# How often do you clean out your goat shed?



## Trace (Dec 29, 2008)

My goatie girls have a calf hutch on a rubber stall mat to keep them off the floor.

I put shavings on the mat and hay and straw over that for them to bed down into.

I just stripped it all and replaced - but was wondering how often you all did this?


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

in teh summer -- like once a week or once every 2 weeks.

in the winter not at all


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## Trace (Dec 29, 2008)

StaceyRoop said:


> in teh summer -- like once a week or once every 2 weeks.
> 
> in the winter not at all


Are they on the ground or raised in a shed?


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

its a dirt floor


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Mine are on wood floors in a raised shed....I leave bedding pile up beginning mid November until January or February then do a major cleanout, after the first of April it's once a week.


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## FunnyRiverFarm (Sep 13, 2008)

In the winter (December-March) I use the deep litter method--Just let it build up. In the spring and fall I clean atleast once a week and in the summer I keep the floor bare and sweep it pretty much daily. I have a wooden floor.


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## MissMM (Oct 22, 2007)

I have a barn with a dirt floor. After thaw in the spring, it is stripped completely down to dirt, allowed to dry, put a layer of stall dry down, then a light layer of bedding. I repeat this in the fall - mid October or so but let the bedding stack up till spring. Unless one of my teenagers pisses me off (or anounces that they are bored), then the buck pen might get an extra cleaning as long as it isn't too cold. 

I do regularly clean off their sleep benches & scoop up any areas w/a lot of berries conglomerating.


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## Shelly Borg (Nov 2, 2009)

I use deep litter also. But I am swiping the board teenager idea! LOL


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## MissMM (Oct 22, 2007)

yeah.... no one dares announce that they are bored around our house ..... and the boys are very careful not to break the rules too much when the buck is in rut.... that's when cleaning the buck/llama pen is really no fun. Thankfully they are all now 18 and older so I can't get in trouble w/child services for "cruel and unusual punishment."


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## 4hmama (Jan 9, 2009)

MissMM - You are a genious!


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## MissMM (Oct 22, 2007)

Thank you very much. I employ a few rather creative "behavior modification methods" around here. Most of them involve goat, chicken or horse dung in one way or another. And all of the boys know that if their current "intended" doesn't fall in love with the goats immediately, don't even bother with a 2nd date........ they know me well.

It's rather interesting because all of the "boys" suddenly become much more popular with the female population around here about the time kidding season comes around..... baby goats are irresistable and the only way you get to see them on our farm is if you are a buyer with a paid deposit, a family member, or a "special friend" of a family member. 

It has worked for me so far...... all of my goaties are hand tame "pocket goats" from all of the attention they get.


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## pennylullabelle (Nov 22, 2009)

Hehe I am going to use that when my kiddos get older. Right now at 3 and 5 they can't WAIT to help with the animals. lol

I have dirt floors. I go in an clear out any soiled bedding and berries once a week. But that's for 2 does. I will do it twice a week when the newbies get here. I leave the dry stuff and add more. 

I don't want to use the deep bedding method because we are leasing here. I would not want the decomposition process to affect the foundation or wood sides of the barn. For the same reasons I probably won't do it when I build my own barn. Plus, I visited a farm once that used this method. Their pens were clean and their goats healthy...but man...you stepped in that barn and the scent of urine just smacked you in the face! lol


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## MissMM (Oct 22, 2007)

I use the deep litter method because as the litter accumulates in the winter it helps provide heat to keep the goaties warm. It's only 3 degrees above zero here today and expected to get into the double-digits below zero tonight. I do turn the bedding in the pen to keep things dry, one section at a time so that by the end of the week, the whole pen has been done. I go through a lot of baking soda too to help neutralize odors. 

Fighting the smell is a losing battle for me: The indoor part of my buck pen is in the same barn - on the opposite side from the does. Stinkybutt smells it up so bad in there from mid-November to January that I can't stand to be in there very long. The llama smell doesn't help either cause when it's cold, she wants to poop inside instead of outside... grrr


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## Nupine (Nov 13, 2007)

When we moved here a few years ago there was a pretty low, nasty, dirt floor. Then with the use of sawdust [a mistake] the ground is now TOO high so in the next few days I plan on using our small rotatiler [sp?] to lower the floor a little. Other than it being high, I try to rake it out maybe once a week, year round, and that works pretty well. I tried the deep litter method a couple years ago, with a couple bales of straw and uneaten hay, and after taking out 17 overflowing sopping wet smelly wheel barrows full of crap out of the barn, and then having to move it all again afterwards because it wasn't where my mom wanted it, NEVER AGAIN!!!!!!!!


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## pennylullabelle (Nov 22, 2009)

My stalls are heated with radiant heat disks (the ones you get at costco). So, I am not worried about warmth. When I am outside, it's 8 degrees, my toes are on fire from being so cold, I go in the does stall and visit for 15 minutes to thaw 

But I have turned over many a compost pile and felt the warmth from 5 feet away, so I definitely see this benefit!


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