4,777 answers about horses & farm animals
Horses and farm animals run on routine — feeding schedules, hoof and health care, safe fencing and calm handling, in all weather. This page gathers the horse and farm animal library of KinsLe Answers in one place, organized by topic from daily care to travel and senior animals. Every answer is original, written by KinsLe, and tied to a real KinsLe feature.
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385 answers in Safety & Lost Pets — page 14 of 17
Get people out first and never re-enter a burning building, then work horse by horse: halter and lead rope from the set hanging by the door, a calm voice, a firm lead from the shoulder, and a straight walk to the paddock you chose in advance as your muster point. A settled companion led out first can draw a panicking…
Horses learn to work simple latches with their lips and teeth, so fit two fixings: a top bolt your horse cannot reach or manipulate and a low kick bolt near the floor, each throwing fully into a solid receiver fixed to the frame. Secure slide bolts with a snap clip through the eye so vibration and rubbing cannot walk…
The single most effective step is separation: keep hay and bedding in a building of their own, well away from the stables, so the farm's main fuel store cannot feed a stable fire. Only store hay that was baled dry and check stacks for heating, because damp hay can smoulder and ignite from within. Keep fuel, machinery…
Check every field trough twice a day in freezing weather — before morning feeding and again before dark — because overnight ice is what a thirsty animal will lean on or test with a foot. Break the sheet fully and lift the pieces out rather than pushing them under; a cleared trough refreezes more slowly and animals…
Design for a hurried driver following phone directions, giving your gate two seconds of attention. Put a weatherproof sign on both sides of the gate at eye height by the latch, in a few large words that say what to do and why — 'PLEASE CLOSE THIS GATE — HORSES LOOSE BEHIND IT' beats any paragraph. Back the words up…
A workable barn fire plan covers four things: prevention, early warning, getting every horse out, and who does what in the first minutes. Prevention means checked electrics, a strict no-smoking rule near bedding, hay stored away from stables where you can manage it, and no heaters in horse areas. Early warning means…
Photograph before you touch anything, because repairs erase evidence: start wide with the damaged stretch in context — field, gate and what lies beyond the fence — then move in for close-ups of the actual failure, the snapped rail, pulled staples, cut wire or bent hinge, with a glove or boot in frame for scale. Then…
Treat it as an emergency and call the emergency services first, before you set off: a horse on a road is a fatal-accident risk, and police can slow or stop traffic while you work. Go with a headcollar, lead rope and a feed bucket, taking a second person if you can — one warns traffic from a safe, visible spot while…
Resist the urge to chase or corner it: note the horse's colour, size, markings and any rug it wears, plus the exact location, then phone the police — a loose horse is a road hazard — and the nearest livery yard, who will often know the owner. If the horse is calm, you are confident around horses and it is safe, let it…
Get the survivors safe first: move every remaining bird into secure housing, even in daylight, because a predator that has fed once will often return the same day. Then count and handle each bird in turn — shock and puncture wounds hidden under feathers kill more birds after an attack than the attack itself, and a…
Start by proving the horse is really missing: check every stable, shelter and field corner, because a horse down in a ditch or asleep behind a windbreak is 'missing' most mornings it is reported. Then walk the perimeter for the escape route — pushed fence, open gate, scuffed ditch — and read tracks and droppings for…
Work with the alpaca's herd instinct instead of against it: an alpaca will not be driven ahead of you like a sheep, but it will move toward other alpacas and along a fence line it can see. Bring a calm companion within sight, use hurdles to build a funnel into a corner pen, and walk quietly at an angle rather than…
The pasture plants that matter most for horses are yew, ragwort, bracken fern, oak and acorns, sycamore seeds and seedlings, foxglove, hemlock and laburnum. Yew is the fastest killer — even a small mouthful of clippings can be fatal — while ragwort damages the liver gradually and becomes more dangerous dried in hay,…
Keep a standard set of identification photographs for each goat, taken the same way every time so any two animals can be told apart at a glance: a full-body shot from each side, a front view of the face, a close-up of each ear showing its tag, tattoo or notch, and detail shots of anything unique — a distinctive patch,…
Your animals are protected the day you are taken into hospital only by arrangements made while you are well: a named person who has agreed to step in, who can get in, and who knows the routine without you there to explain it. Give that person — and ideally a second backup — a key or gate code, a written routine…
Trailer training for evacuation is simply loading practice done early, often and without urgency, until the trailer is a boring place your animals walk into on a loose lead. Start with the trailer parked in a familiar spot, ramp down, and feed the animal on the ramp and then inside over several short sessions, ending…
Fast tracing of a strayed cow rests on two registrations that must agree: your holding registered with the relevant livestock authority, so the land itself has an official identity, and each animal individually identified with its official ear tag and recorded against that holding. Keep your own records current…
Stable yard fires start from a short, familiar list: hay and bedding stored against stables, faulty electrics, heaters and clippers left running, smoking near forage, and muck heaps heating up beside buildings. Cut the risk by storing hay, straw and shavings in a separate building or well away from the boxes, banning…
Ducks are more vulnerable than hens to birds of prey because they are slower to scatter, reluctant to leave water, and poor at spotting danger while dabbling head-down. Protect them by covering the water they live on: stretch netting or criss-crossed lines over the pond or the corner of it nearest the bank, give them…
Free-range hens survive birds of prey by never being the easiest target on open ground: give the flock cover it can dive into within a few strides anywhere on the range, and the hawk's arithmetic changes. Plant or place low shrubs, pallets on blocks, old trailers or purpose-built shelters across the ranging area, keep…
Prepare farm animals for a storm before the sky darkens: bring the vulnerable ones — the young, the old, and anything recovering from illness — under solid shelter, move the rest away from lone trees and the fence lines most likely to come down, and clear the yard of anything the wind can throw. Top up water and put…
A livestock evacuation plan works only if it is written, rehearsed and decided before smoke or water forces the question. Fix the essentials on paper now: which animals move first, the destination they go to and a second destination if the first is cut off, who loads and drives, and the loading order that puts the…
An effective lost horse notice does three jobs in seconds: it shows the horse clearly, says exactly where and when he was last seen, and tells finders precisely what to do. Lead with one sharp, recent photograph in daylight that shows his colour, markings and build, then add height, breed or type, age, and any freeze…
Animals can cope with a missed feed far better than with frozen or empty water, so plan for the day the trough ices over and the heated drinker dies with the power. Fill spare insulated containers before a freeze is forecast, float a ball or a sealed bottle in troughs to slow ice forming, and know roughly how much…
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