Disinfecting your barn


An important part of good stable management is doing an annual disinfection of your barn. Good disease management should be practiced all year round, but this annual event is extremely important.

We all give our horses shots like Tetanus and other routine vaccinations, but day-to-day prevention of bacteria is extremely important. If the barn is infested with contaminants like manure, nasal secretions and other contaminant spreaders, the best round of shots will not help. An example of this is with the common flu. The developers of vaccines can only use their best guesses combined with past data to develop the vaccines for influenza every year, so much like humane flu shots, there are no guarantees that your horse will be protected. Good stable management can go a long way to preventing the spread of these diseases.

Bacteria, like the Streptococcus equi can be active in a barn for a very long time. Horses themselves can harbor them, in their feces, which has been ground into the wood or cement of the barn. Soil in the pasture, rodents or birds that live in the barn can also be carriers for bacteria.

Fly management is also an important preventative measure. This is especially if you are dealing with an outbreak of some sort in your barn. Fly’s can be a carrier for cross-contamination.

What to clean:

There are several steps to doing this effectively. The most important thing is to be organized.

All the walls and floors should be washed, which means pulling out rubber mats if you have them, washing them and cleaning the floors before putting them back in. All equipment, such as wheelbarrows, pitchforks, brooms, feed tubs, or anything in the barn that horses inhabit and by which contamination can be spread, needs to be disinfected.

Also be sure to clean all tack and equipment, like brushes and saddle pads. Anything that comes in contact with horses in your barn should be disinfected. Otherwise the point of the exercise is lost.

It is best if you clean using a power washer into which you can put the cleaning agent. This is not only faster and more effective but also the pressure of the water will effectively remove any contaminants, as opposed to using something like a sponge and bucket where you quite possibly would be simply spreading around the contaminants.

Be sure to make sure that you rinse off anything that you clean really well. Make sure that the entire cleaning agent in rinsed clean.

What to use:

There are several types of cleaning agents on the market.

Chlorhexidine, Alcohols, Hypochlorites, Iodophors, Aldehydes, Quaternary ammonium compounds, Phenols, Alkalis, Peroxygens and Chlorine dioxide’s.

Typically the safest route you can take is to stick with something Phenol based, like Pine Sol. These are generally accepted as safe, broad-spectrum disinfectants. They deal with common problems around the barn like the Rotavirus and Salmonella. Phenols are not affected by organic matter so it is a good choice around barns, but they are inhibited by hard water. Be sure to test your water first if you are unsure.

Alkalis like Lye or Lime are also good, generally accepted disinfectants, though they are much more noxious than Phenols. Their toxicity goes down once diluted with water, a much better approach when dealing with animals. It is important to practice good safety habits and wear goggles and protective clothing.

Aldehydes like formaldehyde are extremely toxic and are not recommended around horses and other animals.

Chlorohexidine, commonly known as bleach and alcohols (ethyl alcohol) are not very effective when dealing with a lot of organic matter, such as manure or wood. This makes it not the best choice for use around barns. Alcohols also are not effective against bacterial spores.

If you have a serious problem or you are dealing with an infestation of a specific virus you should contact you veterinarian and find out what the best disinfectant would be. Knowing what you are dealing with is half the battle.

Remember that good people management is another integral part of proper management. It is important to make sure all staff, customers and visitors are aware of good preventative management. An example of this is, if a horse in unwell in the barn segregate all handling. Clean your hands before handling another horse. Use separate cleaning utensils for that stall, and never share other equipment with that horse. It is also wise to keep a pair of coveralls, boots and gloves by the stall to put on when handling a sick horse. It is also a very good idea to dedicate specific clothing for the barn only. Going from home to the barn to a show can just spread disease, you can track it in and out of your barn. People who handle the horses can also be a source for spreading disease, either by carrying contaminants like salmonella or Staphylococcus or by having the contaminant on their clothing or footwear. Try and minimize cross contaminations as much as possible.

Tips for good bacteria management,

• When a new horse comes in, separate that horse as much as possible. If a separate barn is not possible put the horse at the end of the barn near a door.
• If possible, any horses that travel to shows or clinics should be in their own barn. The horses that are farm bound should be in a separate barn also.
• Keep a bottle of anti bacterial hand cleanser in the barn for convenience. That way you can clean off your hands when you are handling several horses in a day.

Reference: http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/livestock/horses/facts/info_preventing_disease_spread.htm
Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural affairs.

Megan Dykeman- 2006 (c)

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