|
I asked the Vet about disinfecting the foaling stall. I'ld like to
add what I learned to this note.
If the barn is new, and no other horse has occupied the stall, and
your mare hasn't been sick...You're really not going to accomplish
much by disinfecting the stall...because the bedding, hay, feed
buckets are all going to contribute to many microorganisms being
present in the stall. These micro organisms however are not generally
harmful...it is the one's related to illness that you really want
to eliminate. So, if you have a barn or stall, where there have
been sick horses present it is recommended to disinfect the stall.
A solution of lysol mixed as directed in warm water and one ounce
chlorine bleach/gallon of water is a recommended generic disinfectant
that is safe for use in horse stalls.
Nancy
|
|
Hi!
Thank you for all the help. This is the way it really happened for
this foal....
Since she was due around the first week of March, I prepared the
stall one week prior to the due date (Feb. 29th). I did the following:
I turned the mare out early in the morning, it was a nice day (sunny)
and opened the barn doors to let the barn air out. I removed the
bedding from her stall and swept the floor clean (clay floor). I
removed her grain and water buckets for cleaning. I mixed the
disinfectant the Vet gave me in warm water and sprayed the stall
walls and door, insuring good coverage in corners,near the floor,and
where the water and grain buckets reside. The wood turned slightly
darker when wet. I cleaned the buckets while the stall aired out
and the walls dried. Next I took lime and generously dusted the
floor. I replaced the bedding (shavings 4-6 inches) and placed the
clean buckets in the stall. I opened 3 bales of straw (14 x 14 stall)
and seperated it and distributed it on top of the shavings, (6inches)
with more straw in the area in which she usually deficates and
urinates. I let the stall air out all day (door open).When the mare
was ready to come in,the walls appeared dry, but.. I put her in an
adjacent stall with some hay and water until the evening feeding at
which time I was sure the walls were totally dry and the stall was
aired out with little disinfectant smell. I fed her in her own stall
that evening. Note: I intensively groomed her and picked her feet
before I returned her to her stall. Also, I put hay in the stall
before I let her back in and she went for it out of habit...I was
afraid she would eat alot of straw, she munched on a few pieces
but prefered her hay...I believe because it was there in the first
place, she was less tempted to sample the straw. Later on that evening
after she tromped down the straw for awhile, I opened another bale
of hay and added a couple of inches to the stall. I did not have
to add any more straw to her stall for the remainder of this week.
I felt more comfortable about leaving her at home alone, while I
went to work, with the stall being prepared...in case of surprise.
Note: I checked every morning and night for encrouching signs of
immenent foaling.
Experience with straw:
Her manure tended to fall into the straw and stay in one place and
was easy to remove as long as I did not care how much straw I removed.
In fact, I could remove a whole pile at once...by taking a layer
of straw with it. The urine was a different matter. The first couple
of days, I tried to remove it...but I found it extremely difficult
to do without bringing wet straw and shavings to the surface. It
seemed that mixing the shavings with the straw was causing the top
layer to become wet. So I gave up! I let the urine get absorbed
by the layer of shavings underneath, which kept the top layer of
straw dry. Her hooves were great...they required very little picking.
Needless to say, with the urine buildup...I resolved to rebed the
stall on the weekend. I forgot some things...I put the straw up higher
on all the walls to try and prevent the foal from hurting itself
when it attempts to stand. I added more straw to the areas where
she urinates from other deeply bedded areas of the stall. And I
also removed her hay rack a couple of weeks prior, to prevent an
accident with the foal. (The hayrack was hung chest level where
a foal could possibly hit its head)
Rebedding the stall:
Saturday,(6 days later) I put the mare outside and rebedded the
stall. The dampened straw was a little difficult to remove..because
the straw does not seperate easily...there was so much...it wasn't
tromped down into little pieces. I found most of the urine had been
soaked up by the shavings, but 1-2 inches of straw in some areas
was totally saturated by urine and needed to be removed. I found
that straw does not compact readily in the wheelbarrel and requires
numerous trips to remove it from the stall. The cleanest straw,
seemingly untouched, near the walls I retained for the rebedding...
approx. one tenth of the total straw. I found I could put more straw
in the wheelbarrel if I put the light fluffy cleaner straw on the
bottom and the wet heavy stuff on top.
I am glad I rebedded the stall on Saturday, because on Sunday morning
she had her foal. She delivered the foal into the area of the stall
where she usually deficates and urinates...so maybe the next time
I will be a little more enthusiastic about cleaning the urine from
under the straw...I was lucky this time, that the area was very
clean!
Cleaning the stall after foaling:
The area in which the foal was born also seemed to be where the
water broke (no other visible wet areas). Within the first half
hour, I put a layer of straw over the wet area instead of trying
to clean...so they could be left alone as much as possible for
bonding. About 4 hours later when the foal was napping, I quietly
slipped into the stall and removed couple of rakes full of wet
saturated straw from the same area and put a thick 6-8 inch layer
of dry straw over the area. However, I didnot attempt to clean the
entire area...because it would have disrupted the mare and foal
unnecessarily. This was my strategy for the next day, to keep the
stall area as dry as possible by adding dry straw, and quietly
removing new manure as not to disrupt the mare and foal. The foal
and mare were turned out the 2nd day, and on the 3rd day again...
with my husband's supervision, (meanwhile) I stripped the stall
on the 3rd day and rebedded it quickly...I could not have done this
as fast if I had not been as experienced from the previous week
with the straw. I would recommend all first timers learn to deal
with the straw before the foal is born...I found it extremely helpful.
I pitched the dryer straw out of the stall into the cement isle
and removed the wet stuff as fast as possible to the manure pile.
I put the new shavings in the stall and spread about 3-4 inches
of straw on top and brought the mare and foal in immediately...so
as not to tire the foal. I added additional straw after the foal
and mare were in the stall. Why use straw again? Well the Vet said
if I could tolerate cleaning it..to use straw for the first week...
and since I had a couple of bales left over...I decided why not?
I finished removing the straw that had been put in the isle, to
the manure pile. I removed all of the bedding because of the smell
of the afterbirth on it in general, I did not wish to retain the
smell of foaling. Now, the stall is clean...and both mare and foal
are healthy and happy on their 4th day together...so I came to work
today.
I know this note is lengthy, but maybe it will in some way help
someone like myself, learn what the "real" world can be like.
Regards, Nancy
P.S. My mare did not WAX...if I had waited for signs ...it being my
first time the stall may not have had straw in it during foaling.
|