# Kidding pens and bedding?



## BrokenArrowRanch (Jun 6, 2013)

So I have decided to go the easy way and put up kidding pens in a corner of the shop which is 30 x 50 or so. Kidding pens will be 6x 12. 

My concern is the ventilation. I can open the roll up door a bit when I'm out. However it can't be open all the time because of security reasons. I also plan on them being outside when weather is decent. Is this ok or do I need to figure something else out?

It's a concrete floor. I plan on putting stalls mats down, then using sweet PDz? Or DE with straw. Or would pellets or shavings be better?

Thanks!


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## MsScamp (Feb 1, 2010)

Do NOT use wood shavings in kidding pens - not even under straw as Mom tends to dig them up when she is pawing. They will stick to the kids and can suffocate them. It is also very difficult for Mom to clean the babies when they are covered in wood shavings.

If you live in an area where the temps get cold I would make the kidding pens 5 X 5 or 6' wide by 5' deep to reduce the possibility of the kids getting out of range of the heat lamps and getting to cold. I would not open the roll up door because that could very easily create a draft right at floor level and chill the kids. You should be ok with the Sweet PDZ and adding fresh straw if you're planning on leaving the does and kids in kidding pens for an extended length of time. If that is not the case, then clean out the pens between kiddings if possible. 

Bed your kidding pens extra deep - about half way between fetlock and knee on the does - because concrete holds cold and radiates it upwards. I have an enclosed shed with a concrete floor and it is easily 10 degrees colder in that shed than it is outside. I hope this helps, and best wishes with kidding! 

ETA - I would also do what I could to make the walls of the kidding pen solid and at least 5' high. It's rather amazing how a perfectly sane doe can suddenly go nuts when she is confined away from the herd. The solid walls will help hold the heat from the heat lamp, too.


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## BrokenArrowRanch (Jun 6, 2013)

I'm in Cali. With the drought it isn't really cold. We've got a few days of rain and a couple nights below freezing. I want to kid indoors cuz I know the one storm of the year is when the girls will decide to kid. Lol. I don't plan on using heat lamps really. I have them if I need them. Someone on here told me about the solid walls for heat. I've got carpet I plan to use for that. I only have 2 girls due 2 days apart that are best friends so no worries about separation problems. I have a couple pallets with plywood on them that I'll put in after babies are born to help get them off the floor.




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## BrokenArrowRanch (Jun 6, 2013)

I plan on keeping them in kidding pens and going outside during day after babies are a couple weeks old and if weather is nice. When they are about 2 weeks I want to seperate babies at night and milk mornings. 
Pens will be cleaned as needed and after kidding.


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

Sounds like you have a pretty decent plan going. Does your shed have ventilation vents towards the top of the building...like just under the eaves? If it does that should be enough ventilation. I agree with Scamp about the straw. For kidding, it's better and it's better insulation for mom and babies. Just make sure you get them outside as much as possible. Another idea for you...Can you or are you willing to cut "goat doors" in the side of your shop where your kidding pens are? (My dad would have a fit that I was suggesting this :laugh: He's having a heart attack over the "holes in the side of a perfectly good barn for those damned goats") If you can create a sliding door for them, you can shut the goats in but have pens on the outside where you can turn them out when it's nice. We have a roofing material that we have over the doors also so that it keeps a little more wind, etc out but the goats can still go in and out. Just a thought...


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## BrokenArrowRanch (Jun 6, 2013)

No it doesn't have vents. It does have a window that could be open if I'm home. I'm worried about urine issues. And I believe straw is not the best at soaking that up? That's why I thought I'd use some pellets to?


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## BrokenArrowRanch (Jun 6, 2013)

I don't wanna cut holes in my barn for the same reasons as your dad. That and that's an easy way for things to be stolen out of the shop. I have pens and shelters and everything outside. I plan on having everyone outside during the day if possible. Just wanting a indoor place for kidding and probably a month or so after that. When babies are up and doing well they can be moved out to permanently.


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

I dunno. I've done both wood chips (once and once only) and straw. I'll put the pellets down (can't think what they are called) if I have a "hole" in the middle of a pen. But they are a royal pain to clean out. I've carried a lot of straw out of pens...we had 4H steers when I was growing up and kept then in stalls in the barn with straw for bedding. Straw gets WET. Wood chips don't. You can clean the manure out (although with pellets like the goats have, that would be pretty tough to do) but the pee just runs thru. The biggest thing is that you would almost have to clean your pens daily to keep the ammonia smell out. We have dirt floor in the barn so the urine soaks down into it some too. We don't clean out the pens on a regular basis, just layer clean straw over top. We clean it out in the spring or fall before we start kidding again. 

The more I think about it, the more I'd be inclined to tell you...use the concrete shop for kidding only. Don't put them in until you know they are ready and have a plan to get them out within a couple days. OR...put the pens right beside the door so you can hose them out daily. 

In other words...I really don't know. LOL The more I talk, the more I talk myself out of doing anything like that! Sorry.


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## BrokenArrowRanch (Jun 6, 2013)

Yea. Like I said I am concerned about the ammonia. Hopefully others will chime in later. 

They may have a very short time in there as I don't want to be spending my life cleaning pens everyday lol. 
Down side to that is I plan to also have cameras up to watch them. I lost a Pygmy baby couple years back because I missed the birth and it broke my heart. Trying to do all I can so it never happens again.


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

I do use shavings ... we just clean and dry the kids really well after kidding. Shavings are nice and absorbent. We also use extra wasted hay from the feeder, as long as it's clean. There are smaller shavings that are sold specifically for birthing animals. You can do straw as well, but be careful as I've heard of some lice cases being carried in by straw. Same thing could probably happen with any bedding, though.

As for the ventilation, I would have it open to the air whenever possible, but they should be okay as long as it doesn't get too hot, or too messy in the barn.


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## BrokenArrowRanch (Jun 6, 2013)

Thanks ThreeHavens. I had I believe mites spread from chickens to my show steer and he had huge rub spots right before a big show. I believe it was through straw. Hens liked to scratch in the straw that I threw in his pen cuz it was muddy. 

I believe with everyday cleanings and maybe once a week stripping and hosing everything it will be fine. Will open windows for ventilation when I can.


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## MsScamp (Feb 1, 2010)

BrokenArrowRanch said:


> I'm in Cali. With the drought it isn't really cold. We've got a few days of rain and a couple nights below freezing. I want to kid indoors cuz I know the one storm of the year is when the girls will decide to kid. Lol. I don't plan on using heat lamps really. I have them if I need them. Someone on here told me about the solid walls for heat. I've got carpet I plan to use for that. I only have 2 girls due 2 days apart that are best friends so no worries about separation problems. I have a couple pallets with plywood on them that I'll put in after babies are born to help get them off the floor.


Ok, that certainly makes things easier! If it isn't cold, by all means raise the doors for ventilation. Carpet does really well as insulation. I tacked some up in the dog house and was very pleased with the results. Sounds like you've got it figured out and you should be good to go! :thumbup:


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## DancingHoovesFarm (Nov 18, 2012)

I put hay down in my kidding stalls (5x10') then catch the babies on a puppy pad so they don't get hay all over them. Then help dry them with paper towels. 


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