Facilities and Waste Management

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Facilities and Waste Management

• Equine Science II

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Equine Housing

• Should provide for the welfare, safety, health
  and comfort of horses and human handlers.
• Make efficient use of labor and be cost effective.

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• Provide for the environmental needs by moderating
  temperature and humidity.
• Moderate temperature above freezing are
  acceptable if the humidity is low.
• There needs to be enough air movement to keep air
  clean to meet respiration needs of the animals
  and dilute airborne disease organisms, control
  and/or moderate temperature, and keep the
  building free of condensation and moisture.

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Building Basics

• Various materials will work
• Metal siding building will last 15-20 year
  without refinishing, but are subject to damage
  from animals

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1. Wood siding building will withstand abuse of
   animals, but can be eaten. However, wood siding
   buildings offer better insulating value than
   metal or masonry, but need occasional
   painting/staining and upkeep
2. Masonry walls require little maintenance but he
   initial cost is high and they are difficult to
   insulate.

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1. Metal roofing is cheaper and required less
   framing than shingles, but has less insulating
   value.

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1. A GOOD ventilation system is essential if the
   building is tight. Natural ventilation is
   provided by open eaves and ridge vent system and
   is MOST common and MOST cost effective. With
   natural ventilation a 4/12 roof slope works best.

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1. Artificial ventilation systems must provide three
   levels of air movement the lowest level operates
   continuously to met respiration needs, the
   intermediate level is used to control temperature
   and moisture during winter conditions, and the
   highest or maximum level is for summer
   temperature control.

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1. Horses require a summer ventilation rate of 200
   cubic feet per minute air flow in a building that
   is 55 degrees F. The normal winter rate is 100
   and 25 for minimum flow.

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Stall Design

• Stall size
• Stall height should be a minimum of 8 feet and
  alleyways 9 feet.
• Stalls should be a minimum of 10 foot by 10 foot
  with 12X12 preferred.

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1. Square stalls help prevent horses from getting
   down in a position close to a wall where they
   will need assistance to get up (casting)
2. Stallions and foaling should be a minimum of
   12X14

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Stall Design cont.

1. Stall walls and partitions usually are solid to a
   height of five to seven feet with ventilation
   provided with open space at the top.

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1. Solid walls help prevent injury to equine feet
   and legs as well as prevent cribbing (equine
   chewing on the edges of exposed boards)

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1. Open space at the top should be spaced 3 ½ -4
   inches apart to prevent the mature equines hoof
   from passing through.

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1. Rough cut oak is one of the best and strongest
   materials equine do not chew it or destroy it as
   easily as tongue and groove yellow pine which is
   cheaper, but must be protected.

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1. Concrete block or poured concrete walls are easy
   to paint and keep clean but can result in more
   serious injuries to equine or foals. However,
   before block walls should be sealed prior to use
   in order to prevent pathogens.

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• Stall floors should be absorbent, easy to clean,
  resistant to pawing and non-slippery.
• Clay and sand mixes are the least costly and most
  easily obtained materials (2/3 clay and 1/3 sand
  will allow drainage)

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1. Four to five inches of limestone dust make a
   level, hard surface. When installed over 6-8 of
   sand, watered and packed before equine uses the
   stall, it will be nearly as hard as concrete
   without the disadvantage of concrete. If rubber
   mats are added to the surface of hardened
   limestone, additional protection is provided to
   prevent foot problems.

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1. Wooden floor are slippery when wet and tend to
   attract rodents.

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1. Concrete floors are easy to clean and sanitize
   however, more bedding is needed to soak urine and
   concrete often is associated with more leg
   problems.

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1. Flexible, fiber grade polypropylene is a tough,
   yet flexible material designed for support,
   strength, and chemical resistance. It allows
   drainage with a non-skid surface. It is a good
   shock-absorbing surface that reduces moisture and
   is easy to clean. However, it is expensive.

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1. Other materials include clay, asphalt, rubber
   floor mats and fiber-reinforced polyethylene
   interlocking blocks.

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Fencing Considerations

1. First priority is safety of people and equine.
2. Properly designed fencing result in less stress
   from handling.
3. Cost is a major consideration.
4. Aesthetics is important for community support and
   property values.

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Height and Construction

1. Minimum height should be 5 for perimeter pasture
   fences (6 for taller breeds)

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• Paddocks are small pastures or turn out areas of
  less than two acres per horse
• Stallion paddocks should be double-fenced with a
  lane between them and the next paddocks.

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1. Boards should always be secured to the inside, or
   equine side, or the fence post for stronger and
   safer applications.

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Materials for Fencing

• Wooden fences are sturdy and easy to be seen.
• High maintenance cost and expensive.
• Useful life of 15-20 years

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• Post and Rail Fencing is attractive but expensive
  to install and maintain.
• Low to medium maintenance (does not require
  paint, but rails may need to be secured on a
  regular basis.)
• Useful life of 15-20 years

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• Five diamond V-mesh wire is the best and safest
  wire for equine fencing
• Close weave prevents injury from the equine
  catching its foot in it and is actually safer
  than board fending.
• Is low maintenance with a useful life of 20-30
  years.
• Needs to be 10-gauge wire or heavier.

