# clean outs??



## libby (Nov 27, 2012)

How often does everyone clean out their barns completely? I am finding it hard this summer to keep things under control because they empty their hay overtop the shavings and makes for a hard time cleaning out daily/nightly pee's...can I keep their hayrack outside only?? and how often do you clean out completely?? I heard some say spring and then fall...??


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## AmyBoogie (May 20, 2013)

We just had our barn flood so it got cleaned out. Otherwise the pee dries up during the day and we only sweep out the poops. If we had a pest infestation we'd clean it out for that too. it's really taking a look at your situation and figuring out what works for you. It's also very different depending on the flooring you have wood vs cement vs dirt.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

It is up to you how you do it. I do total clean outs once a month. But I have 5 goats. Can you find a way to stop them from making a mess with their hay?


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## libby (Nov 27, 2012)

I only have 2 girls,,so they aren't a huge mess. the flooring is wood,,and that share half the barn with 6 hens. the hens side is clean and only shavings,since it's only them in that stall at night. but where the goats are,it's a huge mess of hay and shavings mixed,LOL!~ maybe I will keep the hay outside only...


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

A tractor, if you can get one in there, helps a lot for clean out.


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## canthavejust1 (Oct 12, 2012)

I do weekly total stall strips. The flies have been terrible this year and the longer u wait the wetter/heavier the bedding will be. I shovel it all by hand tho, if you have a tractor then its no big deal


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## jennifer (May 22, 2013)

I have four goats in a 20x20. Its split in half. I have dirt floors. So I do spot cleaning every day when I let them out. Then I do a deep clean once a week. I bleach down everything and replace bedding. It helps with the flies too. Cause I spray it once a week too.


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## heater (Jun 21, 2013)

Do you spray bleach all around barn? How do you dilute the bleach?Thanks


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## MsScamp (Feb 1, 2010)

libby said:


> ...can I keep their hayrack outside only??


My hay feeders are outside the sheds/shelters. I do not feed inside except under extreme circumstances. As for how often I clean out the sheds/shelters - it depends on how much use they have been getting. The first thing I do every spring when it thaws out is clean out everything down to the dirt. Cleaning in the summer time is not that big of a deal since the girls don't spend that much time in their sheds/shelters. Winter is the biggie, but it's hard to clean out frozen hay/bedding. I clean when I can, and lime and add new bedding when I can't.


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## janeen128 (Dec 31, 2012)

I do it once a week. I have 8 goats and 2 sheep. My 2 bucks have their own pen, so pretty much just 8 animals in the barn... I think the sheep make more of a mess. I do spray bleach water once a month though and I have concrete..


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Goatcrazy has the right idea. Unless you just have a few goaties then the clean up isnt so bad if you feed in their shelter. Here we only get about 10 inches of rain a year so we dont even cover the outside feeders. But if I were anywhere else, Id most likely have covers over em. We run about 100 head so we only clean out 2-3 times a year totally with a tractor with a front bucket and a box blade on the back. LOVE use the box blade. But when shelters need cleaned we had muck those 6-10 times a year depending upon the season and amount of rain/snow.


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## jennifer (May 22, 2013)

I use half a cup of bleach per gallon of water. I spray the inside and outside areas. The outside I spray about three feet around. Then I let it dry out and I use this spray that I bought at the co-op. Not sure what the name is. But you can spray it directly on live stock, plants and so many other uses.


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## libby (Nov 27, 2012)

I never spray down their barn,,it's small,it's actually a gazebo I converted into a barn  I only have 6 hens and 2 pygmy goats,so it's great for them. being wood,I don't spray it ,ever. But I do add DE and stable boy on the flooring before adding the shavings..the flies aren't too bad,thankfully


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## goatgirl132 (Oct 18, 2012)

in 1 stall my main one. I clean every about 2 months for the shavings.
and I do a complete clean about once a year. 

my other stalls I don't worry about one has my horse and she's only in it for feeding and leaves when she's done and the other is impossible to clean.


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## libby (Nov 27, 2012)

does anyone else have those tiny black bugs that seem to LOVE humid wood? eck,,I hate them,I know they aren't bothering anyone,but they're everywhere this year!! I see them even in our shed,,they love old or humid wood,,, but I guess there are worse things right? it could be february and -25 !!


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## Goat_in_Himmel (Jun 24, 2013)

Well, I only have two goats and it's only been six weeks that they've been here, but I see no great need for a cleanout anytime soon. Mama goat pees in one corner 95% of the time, which corner is also the lowest point in the dirt floor, and the dirt soaks everything up and there is no smell in there except for alfalfa hay. I throw handfuls of dead thatch that I raked out of the lawn this spring onto any still-damp spot, and it's good to go. The nanny berries just kind of...disappear. I don't know where they go, maybe they disintegrate underfoot. I kind of wonder how things will be once the ground freezes, though. Might be icky in spring...have to wait and see.

The only flies in there are the ones that come out in hot weather and hang around in the shade, waiting to bite. But you can find those flies anywhere; they are there because it's shady and not because there are goats/pee/poop. The poop flies hang out at the chicken coop instead. (But that's okay by me, because unlike milk, eggs come in fairly impervious wrappers!)


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## audrey (Jul 17, 2012)

Daily, sometimes I let it go 3 days or so. My goats have the run of two 13x14 matted stalls and a nice pasture, but they mostly hang in the stalls and eat hay. I either feed their hay in a bucket, and recently I have been using a tire. Works pretty well. I have 11 nigerian dwarfs right now too so its a little bit of a herd lol.


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