# Goat Barn Waste Disposal?



## JT15 (Aug 22, 2021)

(cross posted in New Goat Ownership) 

Hi all, I'm new to goat ownership and I'm wondering how others deal with/dispose of the voluminous amount of hay/shavings/poop waste that is generated by these cute little goats! 

I have three nigerian dwarfs and we live in a semi-rural area in Washington on a single acre. We have a few chickens and goats but it's a backyard hobby farm -- we don't own a truck, or tractors, or any other sort of farm equipment. 

I built the goats a 12x8 goat shed/barn and they have a large fenced pen as a run. From what I've read, the "bedding" in the barn is supposed to be mucked out and replaced every couple of weeks minimum (I'm using a layer of sweet PDZ on rubber stall mats, then wood shavings, then hay on the top, which I refresh each day to keep a dry clean layer on top.) When I muck out the 12x8 barn to replace the bedding, the volume of nasty pee/poop soaked shavings and hay is HUGE! I'm filling about 8 contractor sized garbage bags right now. I've been stuffing these bags into the back of my SUV and driving them to the dump each time. It is not convenient, and it's pretty exhausting to do this every two weeks.

How do others dispose of soiled goat barn bedding every two weeks -- who don't have a large farm/truck/tractor equipment or a huge compost system on site? 

Maybe what I'm doing is normal, but I just am wondering if there's a better solution out there and I'm missing something...

Thank you!


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## Cedarwinds Farm (Dec 2, 2019)

You don't have to have a huge compost heap. Mine doesn't take up much room at all. Some folks actually sell their compost. I use all of mine for my garden.


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## Cedarwinds Farm (Dec 2, 2019)

I don't use bedding during the warm months, either. So I put pallets down on the floor, and just go in and clean up once a day. When I take away the bedding, my 3 large does generate 1 -2 large scoop shovels of poop per day. That's not hard to deal with. When the weather is nice, I sometimes keep them locked out of the barn so I don't have to clean it.


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## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

Yes, I agree with @Caileigh Jane Smith. In warm months I don't use bedding inside the barn, but I do put dropped hay outside and clean up really soaked spots regularly so I do accumulate compost even in summer. I've had a lot of trouble dealing with large amounts of compost too, since I don't have anything but hand tools either.

I have a combined pile and compost "bin" set up. I have these three 3x3 compost bins. with my big pile next to it. I just put my waste bedding on the big pile and then slowly add to the compost bin so that the bin doesn't get overwhelmed. The one on the far right is what I'm currently adding to. We are trying a chimney in the middle to help get air and water to the center of the pile, since we have trouble keeping up with turning it. Weekly I'll turn what's in the bin, and add more to it from the pile. When the bin is full I'll stop adding to it and transfer it back and forth between the right and middle bins. When it's broken down to the point it wont break down anymore it will then get transferred to the far left bin to stop turning it so that the worms will move in and break it down even better. 








I do try to turn my big pile occasionally. I find that it really helps it to break down if you open up some pockets in the middle and hose them down. I think that sometimes rain just runs off the pile. I'm always shocked at how much the pile shrinks after I water it.

If you have chickens they do a great job of breaking down bedding. In the winter I just bring my wheelbarrows full of bedding and dump the piles in the chicken run, by spring they have turned it into wonderful dirt.


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## FizzyGoats (Apr 14, 2021)

Oh gosh. That sounds like such a pain to haul it off constantly. 

I have only had my goats for months that it’s been warm. I started with bedding then quickly got rid of it. I’m sure I’ll put some down once the temps drop. I have natural dirt floor barn and so I sweep their pellets up. I also have turkeys and chickens. I use the hay the goats waste and spread it in the turkey coop to catch droppings. I clean the barn daily and the coops 3x’s a week. I pile it all up for compost in an area adjacent to our garden (since that is where well use it). Our pile is only a few feet high because it’s basically as high as I can get it until I can’t get the wheelbarrow up there to dump on the top. So our pile is more of a row of compost. I should be better about turning it, but I’m not, so I let it sit a long time before we use it. If you can turn it, you can use it quicker and keep smaller piles.

Something like what @MellonFriend posted might work great if you’re tight on space. That’s a nifty little system.


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## Moers kiko boars (Apr 23, 2018)

Wow, you are working hard. I have 27 goats. I have dirt floor,or wooden floor goat house/ barn. I sweep 2 to 3xs a week. I put the compost in a feed bag. Once the feed bag is full I ask the neighbors, friends, family who need good manure for gardens, yards, or plants. Come get.it. Once the word spreads, free bagged manure, they will call you. If you want you can sell it. Its up to you. I only use straw, woodchips, or leftover hay in winter. That is used in my compost pile for my useage. Its great fertilizer, it wont burn the plants or grass.


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## NigerianNewbie (Jun 6, 2018)

4' tall t post, 3' tall 1 1/2" mesh chicken wire Drive a t post for each corner (4' across and 5' long is the size I use) and fasten the chicken wire to the t post with lengths of small gage wire. Start your manure heap on one side of the compost pile until it gets how ever tall you want it to be. Manure fork works really well, turn it from the top layers down onto the opposite side. Once the pile is turned, add fresh manure into the side you just emptied. It will be on the bottom breaking down until the other side is turned again. In the fall, dried leaves are layered into the mix. In the winter months, I'll add some of the shavings and straw into the pile. If it's a large amount of stall bedding, I'll pile it into a heap beside the compost bin and layer it in. I keep some bedding material in reserve and add it during the warm months when no bedding is being used and I start a new pile. Around gardening time, the whole bin is emptied because it is excellent for mixing in soil and growing all types of things. People actually pay decent money for this type of manure compost. I have more of a problem having enough for the list of people wanting it, than worrying about what to do with an over abundance.


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## friesian49 (Jul 2, 2018)

My barn has a dirt/gravel limestone floor, and along with others, I don't put bedding down in summer. They sleep outside on just about anything, so I'm not making more work for myself! I clean it everyday, I don't like leaving turds in there and attracting flies in this hot weather - I have 2 girls, so this is manageable. I take the old trampled hay and turds and put in wheelbarrow till full and then take it down to the compost pile at the bottom of our hill. I was turning it over every other week, but the last two times I did this, the baby snake in there did not move and old Kelly got scared and so I haven't been doing it much right now. But my 3 chickens go down there and turn it over for me some, which I love! 

Hopefully you have enough of an area to make some kind of compost. My property is about 2.32 acres and like I said, the compost area is at the bottom/boundary line. No issues with smell or anything, just that annoying snake!


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