Keeping Things Clean and Fun
If you At Holy Spirit Farm, we like to hold ourselves to a higher standard than most. These standards, of course, include biosecurity.
Wait, what?
What's biosecurity?
Biosecurity are measures taken to ensure that all horses remain disease and virus free. These can involve everything from vaccination practices to simply cleaning. While all barns should be taking actions along these lines, we strive to do the best we can given our frequent movement of horses and interaction with people.
Check out some of our policies and practices below. If you like them, feel free to copy them!
Wait, what?
What's biosecurity?
Biosecurity are measures taken to ensure that all horses remain disease and virus free. These can involve everything from vaccination practices to simply cleaning. While all barns should be taking actions along these lines, we strive to do the best we can given our frequent movement of horses and interaction with people.
Check out some of our policies and practices below. If you like them, feel free to copy them!
Scrubba-Dub-Dub
Watering sources and feed buckets alike, are both breeding grounds for mold, algae, fungi, and bacteria. Horses drop feed, grass, hay, saliva, etc. All of it works against the health of of your horse.
At Holy Spirit Farm, we bleach all feed and water sources once every 14 days (every other weekend). All tubs are scrubbed and inspected for hidden biomaterial found in imperfections in the tubs/buckets, and then refilled. On a more normal basis, water buckets and feed buckets are rinsed and cleaned daily, getting a full soap scrubbing every 3-7 days. Water troughs are ALWAYS filled halfway so we are able to easily scrub them every 3-4 days. Practices such as these help prevent against not only algal infections, but also against bacterial infections like EPM, WNV, EEE, and even botulism. |
The Great Vaccination Debate
In the human world, you can't go online without hearing at least one thing about vaccinations, good or bad. In the animal world though, the topic is often not so hotly contested. Adversely, we often just do whatever our vets say, and can actually over vaccinate.
What is not commonly known about vaccines is that they require a critical mass of the population to have them before a virus mutates. What does this mean? Well, some of our vaccines "work," and some don't. In the case of human influenza, often times, the flu strain has already evolved by the time the flu shot is on the market. This does not mean that vaccines as a whole don't work. It just means that you have to be proactive and knowledgeable about what you're putting into you and your animal's bodies. At the farm, almost all of our animals are vaccinated. The ones that aren't have either been determined by our vets to be at risk, or are personal horses boarded there. Vaccines do their job most of the time, successfully building antibodies to help our horses' bodies fight off foreign invaders. The only reason we know this though is because we titer test. Titer tests check for certain antibodies present in the blood stream. If the vaccine worked, those corresponding antibodies are present. If it didn't boost their systems, antibodies aren't present, and you would need to revaccinate. When present though, depending on the strain or speed of mutation within that virus family, you may not actually have to revaccinate for years. We have open discussions with our vet to determine our vaccination protocols, based on our knowledge and her knowledge of current findings. These discussions help us decide who to vaccinate, when to vaccinate, and what to vaccinate against. |
Never Grow Mold
Here at HSF, you could call us a bit treat crazy. Nearly everything at our farm is edible for both horses and humans (because we like treats too and why take up space with two separate types of food?), and we go though a lot of them.
Commonly found at most barns, apples and carrots are a fan favorite here too. But, we are incredibly particular about organic treats we have available, as we wouldn't want sickness to spread thanks to our little friends, mycotoxins. Unless injected or sprayed with a preservative or frozen, most organic material becomes a host for mold the minute it begins to decay. Apples are notorious for harboring Patulin and Penicllium, strains that frequently contain myctoxins (bad mold). Both families can make your horses, pigs, and other livestock sick, or worse, cause death. We avoid mycotoxins by first, never feeding any apples that have sat on the ground for more than two days. All organic material is refrigerated (un-ideal conditions for growth), and is discarded as soon as spots of rot appear. Additionally, all grain is kept in air-tight containers. Mold can just as easily rear it's ugly head within grains (most often being in the Aspergillus family and being detrimental to horses, cows, and pigs), and removing oxygen is a great way to prevent growth. All of our hay is kept on wood and rotated to ensure there is no moisture buildup, and therefore mold growth. Our practices for storing straw are the same. |
Quarantining Procedures
When we rescue a new horse, we want all of our horses to be safe. In order to help keep everyone that way, all new rescue horses are quarantined from anywhere from two weeks to a few months.
When quarantining, it is important to keep all feed and water tubs isolated, in addition to keeping the new horse far enough away from the current residents, as viruses can occasionally spread up to 50 feet away! The length of quarantine is dependent on the horse's health and medical background. A completely healthy, up to date, fresh off the track, OTTB will be quarantined for less time than a horse with an unknown history. Quarantined horses are started on SMZ tablets if showing any signs/smell of infection, in addition to probiotics and other immuno-boosting supplements. Antibiotics are given for at least 14 days, and all supplements longer than that.
During this time, our horses receive visits from our professionals, and we evaluate the horse or other farm animal. Once the animal is deemed well enough to be introduced to the herd, we do so.
We quarantine ALL new arrivals, boarders and visitors included. Remember, never compromise your own horse's health just because everyone else is doing it.
When quarantining, it is important to keep all feed and water tubs isolated, in addition to keeping the new horse far enough away from the current residents, as viruses can occasionally spread up to 50 feet away! The length of quarantine is dependent on the horse's health and medical background. A completely healthy, up to date, fresh off the track, OTTB will be quarantined for less time than a horse with an unknown history. Quarantined horses are started on SMZ tablets if showing any signs/smell of infection, in addition to probiotics and other immuno-boosting supplements. Antibiotics are given for at least 14 days, and all supplements longer than that.
During this time, our horses receive visits from our professionals, and we evaluate the horse or other farm animal. Once the animal is deemed well enough to be introduced to the herd, we do so.
We quarantine ALL new arrivals, boarders and visitors included. Remember, never compromise your own horse's health just because everyone else is doing it.
Policies
Interested in some of our farm policies? Check them out below.
