Hack needed! Keeping feed and supplements cool.

[Pixeldust]

I've recently (about a month ago) moved my horse to new accommodation which is all DIY after being on working livery. So far, so good! We have been given a relatively big self contained tack room space, I am sharing with 2 friends who also moved their horses.

The downside, the tack space is upstairs up a narrow stairway, and has a tin/iron roof, and no windows and minimal ventilation. It's summer here, with our days only getting to around 20C max, however even with that the room is becoming VERY hot during the day. We haven't even hit the warmest part of summer yet.

Our food is stored in bins. My friends are feeding pellets which are fine I am guessing if they get somewhat warm. We share a large plastic rubbish bin for storing our ensiled (damp) chaff, I also have a bin for my horse feed which is a damp sticky grain. As well as this, I have tubs of protein supplement, and a probiotic gut supplement. The chaff, grain, and supplements ideally need to be keep cool to prevent mould or spoilage.

I am struggling to think of a solution. If we had more space I would use an old freezer but we don't nor could we fit one up the stairwell even if we did.

Could I wrap the bins in some sort of insulation? Or possibly could I line the exposed tin roof on the inside with something to prevent as much heat? Any other solutions anyone could suggest would be really, really appreciated because I am really worried!

 

[PurBee]

For your tubs of supplements you could use a coolbox.
With no cross ventilation in an upstairs space, it will get very warm, and isnt ideal to store food there, especially ensiled chaff.
If you insulated the roof it would hold back some of the heat transfer from the tin, but that is only half the heat radiated there. If your summers are much hotter, the air temperature alone is too warm, without ventilation, the heat rises in any space. In your situation the heat is trapped there.
Can ventilation gaps be made at the top of the walls? Depends what theyre made of..wooden walls can be drilled.
I would move the food. Can you all chip in to buy a shed and place it in the shade of the northen side? Drill holes in the top of the panels for ventilation?

Or if shed is impossible how about a portable air conditioning unit? Expensive to buy and run but better than spoiled food.
Id try to move the food to ground level in the shade.

 

[HazuraJane]

We store in metal trash bins in the shade. At another barn we used plastic pet-food containers stored inside large, outdoor-storage boxes. Ground level in the shade, as PurBee suggested.

 

[PaintPonies]

An old freezer (they can usually be sourced for free or cheap at least) would probably be weather proof and could be stored outside although your fitness will suffer without having to lug all those bags of feed upstairs

 

[Sussexbythesea]

Keep your supplements at home? Or just have a few days / a weeks worth there at a time. What is your dried sticky grain? Do you need to feed it or can you swap to something less likely to be affected by heat?

 

[Pixeldust]

An old freezer (they can usually be sourced for free or cheap at least) would probably be weather proof and could be stored outside although your fitness will suffer without having to lug all those bags of feed upstairs

We don't have any other places for storage unfortunately, only the one room upstairs.

 

[Pixeldust]

For your tubs of supplements you could use a coolbox.
With no cross ventilation in an upstairs space, it will get very warm, and isnt ideal to store food there, especially ensiled chaff.
If you insulated the roof it would hold back some of the heat transfer from the tin, but that is only half the heat radiated there. If your summers are much hotter, the air temperature alone is too warm, without ventilation, the heat rises in any space. In your situation the heat is trapped there.
Can ventilation gaps be made at the top of the walls? Depends what theyre made of..wooden walls can be drilled.
I would move the food. Can you all chip in to buy a shed and place it in the shade of the northen side? Drill holes in the top of the panels for ventilation?

Or if shed is impossible how about a portable air conditioning unit? Expensive to buy and run but better than spoiled food.
Id try to move the food to ground level in the shade.

There is some ventilation but not enough to counter the tin roof. We can't make any changes to the physical tack room unfortunately, nor are there any other spaces unless we store totally offsite which is impractical as we have 3 horses being fed and rotate feeding duty.

Also we have no electricity (well, we could potentially run an extension cable from somewhere except it is on a mains switch that we have no control over). Some days we have lights, some days we don't.

 

[Pixeldust]

Keep your supplements at home? Or just have a few days / a weeks worth there at a time. What is your dried sticky grain? Do you need to feed it or can you swap to something less likely to be affected by heat?

I think I can put the supplements in a chilly bin to keep them cooler, those shouldn't be an issue I don't think as they are smaller!

I am feeding this at the moment but I am definitely considering changing to a pellet and dry chaff if I have to, at least over summer.

 

[Shay]

Bear in mind stuff stored in coolboxes / old freezers etc will cook unless you bring chill blocks regularly. The fact it is an insualted box will insulated heat in just as easily as heat out. (Hopefully preaching to the choir - but just in case!)

 

[PurBee]

Agreed shay, ive experimented with many non-electric powered cooling methods - 5ltr bottles of cold water in an old freezer help keep things cool. Depending on climate, and rodent population!, as this is food- its a good idea at night to open a coolbox/freezer, so the warm air in it can rise, and the cool night air will fall in, you shut your lids, trapping in the cooler air in the early morning before the sun heats the day air.

An old bath filled halfway with cold water is a large body of water that takes a while to heat in v hot temperatures like in OP’s attic, so could be used to submerge tubs of feeds, even thick plastic haylage, but its a hassle to try to keep things still and not bopping around to keep the water from getting into the feed.

Keep a thermometer in the attic space op so you can monitor temps. I wouldnt store any food item/ even dry hay in temps averaging over 20 degrees. Really any food stuff wants to be kept as cool as possible so they dont spoil - at least 7 degrees and below.

If a hot attic space at an equestrian facility is the only place at all youve been told youre allowed to store food, id be having a politely serious and concerned conversation with the owner im renting from. Expecting you to store food in a hot room is unreasonable and from a food health perspective, unsafe.
Haylage / damp wrapped forage would be encouraged to continue fermenting, going past ideal fermentation to very high lactic acid content and vinegary smelling/tasting forage. Any other wet/damp feed bag mixes you have in that heat will also start fermenting.
Dry foods all contain a certain amount of spores and microbes which will germinate at warmer temps, making food go bad very quickly. Mite eggs which are also in animal feeds will hatch in warmer temps, nibble through the food, spoiling and soiling it, excreting their ammonia.

If you make the yard owner aware of these concerns, let them think about it, they should see how its not ideal and be thinking of alternatives for you.
Ground floor storage, shaded north side, in a hot climate is needed as mentioned already.

If nothing is forthcoming from yard owner, id reconsider renting there, or bring food each day and store off site, if the yard is wow ideal except for the food storage arrangement.
If youre paying for equestrian facilities, having suitable food storage is the least they should be providing. Having been told no, that hot attic is the only space you can use doesnt bode well for any other issues that might arise as your needs are not really considered already or catered for, which is what youre paying for.

If you are not paying money then this is another scenario...many would say be grateful for what youve got...but who wants spoilt food, even if rent is free?
If money is changing hands you have a stronger case, and need to exert your rights to access to decent facilities for the horse food.