# Cleaning your goat barn



## MaryJo (Jul 20, 2014)

How often do others clean their goat barn?


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## top_goat (Sep 16, 2014)

I haven't really had my goats long enough to be on a "schedule" -- I spot clean every couple of days as needed, moving out wet or soiled bedding and putting down fresh. I read somewhere to let my nose be my guide -- if I bend down to their level and it smells, it's definitely time to clean! I don't like it to get even to that point (figure their sniffers are more sensitive than mine!), so I try to stay on top of the spots. I expect I'll do a thorough cleaning in the spring before kidding time... 

I also rake their yard at least weekly (or I did before the monsoons of the last few weeks hit!). It seems to me that the cleaner I can keep their spaces the less disease I'll have to fight! 

I'm eager to hearing how more seasoned folks handle this task!


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

I don't have a "barn" per se. I have a stall which the 3 does sleep in at night or shelter in during the day if the weather is icky. In the warm weather we clean it pretty much every day and lay down lime and new bedding. In the cold weather we muck it every time there is a warm spell. In the colder weather ( < 20ºF) we let the bedding build up and the compost underneath keeps the girls warm. I can't let it go toooooo long though, or the mucking takes forever!


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

*Sigh* Why cant these girls clean up after their own selves!?
You will figure out how often to go about it.
The indoor kidding stalls get a picking up & top dressed for about 3 days then I kick them all out.
Outside their shelter is (embarrassingly enough) top dressed to the hilt. One year we rented a top loader & it took half the day.


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

Well my friend gets a backhoe every two years and cleans the whole place out, but me? It's probably been 5 years, I just keep adding straw to the top, and the bottom layers decompose and turn to dirt, works for me :lol: It's an outside shelter, because I don't have a barn... why I ever moved from my old house with 3 barns to this one with no barn is beyond me :lol:


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## SerenitySquare (Jun 28, 2014)

I pick up wet stuff daily then once a week I remove everything and start fresh. However since we had several nice days they were nice to me and peed outside, hehe. So I was able to wait 10 days. In the summer when they do more business outside I clean less and when needed. 
It has been cold here so using more straw and as you know it gets heavy fast so I dont wait to long or it would break my back.


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## LadySecret (Apr 20, 2013)

My concrete barn in summer has pallets with stall matting on top for the goats to lay on if they want but they usually sleep outside. Every other day I sweep up the berries (their hay and minerals are in the barn). In winter I but down lime and cover with wood pellets. Then cover with hay or straw. I add more bedding as needed to keep it dry. This is the best way to keep them warm in winter with concrete floors because it compost and gives off heat. In spring I strip it down to the concrete and start the every other day sweep cycle again. It does take a full day for me to strip the pen by myself. My barns with dirt floors have one side open and I never clean them. I just pile more on and let the soiled stuff underneath compost. Kidding stalls get spot cleaned everyday while they are in use and fresh bedding added as needed. Then they get stripped down to concrete and disinfected with bleach water. I put the bleach water in a 1/2 gallon weed sprayer and it makes disinfecting a breeze.


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## Wild Hearts Ranch (Dec 26, 2011)

Only as often as I have to! Which works out to a couple times a year. Their shelter is getting pretty bad already but it's too muddy to get to, so will have to wait until we dry out...y'know, around August


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

Wild Hearts Ranch said:


> Only as often as I have to! Which works out to a couple times a year. Their shelter is getting pretty bad already but it's too muddy to get to, so will have to wait until we dry out...y'know, around August


 That's the problem here, all the wet makes it darn near impossible to push a wheelbarrow.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Trust me on this lol don't let it get to deep, I don't have a barn but the place.I'm cleaning right now is like a short shelter but wide. I knew it was getting bad when I had to really hunch over to not hit my head. This will be the second weekend working on it and I'm so mad at myself for not cleaning it sooner. Especially since I have free range chickens and ducks which their poop normally smells bad but this stuff smells so so badly. Good thing there's good air flow threw there.
My kidding stalls are more air tight I guess you can say so moms and babies usually only stay in there for 24 hours unless the weather is bad, so every time I move a mom out that stall is totally cleaned and I sprinkle baking soda on the.ground.


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## janeen128 (Dec 31, 2012)

nancy d said:


> That's the problem here, all the wet makes it darn near impossible to push a wheelbarrow.


That's why I have a big manure pile outside my barnyard door, I can't push the wheelbarrow up a hill in the mud..;(


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## Wild Hearts Ranch (Dec 26, 2011)

I've done it before, I know how much work it is. Shelter has open ends so lots of airflow, and it's plenty tall 

I have a small pond between the gate and the shelter, so dragging wheelbarrow through time after time is just not gonna happen. As big as my shelter is - and as heavy as the bedding gets! - I'd rather use the trailer anyway, but that means not getting stuck!


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

We have a small barn, and a cattle panel shelter. Up until a few nights ago, 6 of the 8 does were sleeping in the cattle panel shelter where they have a round bale of hay, and very cozy in there. 
With it being winter/colder we don't clean the front part of the shelter very often - builds up and is warmer/more comfortable to sleep on. Backside near the door where they tend to stand around, gets cleaned more regularly. If it's a rainy week it'll get cleaned 1-2x weather permitting, otherwise they spend most of the day outside and doesn't need cleaned as often.

We don't use the barn much outside of kidding/weaning/4-H, but when we do it gets cleaned every day. 
We have 2 does that have been sleeping in the back part of the barn & during yucky weather <bully & her daughter>, and now have 2 others inside the barn waiting to kid.


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## MaryJo (Jul 20, 2014)

Thanks to everyone for responding. I really wasn't sure if I was cleaning too much or not enough. I guess I'm somewhere in the middle!


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## AncientBlue (Dec 21, 2014)

I sweep the floors (concrete) 1 - 2 times a day. It really doesn't take me long. I pressure wash as needed. So far that's been about weekly. It doesn't get really cold where I live, so it's not a problem to pressure wash.

Mine isn't a real barn either. It's a screened porch on the back of a quonset. They also have dog houses that work if they are cold or just want a more secure space.


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## lottsagoats1 (Apr 12, 2014)

I rake mine out twice a day. I clean it out totally once a week and rebed with shavings. I used to let the bedding grow in the winter for heat. It was just way to hard to clean in the spring and the ammonia buildup was just too nasty.

My manure pile is buried under a foot of snow and ice. I have 1 narrow pathway I have to slide along. Pushing the full wheelbarrow up a steep, icy pathway is an adventure. I have my own winter olympics here at my farm!


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## janeen128 (Dec 31, 2012)

I decided to wait 3 weeks to clean the barn this time. It took me 3 hours to clean it out yesterday, so it's back to once a week for me... I think my crew appreciated it too.


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## goofy4goats (Jun 10, 2013)

Do you just sprinkle the lime over the dirt and then put straw over it? And it's totally safe for the goats?


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

goofy4goats said:


> Do you just sprinkle the lime over the dirt and then put straw over it? And it's totally safe for the goats?


Yes on both counts. As long as you buy the barn lime. It is a powder. I even sprinkle it over the hay/straw once a week. I do a fairly heavy cover. Has made a huge difference in smell and no scratching goats all winter.


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