Posts
If you breed and raise horses, you know what magnificent animals they are. A companion to man throughout time, they have provided transportation and work for their owners. How they are cared for has much to do with their health and the number of years they will provide for you. Keeping their stall bedding in good shape is important.
Stable flooring should be kept as natural as possible to ensure the health and well being of the animal. A good deal of their time is spent with them standing and their stall should keep them warm and dry and prevent the cold or any dampness from seeping through and causing injury to the hooves. The same material should provide the owner with ease of clean up to keep this laborious chore as easy as possible.
One of the best choices you can make is any material that provides absorbency. This will reduce the odor from the animals urine and feces. When of good quality, this material will be required in smaller amounts than others making clean up quick and easy.
In past years, and even in today, some farms will use sawdust as a bedding. It is highly absorbent but the dust it gives off is inhaled by the animal and will often result in respiratory problems. If you are looking for cost effective material, look into the use of wood shavings. It works as well as the sawdust with none of the harsh side effects.
Another option is the use of straw. Although it is not as popular as it once was, straw provides a soft bedding for your horse. The ability it has to decompose makes it an ideal product for composting. It is one of the most inexpensive of choices but if cost is a factor shredded cardboard and paper can also be used.
Large farms are ones that care for a vast numbers of animals at one time. Even with hired workers, keeping that many stalls clean requires a lot of time. Installing rubber matting can be the solution to savings hours of labor each day. Simply sweep the mats and them hose them down using a mild detergent. They give a horse the warmth it needs and adds to their safety by being a nonslip surface. Nothing can work better.
Foaling stalls are common on horse breeding farms. These enclosures can be made up of any of the above mentioned materials, again with rubber matting being the best choice. If this is not used, both limestone and clay work well. They can be worked into a hard, flat surface providing safety for both the mare and her foal.
No matte what the basis of material is that you use for stall bedding, there is one thing that cannot be overlooked. These stalls have to be cleaned each and every day to provide the basis for a healthy and happy animal. Horse farmers take this amount of work in stride and consider it a vital part of each work day. After all, their livelihood could be at stake were they to not do the required clean up.
Stable flooring should be kept as natural as possible to ensure the health and well being of the animal. A good deal of their time is spent with them standing and their stall should keep them warm and dry and prevent the cold or any dampness from seeping through and causing injury to the hooves. The same material should provide the owner with ease of clean up to keep this laborious chore as easy as possible.
One of the best choices you can make is any material that provides absorbency. This will reduce the odor from the animals urine and feces. When of good quality, this material will be required in smaller amounts than others making clean up quick and easy.
In past years, and even in today, some farms will use sawdust as a bedding. It is highly absorbent but the dust it gives off is inhaled by the animal and will often result in respiratory problems. If you are looking for cost effective material, look into the use of wood shavings. It works as well as the sawdust with none of the harsh side effects.
Another option is the use of straw. Although it is not as popular as it once was, straw provides a soft bedding for your horse. The ability it has to decompose makes it an ideal product for composting. It is one of the most inexpensive of choices but if cost is a factor shredded cardboard and paper can also be used.
Large farms are ones that care for a vast numbers of animals at one time. Even with hired workers, keeping that many stalls clean requires a lot of time. Installing rubber matting can be the solution to savings hours of labor each day. Simply sweep the mats and them hose them down using a mild detergent. They give a horse the warmth it needs and adds to their safety by being a nonslip surface. Nothing can work better.
Foaling stalls are common on horse breeding farms. These enclosures can be made up of any of the above mentioned materials, again with rubber matting being the best choice. If this is not used, both limestone and clay work well. They can be worked into a hard, flat surface providing safety for both the mare and her foal.
No matte what the basis of material is that you use for stall bedding, there is one thing that cannot be overlooked. These stalls have to be cleaned each and every day to provide the basis for a healthy and happy animal. Horse farmers take this amount of work in stride and consider it a vital part of each work day. After all, their livelihood could be at stake were they to not do the required clean up.
No comments:
Post a Comment