CategoriesCoco Coir Bedding Horse Bedding Tips & Tricks
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Top 9 Measures before laying Horse Bedding

Horses are the charming and a faithful companion, being along the human race imparting an immense love and care towards their partner. And it is also an apt investment done at once for the latter’s yield. The last thing you want to do is endanger their health or even their life without a prior knowledge in the aspect of bedding. So better be prepared than repent.

The word bedding is a consoling term that eases the seekers with peace and comfort, at the same time delivers a tacit boon for the owners. For horses, by default they don’t require a soft-sponge like bed but a sturdy, durable and hard to wear out. According to what so said, below are the critical criteria that are to be met, before making a bedding:

  • Safer for horse
  • Absorbent and Dust free
  • Hoof supportive- Resilient
  • Cushioning hocks and joints- Sturdy
  • Hygienic
  • Space and time feasible
  • Easy available
  • Biodegradable
  • Economical

Safer for horses

If you are approaching a non-traditional product, be sure to check with your vet or other knowledgeable resource because some materials are extremely toxic to horses. As some kinds of chipping served as bedding are not recommendable, as they are toxic to horses when eaten, especially those used in landscaping (such as black locust, parts of oak trees, horse chestnut, etc.). Also, horses could be tempted to eat the molding green material in the chips, you should evaluate any health risk before choosing.

Absorbent and Dust free

You’ll want an absorbent bedding with low dust, mold and foreign object count. Also, the greater the bedding’s absorbency, the lower the ammonia level will be in your barn, and breathing ammonia can damage lung tissue in you and your horse.

The biggest threat comes from airborne dust and spores that can attack the horse’s respiratory system, ranging from mild inflammation and mucus production to chronic, career-ending Recurrent Airways Obstruction disease (RAO – sometimes still referred to as COPD or the ‘heaves’). That’s why the choice of a dust-free bedding and the proper management of the stable environment are critical for equine professionals and owners. 

Hoof Supportive

Like its respiratory system, the horse’s hooves are evolved to cope with very different conditions than those found in most stables today. The best bedding must provide firm, resilient support under the hoof, particularly the fog and a moisture-controlled environment that will keep the hoof dry, but won’t dry it out.

Cushioning Hocks and Joints

In a modern stable with solid walls and a concrete floor, a good, deep, aerated bedding should provide a insulation between the horse and the floor, and a protective cushion that will help prevent the kind of common damage such as capped hocks that can so easily occur when a horse is lying down, getting up or rolling in the stable.

Hygienic

Essential stable hygiene is something traditionally dealt with by periodic disinfecting. If not, later at some point of time, bedding may turn into a host for bacteria and fungi that will quickly re-contaminate the stable, especially when wet, generating pathogens that can invade and infect the respiratory system, cuts and grazes on the legs, and cracks or splits in the hoof. So go up with the periodic check for bedding hygiene and the bedding that embraces anti-fungal, anti-allergen naturally.

Space and Time feasible

The compressed blocks mean it’s easy to store and transport and the storage of bedding will be a major issue for people with shorter on land space. Stacked in the racks of the storage room or bed spread in the stable, it’s required to be less space consuming and laying the bed along the stall using a paddock is much easier than thought.

Easy Available

Bedding availability throughout the year and their accessibility in your locality is the foremost necessary that you should take care of. Along with the transport or delivery and shipping feasibility are to be checked.

Biodegradable

The bedding has to be 100% organic, environmentally friendly and reduce the stable waste. If the stable waste were to compost, beddings make the major contribution to the compost piles. On an average, it may take 6 months or so for compost bedding to break-down into muck heap.

Economical

Cost is inevitably a factor in an owner’s choice of bedding, but values are the far more important measure of cost effectiveness. Being environmentally sustainable, easily available, it has to be affordable for all hobbyist and professional owners of the barn, on buying new one that are highly absorbent doesn’t need to use as much. Buying in bulk may save you some money, too.

On the whole, buying an ideal product in terms of superior quality and cost-effective with easy handling and maintenance and with little waste, saving you both time and money is a suggestion we render on part of our team.  

 Hoping you a thoughtful day, be safe and healthy.

