# What do you do with the dirty Hay?



## Lawrence Farm (Mar 4, 2021)

I have been sweeping it out on the ground, is this ok? I had just hoped it would decompose into the ground. What do you do with your hay that is dirty from their poop and pee?


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## MadHouse (Oct 3, 2019)

I put it on the manure pile along with the dirty bedding.


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## fivemoremiles (Jan 19, 2010)

I load the hay in the bucket of my tractor and hall it out of the pen. i then dump it in a low spot to compost.
compost makes great mud so i wouldn't leave it near the door.


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## GoofyGoat (Sep 21, 2018)

Compost pile for me too. It makes great garden soil when you mix it with chicken bedding...not too hot and rich in minerals and vitamins for the plants.


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## Lawrence Farm (Mar 4, 2021)

Awesome, we are going to build our compost bin with pallets this weekend. We are building a new spot for the goats with better grass so I can haul it all out then =) Thank you so much!


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## GoofyGoat (Sep 21, 2018)

Southern Style Farm said:


> Awesome, we are going to build our compost bin with pallets this weekend. We are building a new spot for the goats with better grass so I can haul it all out then =) Thank you so much!


Keep it quite away from the house on the side where the wind blows least because of flies and smell


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## Lawrence Farm (Mar 4, 2021)

GoofyGoat said:


> Keep it quite away from the house on the side where the wind blows least because of flies and smell


OOOHHH I did not think of that, I will put it all the way out back then =) Thank you!


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## GoofyGoat (Sep 21, 2018)

Southern Style Farm said:


> OOOHHH I did not think of that, I will put it all the way out back then =) Thank you!


No worries


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Yep, I build a pile.


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## alwaystj9 (Apr 10, 2019)

If you have chickens, they will find it. That can be good (they mix it up) or bad (depending on your compost bin/pile) -- they toss it everywhere.


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## Sfgwife (Feb 18, 2018)

Mine goes behind the barn all winter and come spring i have a lovely pile of compost. The turkeys rummage round in it for me. 

If you keep the right ratio of things in it... it should not smell or attract flies.


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## Gooseberry Creek (Jun 3, 2020)

I throw it on my roses and my flower beds. They love it! Also, some goes into the compost pile.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

I also dump it in low spots in the yard.


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## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

If you have chickens you can give your dropped hay and soiled bedding to them. They turn it up and add more nutrients too it and make it into lovely soil without any work.


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## Jubillee (Dec 22, 2017)

Ours goes straight onto our garden or around trees as mulch. If that's already done pretyt heavy, then in a compost pile!


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## Calistar (Jan 16, 2017)

I've been hauling it out to the orchard to mulch around the trees. Once all the trees are mulched, I'll start filling in between the rows or start a compost pile elsewhere.


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## Kenny Battistelli (Nov 29, 2020)

I put it around their house for extra insulating, which now seems like not a good idea.


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## Nyjah (Mar 5, 2017)

I actually deep bed mine-I let them bedding sit and just add more on top. It’s all very high quality coastal so not cost efficient lol. It naturally composts and creates warmth in winter. Most would empty once a year but for me, as it breaks down It also adds a soil layer in the stalls which is good for me, as the barn was built in a terrible place so when we have torrential rain, the water flows around the stalls not in it. The chickens scratch around in it and break up poop! If there were a lot of them or large animals like horses, I think it would create ammonia And not work, but the ratio seems just right. They also have runs attached to the stalls so are not in them all the time.


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## Nyjah (Mar 5, 2017)

Nyjah said:


> I actually deep bed mine-I let them bedding sit and just add more on top. It's all very high quality coastal so not cost efficient lol. It naturally composts and creates warmth in winter. Most would empty once a year but for me, as it breaks down It also adds a soil layer in the stalls which is good for me, as the barn was built in a terrible place so when we have torrential rain, the water flows around the stalls not in it. The chickens scratch around in it and break up poop! If there were a lot of them or large animals like horses, I think it would create ammonia And not work, but the ratio seems just right. They also have runs attached to the stalls so are not in them all the time.


obviously for worms and diseases like CL the above is not ideal. I'm starting to cycle the animals through parts of the barns to leave other parts dormant for 60-90 days to allow most the hatched larva to die then allow reuse.


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## Lawrence Farm (Mar 4, 2021)

MellonFriend said:


> If you have chickens you can give your dropped hay and soiled bedding to them. They turn it up and add more nutrients too it and make it into lovely soil without any work.


Hello,
I do have chickens that have a pretty big area, do I just spread it on the ground they forage in?


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## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

I just take a wheel barrow full and dump it in their run and they spread it out themselves.  They really seem to enjoy it.


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## alwaystj9 (Apr 10, 2019)

If your chickens do not free range, putting it in their run gives them something to play in. While mine free range, daily they scratch up the spilt & spoilt hay all around the feeders.


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## Goat friend (Feb 28, 2021)

I’m the simpleton here. I rake it up and put it in the burn pile. It’s great kindling!


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## NigerianNewbie (Jun 6, 2018)

The waste hay, shavings, damp loose minerals, water left in the bucket, bedding straw and shredded leaf litter goes into the goat manure pile. This compost heap gets turned every couple of days and turns into a wonderful manure compost for gardening, fertilizing and top dressing flower beds.