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• Rigid PVC produces a strong, flexible fence.
• Initial cost may be high, but maintenance is low.
• Useful life is 20-30 years.

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• High-tensile vinyl fencing with two or three
  high-tensile wires embedded in a 4-5 vinyl rail
• It is flexible, safe and low maintenance.
• Useful life is 20-30 years.

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1. Other types of fencing including high-tensile
   wire, rubber fencing and galvanized metal
   fencing. Never use twisted barbed wire for horses.

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Bedding Material Considerations

• The bedding material chosen should be absorbent,
  dust-free, readily available, easily disposed of,
  unpalatable and affordable. Cost is often the
  most overriding factor.

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• Good bedding protects the horses feet from
  thrush, and encouraged the horse to lie down,
  rest and cushion its feet and legs from the hard
  stall floor.

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Types of Bedding

• Straw is the most popular because it makes an
  attractive bed.
• Advantages
• Absorbent
• Relatively dust-free
• Comfortable

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• Disadvantages
• Highly combustible
• Some horses like to eat the bedding
• High labor for cleaning stalls
• Difficult to dispose of the high volume of
  material

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• Wood shavings and sawdust are highly absorbent
  but may be more expensive than straw and may
  cause respiratory problems.
• Requires less frequent cleaning than other
  materials, helps keep odors down, and is easier
  to dispose of than straw.

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1. Equines seldom eat wood shaving and sawdust and
   these materials burn slower than straw.
2. Do not use hardwood shavings, especially black
   walnut as it has caused founder and laminitis
3. Wood shaving and sawdust must be stored in a dry
   location because it takes a long time to dry out
   and is worthless as a bedding material when wet.

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• Recycled newsprint is a new material that helps
  equines with respiratory conditions.
• Newsprint is a very absorbent, softer and more
  comfortable than either shavings or straw, but
  combustibility may be a problem.
• Has less dust than straw or shaving and
  pollen-free

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Reasons for Outside Maintenance Practices

• Important for good relationships with neighbors
  flies and odors are controlled.
• Contributes to a healthy ecological system for
  equine with disease and parasites controlled.
• Promotes stewardship of resources pollution is
  controlled and water quality is protected.

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Proper Maintenance Practices

• A good sanitation program is essential to reduce
  or eliminate fly larval development sites and
  consist of controlling standing water in wet
  areas and manure management.

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• Maintain the equine site at a slope of 2-6 away
  from buildings, working rings, and training areas
  to direct water without erosion to grassed
  absorption areas.

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• Develop a Water Quality Management Plan to
• Reduce runoff that can carry soil and waste
  contaminants into surface water sources and cause
  non-point source pollution (does not flow from a
  pipe) and
• Protect ground water from pesticide and
  fertilizer spills, improper waste management and
  careless use of pesticides close to well water
  sources.

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Area Maintenance is Needed

• River and stream bank management is done to
  protect banks from trampling, destruction of
  vegetation and contamination
• Best accomplished by fencing to restrict animal
  access and pumping drinking water to a holding
  trough away from the bank
• Living fences of hedges and trees along the bank
  or inexpensive electric fencing

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• Waste management includes manure removal, storage
  and disposal techniques
• Total volume of manure and soiled bedding is 2.0
  cubic feet per day per horse

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• Properly stored and composted manure and bedding
  helps in pasture management reduces chance of
  pollution when spread of fields, provides
  nutrients needed along with improving soil
  characteristics such as organic matter and
  moisture holding capacity.

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• After composting for 1-2 months, the volume of
  stall waste is reduced by 40-70 and many
  parasites, pathogenic bacteria and weed seed are
  destroyed
• The manure holding facility must be covered and
  protected from runoff.

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• Pasture management includes controlled grazing to
  manage ground cover and provide quality nutrition
  for equine
• The primary cause of runoff on equine farms is
  overgrazing. Graze pastures when they are 6-8
  and rotate off when down to 3-4

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1. Equines are spot grazers and need to be rotated
   among several small pastures rather than one
   large one to protect from over grazing. Five or
   six paddocks with weekly rotations is ideal.

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1. Drag pastures with a chain-link harrow at least
   annually, but ideally after each rotation so that
   the sun and air may reduce parasite populations

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1. Removing manure from paddocks on weekly basis for
   composting with stall waste is an excellent way
   to reduce pollution and control parasites.

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1. Pasture may need to be irrigated to provide all
   the nutrients needed by equine and if the farm
   raises livestock as well, a combination of cattle
   and horses increases the uniformity of grazing.

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• Watercourse and runoff management is closely
  related to maintaining cover and diverting water
  to reduce slope length and runoff speed
• Divert clean runoff water away from barn,
  paddocks, manure storage areas, and exercise
  areas.

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1. Reduce the length of slope on pastures with
   terraces and water bars.
2. Plant grass in drainage ditches to slow down
   runoff water
3. Plant at least a 10 vegetative buffer strip
   between the steep slopes and waterways.

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THE END!!!