Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Benefits Of Having Loafing Sheds

By Christine Miller


On the farm, you are very likely to find a lot of structures. One that is on every farm is a shed. These can either be temporary or permanent depending on what they are used for. Most permanent sheds are used to store the farm equipment and supply. There are sheds made specifically for farm animals such as horses. These are usually known as loafing sheds.

Everyone likes clean animals. You would not want to ride a horse covered in their waste. To do this, you not only have to wash the horse but the shed they sleep in too. Animal hygiene is very important and not as difficult as one may presume. The sheds need cleaning periodically, which may actually be done by a tractor to ease the workload.

It is best if the sheds are open to the horses all the time. This means that they can always choose when to go out and when to come back. As human beings, we tend to control a lot of what our farm animals do which is not highly advisable. A little freedom does them good. So, the horse should be able to come and go as they like but of course not in the night.

As they say, the best things in life are free. This includes oxygen. We all love to get a waft of that fresh air. The horses too enjoy the fresh air. This is why you should ensure that the shed is constructed to allow circulation of as much free air as possible. This keeps the horses healthy and comfortable and does not overexert their respiratory system.

Fire is one of the most destructive disasters known to man. With the right elements in play, a fire could burn on for days. In the process, it does destroy properties worth thousands and often are times lives are lost. Luckily a well-ventilated shed is very hard to catch fire. In case it does, the horses would be saved as the can easily walk out.

Sheds are not very expensive to construct. This is for one because they are made out of wood which should be easily accessible to a farmer. The workforce required to put the shed together is very minimal and may need up to a day to put up, depending on the size. This means that the amount of money will be a lot less than say, purchasing a combined harvester.

In the summer, we usually keep the windows open, the fans running and the air-conditioning unit at just the right degree. The sun may strike while the horses are on the field and too much heat to the skin may be unhealthy. To protect them from too much heat you may consider buying a shed kit that is easy to assemble for the horse on a hot day.

A healthy horse is a happy horse. Having a shed is a way of protecting them from parasites. This is because they will be away from the heat which usually causes flies like deer flies and horse flies to bite on their skin. The bites can be irritable and once they bleed a lot more flies flock in.




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