There is great concern about the potential pathogen contamination of horse manure compost spread in the same fields horses graze in. To ensure that pathogen destruction occurs, temperatures need to be sufficiently high during composting. Here, we investigated the survival rate of two marker organisms, Rhodococcus equi and Parascaris equorum eggs, exposed to temperatures potentially encountered during horse manure composting. Our results show that the time required to achieve a 1 log10 reduction in R. equi population (D-value) are 17.1 h (+/-1.47) at 45 degrees C, 8.6 h (+/-0.28) at 50 degrees C, 2.9 h (+/-0.04) at 55 degrees C and 0.7 h (+/-0.04) at 60 degrees C. For P. equorum eggs we show that at 45 and 50 degrees C, 2 log10 reduction of viability is reached between 8 and 24 h of incubation and that it takes less than 2 h at 55 and 60 degrees C to achieve a viability reduction of 2 log10. These results are useful for identifying composting conditions that will reduce the risk of environmental contamination by R. equi and P. equorum eggs.
The Équipâture programme examined the grazing regimes and parasite statuses of horses on 12 study farms. Its research yielded useful results. Rotational grazing of mares, foals, and school riding horses allowed animals to meet their nutritional needs without any supplements (50 ares/LU in the spring; 80 ares/LU in the summer). During the winter, haylage met the high demands of mares and foals. Late-cut hay could not, and there was a risk of P, Cu, and Zn deficiencies when horses were given a 100% hay diet. A sustainable approach to deworming was implemented on the farms. Based on faecal analysis, animals were assigned a parasite excretion status. As a result of this categorisation, only half of the animals were dewormed. This method helped limit deworming costs and the development of parasite resistance to dewormers.
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