# Cleaning up lil' goatie poops...



## Wallaby

This is probably a pretty "dumb" question but what do you guys use to pick out/clean your goat sheds/stalls?

With horses, there are "apple pickers" but goat poop is obviously much smaller than horse poop... hahaha
Do you just use a shovel? 

Thanks!


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## Zarafia

I've very recently thinkly bedded my goat barn with fine, fluffy pine shavings. I use my "apple picker" to scoop up the pine shavings under the little berry piles. I waste a little bit of shavings that way but it keeps the barn really clean .


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## HarleyBear

I guess this depends on what you use to line your stalls, right? I have been wondering the same thing because we have been using a basic shovel, but it doesn't work great. We use wood shavings to line the stalls, but we end up wasting so much of it when we go to clean up. I really wish they would go to the bathroom in one spot but the poop is all mixed into the shavings all over the stalls. So we shovel as much as we can, then sprinkle fresh shavings again. This is probably not very cost effective.

Any suggestions on what to line the stalls with how to clean up would be awesome!


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## liz

During warm months I keep bare floors, I do sprinkle barn lime over wet areas and add a handful or 2 of shavings, it's easier to just sweep the floors into a flat shovel.

Cold months, I start with a layer of barn lime, add shavings as a way to absorb moisture then allow waste hay to accumulate, my goats make nests where they bed down so those areas are normally clean, once a month I use a fork to lift out the heaviest, wet areas after I rake off the top dry layer and rebed as I started.


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## Wallaby

Hmmm, interesting! Maybe my goats are just messy - there's poop everyyyywhere. No little piles here! haha 

I've been using those wood pellets that expand with water because they work well with my horse and because one of my goats is an Angora - I've read that pine shavings are the bane of fiber goats... I'm thinking about switching to straw, probably over some wood pellets for better liquid absorption, though - that seems like it would be possibly be cheaper and definitely easier to get under the poops with the apple picker.

It sounds like perhaps the wood pellet "sand" is probably the thing that's making it difficult for me since it just sifts away, taking poops with it. Thanks!

Also, good idea about not using bedding in the summer. That sounds perfect for next summer!


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## KW Farms

I use pitchforks usually for the big stuff...but for mostly goat berries and such...snow shovels usually work really well. :thumb:


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## freedomstarfarm

I have a extra large dog poop scoop dedicated just for the goat poop.


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## Zarafia

You know, I'll bet if I used sawdust type pine shavings I could use a big cat litter scoop to pick up goat berries. That sounds like a really good idea to me.
Once it starts getting cold here and the daylight hours grow short I'm going to at least give that a try.
In fact, with two large kitty litter scoops I'll bet I could save a lot of shavings now, and still keep the goat barn very sanitary and clean. All I'll need is one more large kitty litter scoop and a bucket (which I have plenty of). I can still use my large apple picker to move shavings around and make sure I'm not missing any wet spots.
I think I'll start trying that tomorrow. If anybody cares I'll post about how it works.


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## liz

Absolutely...do let us know how well the method works Meredith!


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## Zarafia

liz said:


> Absolutely...do let us know how well the method works Meredith!


I definitely will LIz .


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## ASTONs Dairy

I use a fan rake with a flat or square shovel. If the rake has hay or bedding stuck in the prongs it works almost like a broom and the shovel like a dust pan.


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## HarleyBear

I love this thread! I am going to look into some barn lime (never heard of it). Next summer I would love to have bare dirt floors.


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## Tenacross

dlnicholson126 said:


> I use a fan rake with a flat or square shovel. If the rake has hay or bedding stuck in the prongs it works almost like a broom and the shovel like a dust pan.


That's what I use most of the time. Only I would call my shovel a scoop shovel. Like somone else said they use, I use the wood pellets that expand with water. They are so fine that the rake is very effective at "pulling" the berries right away. There will be "wet spots" that need to be completely removed though. I still use straw when I have young babies and it's bad wet winter time. About all you can do with straw is remove all of it when it gets past the point of no return. Where I live, straw is expensive. I've found the local grass hay that has little nutritional value is cheaper and just as good as straw. I use it the same way.

The pellets with a rake is very efficient.


