Composting

Composting - What is it???

Composting is the biodegradation of organic material, such as food, yard waste (leaves and grass), and manure. It may take a very long time for some material to biodegrade depending on its environment, but it ultimately breaks down completely.

The Four Basics of Composting

Oxygen – maintains proper temperature of the pile. Frequent turning equals quick compost!
Temperature – ideal is 140o F; piles should be turned above or below 140o F.
Moisture – pile should always be slightly moist, cover pile to maintain moisture. Should be similar to a wrung out sponge!
Carbon : Nitrogen ratio – ideal range between 20:1 and 40:1

Benefits of Composting

- Kills parasites/weeds within the waste for fly control
- Improves soil quality when applied = more food for your horse!
- Limits nitrogen depletion of the soil

Keeping these steps in mind will put you on the path to having a great batch of compost!

Fun Fact: A 1000 pound horse produces 31 pounds of feces and 2.4 gallons of urine a day adding up to a total of 51 pounds of daily waste.

Not Composting????  -  How to Properly Store Your Manure

Even if you are not composting or waiting to compost, you need to know how to store your manure so it doesn’t hurt the environment…
Consider the location of your manure pile and type of container (if any) it will be stored in:

Location: Manure containers or piles should be as far away as possible from water sources so there is no contamination! Always make sure there is at least 200 feet between water sources and the manure pile.

Removal: How the manure will be removed will determine what kind of container you will need. Trash cans or covered truck beds allow for easy removal of manure, while dumpsters require special equipment.

Whether you have one or many horses, it is easy to be more “green” by storing or composting manure!

Check out these composting websites:

http://polk.ces.ncsu.edu/content/Horse+Manure+Composting

http://faculty.berea.edu/clarks/documents/biocycle_43(7).pdf

http://www.sweeta.illinois.edu/composting-horsebedding.cfm\

http://www.sweeta.illinois.edu/pdf/Horse_bedding_compost_brochure.pdf

Choosing the Best Bedding - Safe for the environment AND the horse

As owners and care-givers, we must provide horses with the most comfortable and safe living arrangements. Choosing the most efficient and cost effective bedding can make all the difference to the horse as well as the stall cleaners
There are many factors in choosing bedding:
ABSORBENCY!!
Price
Biodegradability
Availability
Ease of disposal
Allergies

There are also various types of bedding to choose from, making it easy to choose the best type of bedding for you and your horse. Kinds of bedding and their pros and cons include:

Straw – Cheap, good for compost, low absorbency
Sawdust – Expensive, high absorbency, good for compost
Shavings – Cheap, bad for compost, readily available
Newspaper – Moderate absorbency, readily available (recycle!), ink could bleed
Wood pellets – Expensive, high absorbency, great for compost

Helpful Bedding Websites :

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/an034

http://ohioline.osu.edu/cd-fact/0123.html

http://blog.lib.umn.edu/efans/horse-research/2012/06/bedding-stall-cleaning-effects.php

Did you know?? Not all hardwoods can be used to make wood shavings; walnut and oak woods contain toxins that are harmful to horses.

Do Not Feed Moldy Hay to Horses!

That sounds like pretty good advice, and in fact is the title of a University of Minnesota Extension publication written by a host of specialists from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Idaho, and North Carolina.  Most of the time, it is pretty easy to tell if hay is moldy but if it is not obvious, then perhaps a forage test is in order to confirm the hay is free of mold and the accompanying spores and dust.   More on that later.

It doesn’t take much moisture for mold to grow in hay.  Moisture levels above levels above 14 – 15 % with no preservative added can result in moldy hay.  The mold process causes heat, which in turn reduces TDN and binds up protein molecules, making them non-digestible.  However, that isn’t the main problem with moldy hay.  Molds produce toxins – a whole host of them, including Aflatoxin (AFL), Deoxynivalenol (DON or vomitoxin), T-2 Toxin (T₂), Zearalenone (F₂), and Fumonisin (FB₁).  They are all bad news , but some can be tolerated in very small amounts.  However, FB₁ should not be present in hay.  Tolerance levels for the other four are:

AFL -      50 parts per billion (ppb)

T₂ -          50 ppb

DON -   400 ppb

F₂ -        100 ppb

As you can see, these are pretty low levels of concentration.  AFL is considered carcinogenic, DON causes reduced feed intake and is implicated in colic cases, T₂ causes digestive tract irritation and has been implicated in colic, F₂ reduces fertility and reproductive performance, and FB₁ is implicated in impaired immune function, liver and kidney damage, and a condition known as moldy corn poisoning, hence the recommendation for zero FB₁.   More details and definitions on these toxins can be found in the publication Horse Feeding Management; Feed Sampling and Analysis.

