# Suggestions for "goat barn" floor



## FarmerJen (Oct 18, 2012)

I'm in the planning stage of a nice walk-in mini barn for the goats & chickens (separated), as opposed to the two small "no humans allowed" goat shelters I threw up in a hurry after getting the goats. This will be 10x12' and 8' high in the center. Basically house shaped, well lit with 4 good sized windows. A 3'x10' area will be fenced off for chicken-only access and the rest will be for the goats. I plan to make it so I can put in temporary dividers inside to create kidding stalls (they'd only be about. If it works out as well as I see it in my head, it's gonna be great. Not huge, but big enough for my 2 (soon to be 3) ND does and 6-8 hens.

My main question at this point is... what would the best floor option be? I could leave it dirt. Or I could put down cement. I was also thinking gravel might be better, for drainage. That way when they pee in there it would soak through and I could just clean up by giving it a good spray down. Concrete would be fairly easy too... but seems like it might conduct cold in the winter. Whatcha'll think?? I can build this however I want it... so would rather do it right the first time.


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

I like dirt, honestly. Cement is a pain in the butt :laugh: Dirt with some straw or shavings on top is best IMO.


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## JaLyn (Oct 10, 2012)

You might think i'm crazy but what i did (well hubby did that counts as me right lol) was he put down a wood floor but put linoleum on top of that..i LOVE it..it's so easy to clean and sanitize. I've had chickens for a few years that used it til i got goats then i sold em, so goats for almost a year in that barn and i've (knock on wood) have never had a single health problem with worms or anything and i honestly think that has alot to do with my ability to keep it so clean in there..


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## goatgirl132 (Oct 18, 2012)

I have dirt... I hate it... to hard to get all the raisins (goat poop) out
I'd much rather like to have concrete or the mats they put in horse stalls... sooo much easier to clean.
The 4h barn has concrete and they love it
And for the winter thing put down hay or shavings and that will be fine. 
With concrete it will sweep or spray off.


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## goatgirl132 (Oct 18, 2012)

JaLyn said:


> You might think i'm crazy but what i did (well hubby did that counts as me right lol) was he put down a wood floor but put linoleum on top of that..i LOVE it..it's so easy to clean and sanitize. I've had chickens for a few years that used it til i got goats then i sold em, so goats for almost a year in that barn and i've (knock on wood) have never had a single health problem with worms or anything and i honestly think that has alot to do with my ability to keep it so clean in there..


:O I love that ideal!! Never would have thought of it!


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## JaLyn (Oct 10, 2012)

goatgirl132 said:


> :O I love that ideal!! Never would have thought of it!


I swear it's so easy to clean..i clean every saturday and it really takes me no time at all. THen twice a year i totally spray down the inside and sanitize it.


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## Jodi_berg (Oct 29, 2012)

I have cement and I put down linoleum,I looove it! I put a nice layer of hay and when it's time to clean I toss out the straw,scrape the poo spots(chickens) and then sweep up all the debris, once a month I finish it off with a moping of bleach and water. I love how I can get it so clean and sanitized! For the first week the linoleum is a little slippery to the animals but it get scuffed up a bit and the slip factor is gone!


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## sweetgoats (Oct 18, 2007)

JaLyn said:


> You might think i'm crazy but what i did (well hubby did that counts as me right lol) was he put down a wood floor but put linoleum on top of that..i LOVE it..it's so easy to clean and sanitize. I've had chickens for a few years that used it til i got goats then i sold em, so goats for almost a year in that barn and i've (knock on wood) have never had a single health problem with worms or anything and i honestly think that has alot to do with my ability to keep it so clean in there..


 Do does the pee not ruin it? Or soak into it and smell? I have just dirt floors, and most of the stalls all have rocks, and more dirt on them, so the pee will soak down into the rocks and not be on the top where they lay.

No I do not get all the goat poop out but I guess I have never been worried about that. As many goats as I have had, I would be :hair: pulling out my hair trying to get it all totally cleaned out.

I know them being on cement all the time is hard on them.