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## ksalvagno

I use this rake: http://www.amazon.com/Ames-True-Temper-42-Inch-KLRO/dp/B000OW969A with this shovel: http://www.tractorsupply.com/groundwork-reg-western-pattern-d-handle-aluminum-scoop-46-in--4410778

Perfect for goat or alpaca/llama berries.


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## threeweegoats

I find the poops outside on the ground are no problem to scoop with a basic shovel, but the pine shaving bedding is a mess! It has not been very long and already the bedding is smelly and poops are spread out everywhere. I wasn't even attempting to shovel it out because it was soo mixed in. I guess I didn't realize how quickly it would become THAT soiled. I think I will haul it all out tomorrow and start over with fresh shavings, and just scoop it as I do with the outside poops and waste a bit of bedding but oh well. I too would like to know how the kitty litter scoop works for you Meridith, I need to adopt a new system here!


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## GTAllen

Make sure it is "*barn lime*" not* hydrated lime*. Hydrated lime is caustic:dazed:


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## Zarafia

At the zoo where I used to go to school we used two large kitty litter scoops to remove small feces from all sorts of bedding. It was the "tried and true" method. And we got graded on how well we cleaned .
I just to wait till thursday before I can buy a second scoop, then I'll let you all know how the system works.


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## liz

GTAllen said:


> Make sure it is "*barn lime*" not* hydrated lime*. Hydrated lime is caustic:dazed:


Absolutely! Tractor Supply carries Barn Lime where they keep the stall stuff for horses like the Sweet PDZ, it's a small bag but weighs 50lbs and is wonderful for keeping odor from ammonia away....and through summer it helps with fly control.


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## firelight27

I keep bare floors in my pens, and as many other people have said, with that its easy to sweep and shovel. But they have a big indoor area where they bed down and that is straw. It seems to catch all the poop pellets up in it, and I just shovel out the wet spots once a week and clean out the whole thing once a month and re-bed. Its cheap and I don't mind wastage with it and none of my goats try to eat it.


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## Jessica84

In the 'house' areas I have straw down, Of course when you pick that all up there is still poop that falls threw so I use a push broom to gather it all up. There is no floor but is so compacted all you get is poop. I do the same with the rest of the pen but no straw. In the winter I do my best in the pen with a flat shovel. I just got a snow shovel and am so excited to use it lol


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## nancy d

I use the show shovel & rake too. In kidding stalls it's either a dustpan or gloved hand.
Merideth you need to expriement here first to make sure it works.


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## packhillboers

When the kid babies were born, we all put them into set apart saved clean grassy area pens.. keeping those pens clean for the first two months was a daily chore. I used a dog pan with attached little mini rake. This worked well and I pooped scoop all these little pen areas of 15 goats ever single day -almost a full wheel barrell load full. Once the dry weather came- the 'kids' were old enough to go on to the bigger acre hill and roam. No poop scooping through summer. Now just before the rains hit.. we have all this dry ground out there where grass once was.. I take a push broom and 'rake' broom it all up off the dirt and haul it to a pile. Poop is a problem especially if you don't have a lot of acreage.


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## packhillboers

winter is the time we keep the pooped up areas clean but it is hard when there is grass to rake it out of- and we use dry straw in sheds to be changed almost daily as needed.


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## ASTONs Dairy

I use lime also. Works wonders.


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## earlibird

I bought a fine tine rake for my goat poop scooping. It works great! The little pellets don't fall through.

Flex'n Fork, Premium Quality Manure Fork, Mini-Tine Basket. 5/16 tines

http://www.equiteemfg.com/flexn-fork-premium-quality-manure-fork-standard-or-mini-tine-basket/


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## janeinsf

A friend brought over 4 goats to stay at my house. They have lived in an open environment for years.
I am goat ignorant and now see that host poop is all over! This is not going to work for me. Ideas?


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## rebelINny

Rake it up in a pile and shovel. Or use a leaf blower to pile it then shovel.


