Horse News & Views - June 2005

Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs

Ontario Association of Equine Practitioners

• The American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) has released its consensus statement on the guidelines for the diagnosis, treatment, control and prevention of strangles.
  

• Harvest season last year was very wet in many parts of the province. As a result, horse owners were frustrated by the dustiness of the hay last winter. Dust in hay can be from a number of sources, including: leaf shatter dust (hay too dry), soil splash (rain splashing dirt onto the hay in the windrow), mold growth and spore formation (prior to baling and after baling during storage in the mow). Horse owners can reduce the chance of having dusty hay by;
  • turning or raking the windrows to promote drying;
  • ensuring that the hay is baled below 14% moisture;
  • using proprionic acid hay preservatives during the baling process if moisture levels less than 14% can not be achieved.
  • placing bales on a mow drier when field drying can not be achieved.

• Burial is the most common method of dead animal disposal. The Ontario Dead Animal Disposal Act requires that a carcass be covered with at least two feet of earth. Preferably, the carcass should be buried deeper. In some areas burial would be impractical. These include rocky areas where it is virtually impossible to dig, and in saturated soils, where the carcass may float up. Depending on the time of year and the depth to which the frost penetrates, burial may not be an option during the winter.

Related Links

• American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine

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