# What do you use?



## K's boys (May 7, 2020)

So, here's a weird question...
What type of fork do you all use?
I mean the goat berries are small and I've been researching a ton of them, and yes I know it's a personal preference, however, been thinking about even getting a dog pooper scooper. Lol
I will be bedding with straw and I wont have a ton of picking up as I'm only getting 2-3 goats. But do want it to last even in the cold Minnesota winter. 
Give me your thoughts, please, thank you in advance.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Goat poop is such a pain the butt!
So I just use a pitch fork where the bedding is. It’s won’t pick up EVERY piece but the straw does catch a lot of it. I have a leaf rake to go threw and get the extra or the ones on the outside. I’m blessed and cursed that we get very dry during the summer and the ground is so hard and I have a push broom I can use also. Actually the push broom seems to be the least labor intensive one but it doesn’t do well when everything is wet and gross


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## K's boys (May 7, 2020)

Jessica84 is there a certain type of pitchfork? Small tine? Metal? Hard plastic?


Jessica84 said:


> Goat poop is such a pain the butt!
> So I just use a pitch fork where the bedding is. It's won't pick up EVERY piece but the straw does catch a lot of it. I have a leaf rake to go threw and get the extra or the ones on the outside. I'm blessed and cursed that we get very dry during the summer and the ground is so hard and I have a push broom I can use also. Actually the push broom seems to be the least labor intensive one but it doesn't do well when everything is wet and gross


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

This is the one I have








I've always stayed away from the plastic ones, I just don't see them lasting long. They have wider pitch forks that are metal but even this one that scoops unless it can be a bit heavy especially in the winter when the goats spend a lot of time inside and the straw gets more damp from pee. 
Stay away from fiberglass handles. It's more light weight, I'll give it that but once the paint wears off or it starts to splinter, fiberglass in the hand is not fun


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

We do twonthings...daily scoop with a shovel and wheel barrel where poop is evident, then once a week or so we use a leaf rake. We rake with a light touch in a sweeping type motion. We have sandy ground so we try to get as little dirt as we can. We use the shovel to clean up the piles.


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## NDinKY (Aug 3, 2019)

I still haven’t found a tool I like. It depends on what I’m mucking out as to what I use. For deep bedding I use a metal pitchfork like Jessica posted. Right now I’ve got mine bedded on the expanded wood pellets (like sawdust). I use a plastic future fork for wet spots and try to pick as much poop as possible. I wish they made a fork like that with the tines much closer together as that would be perfect for goat poop.


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## goatblessings (Jan 6, 2015)

I use a plastic fork when on shavings (summer) and also a broom and shovel.....


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## Nigerian dwarf goat (Sep 25, 2017)

I use a regulat garden rake to get it all in a pile, and then take a big shovel and scoop into a wheelbarrow. But I have horse mats now so I sweep that and 2x weekly I bleach them


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## K's boys (May 7, 2020)

I agree, maybe we could invent one, go on shark tank, make lots of money, for more goats!


NDinKY said:


> I still haven't found a tool I like. It depends on what I'm mucking out as to what I use. For deep bedding I use a metal pitchfork like Jessica posted. Right now I've got mine bedded on the expanded wood pellets (like sawdust). I use a plastic future fork for wet spots and try to pick as much poop as possible. I wish they made a fork like that with the tines much closer together as that would be perfect for goat poop.


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## Sallie Mayer (May 15, 2019)

My goats are on cement inside. I use baby pools with pine shavings to soak up the urine, and straw on top which the poop pellets fall through. They pee and poop in them, and then of course they sleep in them. I add new straw on top every day, then once a week I dump the whole thing. I still have to sweep up the pellets they leave randomly behind everywhere, but it is much less. I just use a broom and shovel for that daily.


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## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

I didn't read the whole thread so, sorry if I'm being redundant.

I don't actually use a fork for goat berries, it just hasn't worked for me. I have bare dirt floors in my barn so I take a broom and sweep them onto a flat shovel and put them in a bucket. I also have a section of pine shavings with straw on top where they sleep when it's cold and I do the same thing Sallie Mayer does, and put fresh bedding on daily and take it all out and replace it weekly. I do use a fork to take out bedding though, if there is an especially wet spot in my daily cleaning routine. I actually use my fallen, wasted hay as the daily fresh bedding on top.


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## 21goaties (Mar 13, 2018)

Mini rake like this










We rake into one of these


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