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## Rlarsen (Jun 13, 2020)

Southern Style Farm said:


> I have been sweeping it out on the ground, is this ok? I had just hoped it would decompose into the ground. What do you do with your hay that is dirty from their poop and pee?


I put it around my fruit trees.


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## Rlarsen (Jun 13, 2020)

Calistar said:


> I've been hauling it out to the orchard to mulch around the trees. Once all the trees are mulched, I'll start filling in between the rows or start a compost pile elsewhere.


Same here. I like it to make pathways in the far back too, keeps the weeds down


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## Nommie Bringeruvda Noms (Nov 7, 2019)

I deep-bed the common area, and keep the stalls bare (for kidding), and blocked off, from December through March, for warmth. As long as you're adding enough to keep it dry, it's not friendly to parasites, at least here, when it's very cold. Then, in April, I use the tractor to get it all out of the common area, then clean up the rest with the least blower. It all goes into the compost, through the summer, then will be added to the garden, as a compost/mulch, to extend the growing season, replenish the nutrients the garden sucked up, and help build our paltry one inch of soil, on top of the rock that is our land.


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## Michaela Van Mecl (Sep 3, 2018)

Sfgwife said:


> Mine goes behind the barn all winter and come spring i have a lovely pile of compost. The turkeys rummage round in it for me.
> 
> If you keep the right ratio of things in it... it should not smell or attract flies.


What type of ratio do you generally do? Imagine I'm starting with a pile of trash barn hay and feces... what do you recommend adding?


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## Sfgwife (Feb 18, 2018)

Michaela Van Mecl said:


> What type of ratio do you generally do? Imagine I'm starting with a pile of trash barn hay and feces... what do you recommend adding?


It is usually four parts brown to one green. So hay would be brown and poop green. Then the rain here keeps it damp enough. I usually do not add anything more to my barn one other than spent barn muck and it never smells or has flies. My barn works much slower than the one by the house. But the house one gets chicken and rabbit poop added in more often. Plus hubby adds in his grass clippings when he does his pastures (he is having to mow them some because he is working on them and mowing is to keep weeds down so grass grows).

Just from the start of winter to now... i have a good four to six inches of lovely compost on the bottom. I have cleaned the barn once a month this winter. This one doesnt get turned either making it work slower as well. The turning of it makes it get air in there to work faster.


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## Michaela Van Mecl (Sep 3, 2018)

Sfgwife said:


> It is usually four parts brown to one green. So hay would be brown and poop green. Then the rain here keeps it damp enough. I usually do not add anything more to my barn one other than spent barn muck and it never smells or has flies. My barn works much slower than the one by the house. But the house one gets chicken and rabbit poop added in more often. Plus hubby adds in his grass clippings when he does his pastures (he is having to mow them some because he is working on them and mowing is to keep weeds down so grass grows).


Nice! Do you ever get those really hard firm sheets of hay/poo that are impossible to break up? If so, how do you manage breaking those down?


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## Sfgwife (Feb 18, 2018)

Michaela Van Mecl said:


> Nice! Do you ever get those really hard firm sheets of hay/poo that are impossible to break up? If so, how do you manage breaking those down?


Mine are sometimes the size of my pitch fork. I just dump them in the pile lile they are.


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## Nommie Bringeruvda Noms (Nov 7, 2019)

Sfgwife said:


> Mine are sometimes the size of my pitch fork. I just dump them in the pile lile they are.


Me, too. If they don't want to break down, I use a twist tiller to break them up.


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## Nigerians (Feb 4, 2021)

How does anyone keep the straw from hatching? I've used a bunch in the garden previously, and ended up with a big crop of wheat! That's all you can get in our area.


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## Ranger1 (Sep 1, 2014)

Nigerians said:


> How does anyone keep the straw from hatching? I've used a bunch in the garden previously, and ended up with a big crop of wheat! That's all you can get in our area.


You'll get a little bit, but just pull it like weeds. If you're getting a lot, then whoever you're getting your straw from needs to fix their combine. He's losing his crop if the kernels are staying on the straw.


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## Nigerians (Feb 4, 2021)

Ranger1 said:


> You'll get a little bit, but just pull it like weeds. If you're getting a lot, then whoever you're getting your straw from needs to fix their combine. He's losing his crop if the kernels are staying on the straw.


I guess I can try it again in my watermelon patch this year. You kind of have to get it when you can find it going into winter.


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## Sfgwife (Feb 18, 2018)

Nigerians said:


> I guess I can try it again in my watermelon patch this year. You kind of have to get it when you can find it going into winter.


Your pile is not getting hot enough to kill the seeds.


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## Sfgwife (Feb 18, 2018)

This is from tonight.

















Michaela Van Mecl said:


> What type of ratio do you generally do? Imagine I'm starting with a pile of trash barn hay and feces... what do you recommend adding?


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## GoofyGoat (Sep 21, 2018)

Try to pile up so it gets hot inside. Spread out it can’t build the heat as well. Last summer we ended up with a bunch of volunteer pumpkins because we were too spread out. The goats loved them though lol


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## Nigerians (Feb 4, 2021)

Well, I have several big piles in the goat pens now. Hopefully by the time I'm ready to mulch, it will be cooked!
That hasn't helped the horse manure/bedding piles though. The good black dirt under those looked lucious until I put it in my gardens.


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