# Raised Floor vs Ground



## LewisFamily (Mar 10, 2013)

Starting to build our goat "house". Quick question. Do goats prefer a raised floor off the ground or is the ground covered in hay perfectly fine? Thanks!


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

Ours just get hay covered ground. Someone on here tried doing a raised bed area and her goats refused to go into it until she put it on the ground.


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## LewisFamily (Mar 10, 2013)

Great. I figured that would make the most sense, but after reading how finicky some can be, I just wanted to ask. Thanks!


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Depends too, on if you get a lot of rain and if it will seep underneath into the goat house.


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## LewisFamily (Mar 10, 2013)

Good point, we are in East Texas, so not a ton of rain considering other parts of the country. But we do get just under 50" of rain a year.


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

50 inches of rain!!! Wow!! That will make a difference. LOL I'm in NW Ks where 20 inches of rain is considered a monsoon season! In that case....where is your goat shed located: low or high ground? Low ground, beds need to be raised somehow. High ground, not as critical. If you are still deciding where to build, build on a hill.


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## nchen7 (Feb 25, 2013)

we get a lot of rain, and our ground is mud. out goat houses (we have 2 small ones) are about 8 inches off the ground. enough so that when it rains a lot (which seems to be happening a lot lately), the water doesn't seep up.


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## LewisFamily (Mar 10, 2013)

We don't really have any hilly area. The rain is dispersed throughout the months fairly well, averaging about 4" a month. Do they need dry bedding 100% of the time? I mean to say, if they ground is wet for a night, will they spaz out and get sick?


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Having wet ground isn't good on them, they cannot lay down and may be standing in dampness, with goats, wet feet can cause hoof rot.


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## Wild Hearts Ranch (Dec 26, 2011)

I live in a very wet climate, and my barn is on flat ground, maybe a tiny slope away from it. I just do straw on the ground. It's a little muddy right where they walk in and out but the stalls stay dry as long as I stay on top of the bedding. If the barn was on or below a slop where water runs to it I would consider a raised floor, but otherwise the ground should be fine.


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## LewisFamily (Mar 10, 2013)

Awesome. I use pallets regularly for everything I can think of. I think I am going to try the ground with just hay, cause I bale my own. If it becomes an issue, then I will raise the floor. Or I may just do it from the get go. I just started building today. Thanks to everyone for the time to write back!


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## LaurieW (Sep 24, 2013)

We looked at a friend's goat barn before we built ours. They had a raised floor, which we were considering too. But they said if they had to do it over they would put it on the ground because of decay, rot, etc of the wood.

Something they did which we have done, put pavers at the barn door, on the outside. So there isn't an awful muddy or worn out hole there.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do


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## LewisFamily (Mar 10, 2013)

Lots of options!!! Lol. Crazyness. Whatever I decide, Ill let yall know and fill in the details!


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

On the ground is fine and long as the earth slopes down away from their shelter. As for the wet, as long as they have a true shelter it shouldnt get wet in there at all from anything other then pee and a bit of snow if you happen to get any and it blows in through the doorway.


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## nchen7 (Feb 25, 2013)

I have this idea for my dream goat house is to have the floor raised slightly off the ground, and have pallet floors (the kinds that have no gaps in between the boards). since pallets are usually a standard size, it would be nice to have them modular, i.e. the floor would be gridded out and have slots the pallets would sit into. then, when a certain pallet gets too icky or worn out, lift that pallet out and replace with a new one.

not sure how well that would work, that's just something I've come up with b/c one of our goat houses has pallets in it, and I keep thinking "boy, wouldn't it be great if I could just lift one of these up and replace it?".


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## LewisFamily (Mar 10, 2013)

I love the idea of the modular pallet floor. Free and easy to replace. I was leaning towards doing that since I have an endless amount of free pallets, but rot is one thing I am worried about. I would hate to give them an resp. inf.


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## nchen7 (Feb 25, 2013)

ya, for one of the pallets i have, i just had my bf rip up the boards and replaced the boards. i didn't nail them now. but the problem is having to disassemble the pallets, which is a huge PITA. after that whole incident, i thought about the modular idea. just make sure the spacing between the wood is small enough their hooves can't get through. we had an issue with one of the boards (the one we ripped apart). 

well, when you get your floor done, post a picture!


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## tsmith1499 (Sep 9, 2014)

I used 2 - 4x4 pallets covered by a 4x8 sheet of plywood under a calf hutch to get our goats "floor" up off the ground. Bolted the calf hutch to the pallets so it won't go anywhere. I put straw down on top of the plywood and they seem to be doing just fine. I am thinking about putting down a rubber cow mat to make it a little softer for them to lay on.


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