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## goatgirl132 (Oct 18, 2012)

Why not getting matts that they use in horse stalls or the ones in cow barns? 
It would be much cheaper and quicker than digging for a place for the cement and buying it and you can just putt it up, spray it then put it back down


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## augusffa (Dec 31, 2012)

goatgirl132 said:


> Why not getting matts that they use in horse stalls or the ones in cow barns?
> It would be much cheaper and quicker than digging for a place for the cement and buying it and you can just putt it up, spray it then put it back down


That's what I did lol and I love it! It's so easy to clean


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## goatgirl132 (Oct 18, 2012)

augusffa said:


> That's what I did lol and I love it! It's so easy to clean


Where did you get yours from? And what kind are they?
I wanna get some just don't wanna spend a bunch of money to get them And they fall appart. :'(
I just know a breeder that did that


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

I have horse matts ontop of cement. I love them , very easy to clean.
I had used the linoleum when I had them in the garage , but they were much smaller , lol. And I agree it was very easy to clean !
But what I did find while tearing down the garage stall when we finished the barn was that the pee soaked through the linoleum , it was saturated with it. And it had so much condensation under it that I was so freaked out they didnt get sick from mildew or fungus i wasnt aware of....I will never use it again .
But , I think there are different grades of linoleum , the more expensive ones are thicker and maybe the pee doesnt go through them , idk..
But that was my experience with using linoleum .

I personally really like the horse matts on top of cement . They can be taken out easily and cleaned and the cement can be washed out an disinfected.


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## Arkie (Sep 25, 2012)

Our recently built goat building is 8'x 14' with a divider wall making (2) 8x7 stalls. One is their shelter area and has crushed limestone for liquids to leach down through. We keep a couple inches of pine chips over that and rake it out occasionally.


The other stall is our milking station and has concrete with a trough built in to allow easy wash out.



Now, during cold weather we've "wrapped" it in clear visqueen plastic. (they've torn the plastic on the "goat side" pretty badly, but it's still serving the purpose. As soon as spring arrives the plastic will come off for ventilation thru the summer heat.

Bob


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

Nice work Arkie ! Looks amazing ....i have to check out the plastic you mentioned..


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## FarmerJen (Oct 18, 2012)

Thanks guys... lots of different ideas. I have linoleum in my current chicken coop (which used to be a playhouse) and it IS easy to clean. However, seeing the damage my pugs have done to my kitchen linoleum in just a few years... I do worry that the pee would soak in and not only smell, but mold, etc. Though it doesn't seem to be an issue in the coop... so maybe? 

I'll have to check out pricing on the horse mats. I've never had any sort of livestock, so still learning what's out there. 

For the most part they'll have free access in and out of the shelter. But I do like that I COULD lock them up at night if I need to (and plan to do so when the kids come). Fortunately, being in town I don't have predators other than the occasional loose dog, but the danger of that is just as great in the daytime so locking up at night wont help. 

I was thinking cement might help keep their hooves in shape... but I guess it'd be covered in straw anyway so maybe not. Anyway... this thing wont get built till spring so I've got time to figure things out. Keep the ideas and opinions coming!


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## JaLyn (Oct 10, 2012)

sweetgoats said:


> Do does the pee not ruin it? Or soak into it and smell? I have just dirt floors, and most of the stalls all have rocks, and more dirt on them, so the pee will soak down into the rocks and not be on the top where they lay.
> 
> No I do not get all the goat poop out but I guess I have never been worried about that. As many goats as I have had, I would be :hair: pulling out my hair trying to get it all totally cleaned out.
> 
> I know them being on cement all the time is hard on them.


 Actually thats why i love it so much is no it never smells in there at all. Even when at one time i used it for my chickens cause i could bleach it and keep it so clean. I have used this barn for 6 years now with the linoleum and love it. I got heavy duty linoleum so not sure if thats why but it has held up awesome.


