Tip 1: Ammonia inhalation into a horses lungs can hurt the health of horses, with foals being especially vulnerable.

As written by Tracy Williams in Equus Caballus, Tracy discusses the hazard which ammonia places on your horses health, in which a very small inhalation of only 10 parts per million over a 5-7 week period can cause dysfunction.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, ammonia is a toxic, reactive and highly hazardous chemical. Their recommendations warn that concentrations of greater than 50 ppm can cause serious harm to human beings. Even in the cleanest barns, ammonia levels in equine stalls exist well above this concentration. Furthermore, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services warns that humans exposed to ammonia can suffer chronic inflammation of airways, airway hyperactivity, and chronic irritation of eye membranes

Read The Complete Article: Ammonia Beware

Tip 2: Pay Particular Attention To Foals

Foals spend much of their youth near the floor of the stall where ammonia resides, leading to a much higher ammonia health risk in foals. In addition to this, foals are weaker and the ammonia’s adverse health effect’s are even more pronounced in young foals. According to Frederick Harper PHD written for the University of Tennessee, up to 15% of all foals will suffer from a severe respiratory health disease before one year of age.

About 15 percent of all foals have severe respiratory disease before they are one year of age. Problems appear from one month to one year of age. But, most respiratory diseases occur when the foal is 2-6 months of age.

Not only are these diseases costly and time-consuming to treat, but they disrupt other farm activities, such as foaling, breeding mares, training and showing…High ammonia levels have been associated with respiratory problems in foals, as well as other animals.

Young goals also have an immature respiratory system, making them more susceptible to disease. It has been reported that 10 ppm of ammonia is the level above which one might expect problems in animals. But, ammonia levels as high as 400 parts per million (ppm) were measured in foal stalls in one study. So it is important to reduce the level of ammonia in foaling stalls, and all stalls in barns where foals reside.

Keeping a clean, ammonia-free stall is especially important when it comes to foals, who are at greater risk for respiratory disease than older horses.

Read The Complete Article: Ammonia and Foals Don’t Mix

Tip 3: Reduce Flies in Horse Stalls

Ammonia gas and fecal matter have the dangerous effect of attracting flies and parasites. Stall Genie will eliminate moisture in the bedding, insect and internal parasite eggs need moisture to survive, so the reduction in moisture will improve the horse’s environment in more ways than just odor control. Essential oils in the product replace the harmful ammonia gas with a pleasant smell and serve as an insect repellent.

How Can Stall Genie Help?

Simple, by absorbing and eliminating deadly ammonia fumes and moisture. The absorption of moisture will help eliminate populations of parasites and flies which thrive with moisture, while the Ammonia absorption will improve the health of your horses and foals reducing veterinarian bills and resulting in a happier healthier horse.