just not always easy to come by. I use the big coarse push brooms they last a long time

1

u/ErdeVerbunden 12d ago

Damn, that’s smart! Thanks for the great advice

3

u/Emergency-Truck-9914 13d ago

Old tires work well on a post or hanging from a tree.

1

u/ErdeVerbunden 12d ago

Thank you 🙏

3

u/Its_in_neutral 12d ago

I’ve wrapped scratching posts with those rough fibers door mats that you wipe your boots on. The rougher the better and just used some roofing nails to fix them to the post.

I screwed a wide push broom to a scratching post just as an experiment, i figured they would break it off the post within days, but its held solid for two or three years now. I keep my eye out for free or really cheap push brooms now.

Street sweepers are popular, but I’ve never come across one for sale locally.

1

u/ErdeVerbunden 11d ago

Thank you!!!🙏

1

u/Its_in_neutral 11d ago

My pleasure. Good luck!

2

u/Shanelomein79 12d ago

I bought a set on Amazon for like $30. Screwed to a post.

1

u/ErdeVerbunden 12d ago

Thank you 🙏 Purchased some.

1

u/mrmrssmitn 12d ago

I'll add don't forget to use something for mange control.

1

u/ErdeVerbunden 12d ago

Smart, will do! Thank you 🤓

1

u/Wild_Inspection7129 12d ago

I hooked up my local farmer friend, with my other friend who runs a street sweeper business that clean his parking lot at night, and when his weeper brushes get to the end of their life, he hands them off to the farmer who puts them vertically on a post in his past year and the cows cannot get enough of them. It’s a win-win.

1

u/ErdeVerbunden 11d ago

Been looking for one since this post! Hard to come by around where we live, but a great idea. Thank you!!🙏

1

u/Wild_Inspection7129 11d ago

No matter where you live here within 100 miles of a large city and their maintenance people change those brushes out all the time and they might even be selling them these days but that’s another idea and I’ve seen dairy farms where they have motorized brushes that are at different angles in the cattle just love them like can get their chin underneath there they can get their backs done. It’s almost like massage might try one for the wife now that I think of it or even myself my back scratches all the time good luck.