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## FarmerJen (Oct 18, 2012)

It just came to me that I have a source of granite scraps. I'm not sure what size they are... but I wonder about putting that down like a tile mosaic sort of. I mean, not fancy... but ya know. Being free makes it a huge bonus. The entire barn is going to be 10x12" (or at least, I'm going to TRY to keep it that small, my projects tend to grow on me), so a piece of linoleum would be affordable... except that I'd have to put either wood or cement under it... so kinda double the cost. Liking the horse mat idea over concrete (or maybe even just over dirt??) as well... but I'm guessing those are pricey as well. 

Here in NW Washington State, it gets pretty soggy in winter. I have good drainage... but there's definitely some soupy areas in their pen. It seems to stay firm under their lean-to though... so I think even dirt would be ok... but easy to clean is a big factor too.


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## goatgirl132 (Oct 18, 2012)

They also have this plastic like tarp thing for horses for the ground.
I'm looking for it again l, I wanna look into trying it in the stalls if I find it ill post the sight


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

If you do decide to put linoleum or horse matts down , or anything else for that matter , make sure the original flooring is level . Very level


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## honeymeadows (Nov 20, 2012)

I have concrete in my barn - it was already there. I don't bother with mats and I like that no matter how long I wait to clean it out, (think goats reaching the ceiling), I always go back down to a level, hard, sanitizable surface. I use the barn for kidding, quarantine, etc.
My main herd is outside with a dirt floor and wood chips. It is much harder to clean and definitely gets dug out a bit each time. 
My feeding area we leveled and put down big slate pieces. That makes it much easier to clean since it helps to drain away urine. 
I was thinking about gravel, but how do you get rid of the droppings without raking away the gravel?
Stall mats are expensive, but you can find used ones often on craigslist


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## FarmerJen (Oct 18, 2012)

I have concrete in my garage (where I currently have my feed, hay & milking stand). It IS easy to clean and I like that I can take a hose to it without causing any damage. I was seriously considering leaving it dirt... but then thinking about it getting packed down and dug out during cleaning... I'm reconsidering. The chickens will also be in there and I want to keep it as "critterproof" as possible. If I leave it dirt, the chickens will wind up with it all dug up anyway. So definitely leaning toward concrete, since cost is a huge factor.


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

Concrete will probably be the most cost efficient for you IMO.
I would do concrete if I couldn't get horse matts again.


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## serenityfarmnm (Jan 6, 2013)

Little behind the time on this but I was wondering about "Blacktop" in my old neck o the woods its cheaper than concrete & not considered "Permanent" so no permit needed. My new neck is pretty much no permits ever lol


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## FarmerJen (Oct 18, 2012)

Well, I found out that I'd need about $300 for concrete and that it was about the same to mix it myself as to order a truck. $300 is around my TOTAL budget for this barn... so concrete is a no-go. For now the floor will just be dirt. I think I might use the 12x12" patio bricks as the floor eventually. They're around $1 ea and I'd need 144 of them... so about half the cost of concrete. But that will likely be a project for this fall - which will be nice as then I can use money from kid sales to fund it. 

As of today, we are all framed in and standing. Working on sheeting it now. Got comp roofing given to me, so all I need is a few more sheets of osb and some paint.


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## Amandagc19 (May 9, 2013)

Hmmm we have dirt floors which we cover with regular flake shavings, and I hate them only because my goats pee in one area (which is good), but it is pure muck... I'm reading this thread because I too am looking for an alternative. We have two 15x15 ft stalls that we keep our goats in, and the way we designed the barn we can't just wash the stalls out.


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## goatgirl132 (Oct 18, 2012)

Amandagc19 said:


> Hmmm we have dirt floors which we cover with regular flake shavings, and I hate them only because my goats pee in one area (which is good), but it is pure muck... I'm reading this thread because I too am looking for an alternative. We have two 15x15 ft stalls that we keep our goats in, and the way we designed the barn we can't just wash the stalls out.


Horse matts? Easier to muck out

show goat/lamb equipment
www.Facebook.com/wickedshowchains


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

Yes , horse matts ! I have them and they are a blessing IMO !


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## J.O.Y. Farm (Jan 10, 2012)

I have to agree! We have horse mats in our shed, we are putting them on our boys floor and I would like to put them in my kidding stalls


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