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## Bansil

janeinsf said:


> A friend brought over 4 goats to stay at my house. They have lived in an open environment for years.
> I am goat ignorant and now see that host poop is all over! This is not going to work for me. Ideas?


good thing is it's free fertilizer , just dont step in it for a few hours ;-)


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## janeinsf

It's getting cold here so I guess it will freeze! But there's nothing to fertilize where they are pooping. LOL


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## Bansil

collect it and sell it to organic farmers and crazy plant people :leap: win/win 

not sure how much a 1 gallon zip lock would bring though :shrug:


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## thekibblegoddess

I have waste hay over dirt in my stall, and am just now letting it bed up. One goat has clumpy poops, and yes that's normal for her, and those are easy to pick up. But chasing goat berries through hay is a pain. The mini-tined rake mentioned earlier looks great, but is kind of pricy for just 2 goats. I bookmarked it though for when i'm up to 5. I'm not too concerned though about the amount of poo in the stalls, it is more than covered by the amount of hay they waste


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## Bansil

it's like they drag it out and play with it and then leave it laying around in a 6 ft diameter circle...all children are the same artygroup:


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## Gerard-Dawn

I use home made grass broom to brush out the poo then have a metal scoop to brush into. The nice thing about grass booms is that the poo can't stick on it.


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## CrazyDogLady

I'm getting a new scooper from www.ryanspet.com, the best dog grooming website ever. For those who shave your show goats, they have more clippers than you can shake a stick at. They also have a pretty good variety of pooper scoopers for when you just need a little clean up.


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## AncientBlue

We have concrete flooring where our goats are, so I use a broom and dustpan. The contents go to the garden. After about a year of doing this my Florida beach sand it finally becoming closer to soil.


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## laraloveschad

i'm late to this conversation, and am new to goats -- can i compost their waste? what else do folks do with all this waste product being swept/shoveled/raked?


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## GoatCrazy86

I bed with pine shavings over rubber mats... and I find that a dustpan and brush work great for sweeping up any piles/pee spots left overnight. I don't go crazy trying to get every little berry... I gave up on that lol:laugh:


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## ksalvagno

Yes. You can compost it.


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## ladypisces031070

Be careful with the lime, as our feed store told us that if you don't cover it with enough straw it can burn the bottoms of their hoofs. We bought some Sweet PDZ Stall Refresher, 25 lb. that helps lover the PH and also absorb the wet spots that we cannot get to. And yes, our four 7 months old Saanan girls poop EVERYWHERE. But you clean as best as you can. Our girls are hitting puberty as their urine is very strong ammonia. And we joked when they got about 5 to 6 months old "And God added smell to the poop" lol. Our thing is trying to figure out a way to feed them without wasting so much (cannot afford some of the expensive things the livestock stores have at over one hundred dollars a piece). As you know when it touches the ground, they won't eat it. So we have 2 five gallon buckets hanging on the inside of our make shift pen and another one on top so they cannot get there feet on top and knock it down, and then we have an old plastic "recycle" container under one that works but cannot find anything for the other one that they won't get in and poop and pee in.


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## Jessica84

ladypisces031070 said:


> Be careful with the lime, as our feed store told us that if you don't cover it with enough straw it can burn the bottoms of their hoofs. We bought some Sweet PDZ Stall Refresher, 25 lb. that helps lover the PH and also absorb the wet spots that we cannot get to. And yes, our four 7 months old Saanan girls poop EVERYWHERE. But you clean as best as you can. Our girls are hitting puberty as their urine is very strong ammonia. And we joked when they got about 5 to 6 months old "And God added smell to the poop" lol. Our thing is trying to figure out a way to feed them without wasting so much (cannot afford some of the expensive things the livestock stores have at over one hundred dollars a piece). As you know when it touches the ground, they won't eat it. So we have 2 five gallon buckets hanging on the inside of our make shift pen and another one on top so they cannot get there feet on top and knock it down, and then we have an old plastic "recycle" container under one that works but cannot find anything for the other one that they won't get in and poop and pee in.


Wow! Thank you for sharing. I didn't even think about burning feet. I'm putting a horse on stall rest lol and was going to buy a bunch of like and put down since the stall I'm making is a little small for my liking but maybe I'll pass on that. 
For the goats though their main houses they come and go as they please and has good air going threw it so I just put straw down. Their kidding stalls are a bit more blocked in if you will to keep drafts out and I clean like crazy but also put down baking soda. It does a good job BUT not every doe and her kids go in there and usually the ones that do don't stay in longer then 24 hours. I'm sure for large areas and areas that need to be cleaned a lot it would get expensive pretty fast.


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## Tanya

I use a steele rake. It has fine teeth. So all berries are raked up. Badly soiled hay gets raked up to and I can sift out the clean dry hay.


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## goatblessings

This is a VERY old thread.....


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