[QUOTE=BroncoMo;8986656]
Thank you for the info on the wood burning stove. I had always wondered about those when I hear people reference them.
I have occasional winters like what you describe; negative teens (for a high) for weeks on end. I had one born during a nasty spell like that and we could not get him warm enough. We eventually put up a corral panel stall in the garage, set up a radiant heater above, and would rotate blankets for him and his dam through the dryer to warm them up. I’ve had foals in the cab of a truck for short term emergency situations but that’s obviously not a good long term solution. Even scarier than that colt (my early babies are always born extra fluffy) in that bitter of cold was his dam. As she approached foaling, she would shed out completely. I’m talking show slick. She was also in a bad way during that cold snap. So even that’s where the concern comes from.
Since then I generally foal out in April, but would love to have the flexibility to foal out sooner to better appeal to futurity prospect buyers.
I would probably be better off going with just a hanging radiant heater for spot-heating purposes for the short term only when it’s needed… but I’m terrified of the fire hazard. After 20+ years, I’ve had some really odd and horrific freak accidents in the last couple years. I firmly believe that statistics will eventually catch up if you own enough horses for long enough (as morbid as that sounds). So essentially I’m not wanting to give fire even a remote chance.
Obviously cost will greatly dictate which direction I go; And I’m pretty sure I’ve decided on electric, then hydronic, then nothing, then radiant about 3 or 4 times throughout the course of this thread (see my signature line). So better to talk the kinks out now, rather than drop the money on it to find out it was a horrible idea :winkgrin: Thank you for the input![/QUOTE]
OK, some more info for you. The outdoor wood burning boiler will cost you between 6000 and 10,000 to buy (new), depending on size and make. Then there is the pipes and concrete work from the boiler to your barn. The pipes are buried deep from the boiler to the barn, and insulated. There is electric service necessary to the boiler, to tell it when to turn on and shut off, regulate the desired temperature. So a plumber and electrician and an excavator is necessary to install this, it isn’t something that most people can do themselves. The wood source is either harvested yourself, we use about six cord or so for our house, but I understand that the barn I mentioned simply orders logging trucks to come and dump in their yard, 2 or 3 logging trucks full per year to run the heat for the barn, I believe the cost for that is about $1500 to $2000 per truckload. I would guess that you will spend about $20,000 to $30,000 to install this system, plus wood costs to fuel (either cash or your own sweat and time and chain saw gasoline and wood truck costs).
I hear you and agree about the fear of fire with electric systems. Scares the crap outta me too. If in Alaska, I can see that this in floor system would be something that might be necessary. In this area, (I don’t know where you are, but in my area) it is built for human comfort, not for horse necessity. Yes, my mare shed out entirely too, before birthing this “early” foal, she also was cold. I blanketed her too, at the time. I don’t normally take the risk to blanket a nursing broodmare, but in this case, I had no option. She was COLD. It was fine, no issues or problems with that either. It CAN be done successfully. Once the foal is “unfolded”, mobile and healthy and drinking and eating well, the key to keeping warm and healthy is the ability to run around. That, and fresh air. Not being kept in a heated stable. They turn TB foals out in January in Kentucky, in the cold, in the snow. Dry cold and snow is something that horses handle well, even foals.
Producing early foals in cold climates comes with risk. That risk is accepted in advance, if an owner purposefully breeds for an early foal. You can’t avoid risk, you only choose which risk you wish to accept, based on what is important to you. There are other, equal risks involved with breeding horses in hot climates. The cold climate risk is easily avoided by not breeding horses for early foaling dates, if you wish to lessen that particular risk.
The outdoor wood burning boiler may also be used as a space heater, that is, NOT with in floor pipes. If you built ONE fully insulated stall, the space heater could be placed in this stall. No in floor pipes needed. The heat from the pipes in the radiator simply radiates into the air in the stall. You could use this one stall as a foaling stall for early foals, if you wished to offer this service to boarders as a way to attract these boarders into your care, or if you produce foals that are futurity bound as weanlings. It would cost you a bit less than doing the in floor heating system, and would avoid electrical elements in the barn and the associated fire risk. You would only run the system when you had a client that wanted it, or for your own early foaling mare for a few days. But it would still cost you a fair penny to put it in, and the amount of use you get out of it would be minimal. Personally, I do not like to sell horses I have bred to someone who values “early foaling dates” and has futurity dreams as a goal for the horse. I find that people like that tend to have shallow goals for their horses, short term goals. I don’t like that. I like buyers with long term goals for the horses they buy from me.
I still think that horse blankets work better than this, and are far more cost effective. Good luck with your decisions.
