Installation and Maintenance for Stalls
Improve your operation with well-built and maintained agriculture stalls
Farm stalls are a must for some agricultural ventures. Whether you're setting up an advanced array of horse stalls or protecting your milking stalls from rust damage, start off on the right foot with an appropriate installation and maintenance plan.A well-made barn stall is no small investment for any size agricultural business. Develop your stall setup, cleaning and regular maintenance schedule using cow and horse stall information from the experts:
1. Visit barn stall suppliers’ websites for help installing and maintaining prebuilt stalls and portable stalls.
2. Contact horse stall manufacturers for information about getting the most out of accessories like stall mats, latches and door hinges.
3. Perform installation and maintenance for stalls and accessories using information from people like you.
Design and install a housing system using custom or prebuilt stalls for horses
Today's agricultural producers can build or order custom-designed barn stalls to meet specific needs. Horse owners, for example, may need to consider stall flooring or rubber mats to prevent health and maintenance issues due to the animals pawing in dirt or bedding.
Try: Take advantage of stall configuration tips from the agricultural experts at Tractor Supply Company and Horsekeeping.com, and keep your horse stall project appropriate for your livestock and your budget.
Outfit or alter existing dairy farm stalls to better meet your production goals
Dairy producers know how labor-intensive it can be to remodel, install and maintain barn stalls while also keeping the milk flowing and keeping cows happy and stress-free. In the end, however, exposing your cows to minimal stress while improving their environment and lessening your maintenance workload can be well worth the effort. Consider a freestall milking barn setup -- complete with advanced drainage and cleaning features built into new concrete subfloors -- to greatly reduce stress on milking cows and contribute to increased production and efficiency. Your most important decision regarding initial investment and maintenance will be bedding materials, and choosing the bedding that will help your cows relax without adding a hefty sanitation workload.
Try: Read more about remodeling a tie-stall milking barn to accommodate a lower-maintenance, lower-stress freestall barn system, at eXtension. Design and maintain your free-stall system with help from the animal health experts at the Oregon State University Extension Service.
Maintain the beauty and functionality of each barn stall on your property
Whether you've installed prebuilt horse stalls or designed and built your own livestock housing, regular stall maintenance is essential to the health of your animals -- and your pocketbook. A good maintenance schedule should include daily mucking, or clearing out soiled bedding, and may also include washing stalls with artificial flooring. Depending on the type of flooring and stall materials, you may also need to scrub with soap as needed to maintain proper stall function and animal health standards.
Try: Use the Horse-Journal.com review of rubber stall flooring to decide if stall mats would help you save money on bedding and stall wear-and-tear. Read more about stall accessories and maintenance at Stock Horse Show Source.com.
Copyright © 2011 Business.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