CategoriesDairy Farm Lifestyle Tips & Tricks
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Top 4 Tips to improve Barn Hygiene

When it comes to dealing with the health and comfort of your barn living, you’ll always want to make the best of your job possible. That’s right, regardless of what lives in your barn, it is necessary to keep up with hygienic standards to stay clean and healthy. In fact, if a barn is unkempt, bacteria and viruses can be spread, resulting in sickening your dear animals.

Barns is a shelter provided for livestock such as cattle, horses and many other animals. As a Barn handler or frequent visitors, you are well aware of after effects of detrimental unhygienic culture. Those without proper care and regular tending are more prone to get sick and eventually leading to loss of life. A clean and tidy environment is the key source for robust life. So as to say, here are some of the highly recommended tips for your barners’ well-being.

Clean barn

The first and foremost thing in controlling disease break out is cleaning. Clean means free of dirt and organic matter such as manure. This means the removal of all manure and feed, followed by washing, scrubbing and rinsing, or pressure washing, all surfaces with hot water and detergent. Studies have shown that over 90% of bacteria are removed from surfaces that are thoroughly cleaned first. Thorough cleaning will remove most of the contamination and allow disinfectants to penetrate surfaces and kill microorganisms. This is followed by the use of a disinfectant according to label directions (included in the Compendium of Veterinary Products, available in your veterinarian’s office).

Disinfectant

A disinfectant is a chemical or substance that kills microorganisms and is applied to objects.  Follow the label directions before using, the “Active Ingredients” section on the container of disinfectant will identify the type of product. The product label will often state a dilution rate when being used either as a germicidal cleaner (killing microorganisms) or as a sanitizer (reducing the number of microorganisms). The minimum contact time (mentioned in label) is the time required to kill microorganisms. The kill time (10-15minutes) is affected by the presence of organic matter like bedding blood and pus, temperature, pH, hardness of water and concentration of disinfectant. So be sure of cleaning up before using disinfectants.

             It’s important not to simply focus on disinfecting surfaces in barns and barn areas (walls, doors, paddocks, fences, and gates) to curb disease spread; be sure to address hand tools and other farm equipment, vehicles, and trailers, too. Before you get started, relocate animals from the area you’re about to clean and disinfect. You might also need to remove all bedding. 

Make sure the area where you are working has adequate ventilation and turn off the power supply before soaking walls with water. Many disinfectants can be extremely irritating to human skin, eyes, and respiratory tracts. Always wear protective clothing, eye protection, and gloves when using any disinfectant product.

***Never mix different disinfectants together. Every approved disinfectant in the United States has a safety data sheet, available from the manufacturer and contains valuable information.

Personal Hygiene

The means of preventing the disease to spread by individual self-care is often termed as Personal Hygiene. Possibly barn handlers can be a reservoir or source of the disease agent while moving around from one barn to another; by carrying the agent on their clothing and shoes or animals themselves. The “shower in and shower out” followed in swine and poultry industries shows some pretty results.

In care, handlers should be dedicated with boots and clothing only used for the barn. If that is not possible, boots should be cleaned prior to entering the premises and freshly laundered clothing should be worn. A freshly laundered pair of coveralls would also suffice. Handlers should learn not to wear the same outfit outside anywhere, as there is the potential for them to carry the problem back.

Hand Washing

Hand washing should be facilitated around the barn/farm to encourage the frequent washing of hands. Research has shown that, as the access to a hand-washing facility increased, the hand-washing compliance increased (1). Thorough hand washing with soap is adequate in most cases. Antiseptic soaps (e.g., chlorhexidine) or iodophor shampoo/washes (e.g., Betadine scrub) or alcohol based hand gel may also be used and should be located at the sink in an easy dispensing container.

         Dispensers can be preferably attached to handlers’ belts or outside the doorway for easy access and frequent use before working for another barn, as they only require 15 seconds to dry. Hand washing is also important to prevent chemical contamination of the workplace when feeding medicines.

* Choose a product that doesn’t dry out the skin or cause skin irritation.In this stressful pandemic situation caused by Coronavirus, it’s always better to have knowledge at your tips to make the lives around much safer and healthier. It’s always that prevention is better than cure, take in interest towards a healthy living and strive through it.