Clean stalls eliminate potential peril from noxious gasA clean stall is necessary for both hygiene and health when confined in barns. Horses confined in stalls can be adversely affected by poor ventilation and also by ammonia gas that accumulates in the stall from urine, manure, and soiled bedding. The smell of ammonia is unpleasant (as anyone who has cleaned out old, soiled bedding knows all too well).

Ammonia gas is more than unpleasant; it can be dangerous. The fumes are caustic and irritating to eyes and lungs. If you can detect the presence of ammonia gas by its smell, it is already twice the concentration at which it becomes harmful to any creature that breathes it or is constantly exposed to it.

The ammonia is created by decomposition of urine and manure; the horse's waste products are being broken down by bacterial action, and the gas is produced when nitrogen from the decomposing urine and manure makes contact with the air. Straw bedding soiled with manure and urine tends to produce more ammonia gas than sawdust.

Foals are especially susceptible to the irritating effects of this gas, partly because their lungs are more delicate than those of adult horses, and partly because foals are small and short-and thus subjected to a higher concentration of the fumes, which are heavier than air and hang low in the stall. Ammonia concentrations are greatest near the stall floor and up to a height of about three feet, which is the level at which a foal is breathing. (Also, foals lie down more often and for longer periods than an adult horse.)



Twice a day

If you use straw bedding, clean the stall at least once or-preferably-twice a day to cut down on the ammonia buildup. The use of good sawdust for bedding can help reduce the amount of ammonia gas, but this type of bedding is more easily stirred around (by a horse's action) than straw and tends to release clouds of ammonia gas into the air when disturbed.

The use of lime on the floor after the stall is cleaned and before new bedding is put in can help retard the growth of bacteria and reduce odors. Sprinkling hydrated lime on the floor after thoroughly cleaning a stall can absorb any wetness and help kill harmful bacteria. In addition, some commercial products (with clinoptilolite as their active ingredient) will help reduce ammonia levels. The active ingredient is a byproduct of mining and traps the ammonia gas.

Use of these products has been shown to reduce the levels of ammonia in stalls for up to three days. If a person does not have time to clean a stall thoroughly, spreading lime or one of these products over the wet areas and covering them with fresh bedding can help keep the ammonia levels down until the stall can be properly cleaned.

Keeping the stalls open-using slatted boards rather than a solid wall, or a mesh screen, or dutch doors with the top open-and keeping horses outdoors as much as possible can greatly reduce the risk of respiratory problems from ammonia. If a horse must be in a barn continually, cleanliness is the best antidote for ammonia buildup.