While most of these toxins are more closely related to wet grains, they can occur in moldy forages.  However, the biggest problem with moldy hay is that it is usually very dusty and full of mold spores.  Horses are particularly sensitive to mold spores and often develop respiratory problems similar to asthma when fed moldy, dusty hay.  This condition is known as Recurrent Airway Obstruction (RAO).    Affected horses don’t have elevated temperature and have a good appetite, but when exercising, breathing quickly becomes labored, and can even be labored while at rest. 

A list of tips on reducing the affects of moldy, dusty hay on horses is found in the University of Minnesota publication and is repeated here:

·      Do not feed dusty and moldy hay and grains.

·      Use dust-free bedding

·      Don’t use old moldy hay as bedding. (I added this one to the list!)

·      Place feed at a lower level so particles are not inhaled through the nostrils

·      Keep horses out of the stable when sweeping and cleaning to reduce exposure to dust

·      Feed hay outside

·      Soak dusty hay from 5 to 30 minutes before feeding and let the horse eat it wet

·      Store hay away from the horse as much as possible and keep hay dry to reduce the chance of mold growth

·      Make sure stalls and stables are well ventilated.

Horse owners should insist on seeing a forage analysis before buying horse hay.  That is an expensive commodity, and we want to make sure that we are getting a product that is worth what is being paid.  If a forage test isn’t available, it is a good idea to send a sample for analysis on each load of hay purchased. 

When submitting a sample for analysis, remember that the test for mycotoxins is free of charge if the nutritive value is not tested.  However, for $10, the information on protein, digestibility, and micronutrients in the hay is well worth the money.  Add in the “freebies” like mycotoxin testing and nitrate testing, well, that makes a good value a great value.

For more information on testing forages for molds and mycotoxins, contact your local Cooperative Extension Agent.

Managing the Overweight Horse

Adapted from "Trimming the Fat: Weight Loss Strategies for the Overweight Horse, Fact Sheet, Maryland Cooperative Extension." 

Horses that carry excess body weight are at an increased risk for many health problems. These include laminitis, decreased athletic and reproductive performance, and a greater risk for heat stress. In this overview, you can learn about ways to combat overweight horses. However, you should always work closely with your veterinarian to determine the cause of obesity in your horses. It may be related to their exercise level and diet or it could be related to their metabolic and physiological condition.

It is very important to periodically evaluate your horse's body weight and body condition score (BCS). There are three different ways you can measure body weight. 1) livestock scale 2) heart girth weight tape or 3) calculate body weight by using the measurement of the horse's heart girth (HG), and body length (BL). Use this equation: W = ((HG) squared x (BL)) / 330. Body condition score is also very important. It is measured from 1 - 9 with 9 being extremely fat. This score measures the amount of fat that a particular horse stores a different locations including withers, shoulder, ribs, loin, neck, and tailhead. Horses that are nearing a BCS of 7 are at a higher risk of developing health problems.

Various methods for reducing your horse's weight:

* Set a target weight loss
* Increase exercise level
* Reduce feed intake
* Change the type of diet
* Reduce access to pasture
* Feed horses separately
* Use drugs, medications, and supplements as a last resort

Horses need to lose excess weight gradually and over several months. Horses can safely lose one BCS per month (about 50 pounds). Horse owners need to be careful with their horses losing weight too rapidly, as they may develop bad behaviors (wood-chewing, bedding ingestion, etc.). Try not to monitor your horse's weight loss too often (weekly is too often) because it could discourage you. It is very important that a horse maintain it's ideal body condition once it reaches that weight / BCS. Horse owners should be diligent to watch their horse's rations, needs that arise that may change or alter the quantity of feed the horse receives, and the animal's overall health. Don't forget to contact your veterinarian to discuss the best weight loss plan for your horse.

See the full article here.

Submitted by: Margaret A. Bell, Livestock Agent
Craven and Jones Counties