Barn Floor
 

I own a 25X50 pole barn that the PO put 4x8 sheeting on and used as a lambing shed. Apparently he never cleaned out the bedding because there is almost 2 feet of old layers of dried straw & shavings on a dirt floor. I'm going to use it for goats and cattle. I plan to let my animals soften/wear it down. Should I concerned about any diseases that may be in the bedding? Will letting it "wear down" be OK as long as I keep my animals clean & dry?

Off hand I don't think there would be a potential for any possible disease, etc. transfer. My only concern would be moisture being held up against the sheeting, thus causing it to eventually rot away.

I would strip the old bedding out and the the floor dry and the whole barn air out. Then I would rebed it- I do deep bedding with straw. Very simple, just clean out the manure daily and put down more bedding as needed. Its warm and comfortable for the animals. Heap the old bedding somewhere- it will be great compost in a year or two.

The rotting wood may get moldy and that may be less than good for you and animals. After getting it cleaned I would put dolomitic lime down too.

The floor will not wear down as you anticipate. You should consider buying a couple of pigs to let them root the area to where you can remove the buildup with hand tools.

It's not going to wear down. The new animals will just crap on it and start to mess it up and you'll be putting new bedding down on top. You layer of bedding will just be getting higher and higher. It would be nicer all around if you cleaned it out now (skid steer loader) and had it as a great compost pile for next year if you have a garden.

As far as disease, I probably wouldn't be too concerned. I know everyone is always going on about biosecurity lately and all that, but honestly, if the lambs that came out of the barn were healthy that's probably good enough. I mean, do people worry about going into town to the bank and store or sending their kids to school because of disease if there's not something bad going around? So I'd just get the new animals into the cleaned out barn and go from there. But I definitely would clean it out first. It's good husbandry if nothing else.

Jennifer

Eww ewww eww! Can we say mold, disease? Get your tractor and box scraper and clean that mess out. Then you can check for decay on the wood, let the floor dry out (which I bet it desparatly needs), and then sanatize it with lyme. Diseases? Yes you should be worried about them, especialy if it has been used as a lambing barn. If any of those ewes had diseases that were passed off in birth fluids your animals will almost definatly get them, not to mention any other diseases passed off by body fluids or feces. If I was in your position I would clean it out and let the bare floor sun for a week, the sun will help burn off any bacteria protozoa, viruses, etc. on the ground and the covered beams. Good luck with that mess. I get to de-bed my deep bedding in a few weeks

Ok that was a shock. I'm not sure why but I always figured you were this burly red bearded guy that tosses tree trunks. Then I thought wait a minute, no guy that I've known outside of california says ewwww. :D

Yes, they can and very probably will, get diseases from the old bedding if the previous owner had diseases there. It will not "wear down" but will in fact, build up more.
If it was my barn, I would clean it out down to the ground, spread hydrated lime about an inch thick and let it sit for a couple weeks. Then spread a very thick layer of clean straw.
Goats will need a barn to get out of the rain/snow/wind, but why the cattle?? Unless they are bottle calves, I would leave the cattle to roam outside and just let the goats in. The cattle will muck up that barn faster than you would believe, peeing gallons of pee every time they go, not to mention the manure......whereas the goats will take much longer to need the barn cleaned out.
We have Jersey cows here in Missouri and they never have a barn to get inside. They don't need it and would rather seek the cedars if its a bad snowstorm. Our goats get the barn.....they need it. Anyway, just what I would do...... :)

Thanks for the replies everybody. I was mostly concerned about my goats. And yes, as soon as I get a chance I plan on borrowing a skidsteer to break up the layers and compost them.

Funny, that guy you described could be my dad though. Nope I'm a gal, but I'm not usualy that frilly just I can't stand people that can't give thier animals a clean environment. And thinking about years and years worth of bedding just kind of made me regress for a second. Obiviosly you haven't been to San Francisco, or the certain part, if haven't heard a california male say "eww" like that. Not like your missing much though.

When I was in basic training the DI's would ask each person...er number....where they were from so they could knock us down and theywould say to guys from California that there are only two kinds of guys from california and you aint no motorcycle jock son! Cleaned it up a bit ;) Drifting a bit here.
Work will only keep piling up in the barn so unless you own a ladder, I'd clean it now.

Recently we travled up to Wyoming driving through the states. When people learned that we were Californians they asked us stuff like this "Why isn't your hair blonde", "You're not tan", "Do you live on the beach", "Ha your joking they're is no agricultur in CA.", "How many movie stars do you know", What drugs do you do?

Apparantly all of Hollywood is the only thing california is.

Clean it out...And spray Bleach mixture on it then dry it out good....Then new straw.Keep it cleaned out so it don't get rotten or moldy..... idontno

It's clean!
 

You were right, the goats didn't wear it down any and the cows just added to the heap.

So, I bartered with a cousin, two hours in his "bobcat" and we're down to a damp dirt floor inside and a 40 yard pile of moldy, wet bedding outside.

So now I'm going to let the dirt floor dry then put down some lime. After that, what do you recommend, sawdust, straw or both?

Oh, and no more cows in the barn unless it's really bad out. I forgot how much they can mess up a place; besides, they're Galloways and I've never seen such long hair except on Highlands.

Straw, it lasts longer than shavings and depending on your area they are generaly cheaper too. But if you live near a sawmilll I just lied.

Oh Mi Gawd, are you like from california? That is like omg, like so cool. ;).



Jeff

*Stares Blankly* - - - - - -


Anyway.




Jk
(and no I do not live by the beach, no I do not know any movie stars, and no I do not have blonde hair and tan skin)

If you bought a new house for you and your family and the previous folks left the bathroom caked with shower scum and feces in the toilet would you clean it????

Your animals deserve at least a clean environment to live in...

If that were so I don't think I would have bought the house.

From the words of celtic_knot.

:D, k I am done, couldn't resist ;). All in good fun celtic..

:p

Pick on me will you! :viking:


:o

Lime?
 

I've seen it used but never thought much about it. Do you use it as a sterilant? A chemical neutralizer? Or just to create an absorbant hardened layer?

Of course I wouldn't use quicklime, it might harm the animals. Hydrated lime is still somewhat active chemically so is that why you want it? Around here they give away Hydrated lime that was used as a CO2 absorber in cold storage fruit houses; is that what you would use?

I guess I just don't understand what it's purpose is and why I see people using different kinds (hydrated vs. dolomitic). Would I want to use a 2" layer after the barn floor has dryed? Then put a thick layer of fresh bedding on top of it?

Thanks

The lime will cut down odors, and it does absorb moisture. Ag lime is what we use, can't remember what it is exactly, but it comes in 50lb bags.


Jeff

Don't get lime mixed up with lye. I prefer to use a heavy bleach wash because it soaks in the water evaporates and the animals aren't harmed at all but in high traffic areas such as a barn I bleach let it dry and then dust with lime and build up one heck of a thick bed.

I wouldn't use the hydrated lime. It causes birth defects and it gets slimey when it's wet. Dolomatic or "barn lime" is what you should use. It lowers the PH of whatever it's touching and this makes it so that the bacteria can't grow. It also has a lot of grit in it that makes it a non-slip surface for cattle to walk on. I would use a layer just thick enough to make the floor white. A two inch layer is overkill. Before putting on any other bedding let the area dry.

Heather

Still looking for lime.
 

Well, here's what I gathered from this site and others combined.

Using Dolomitic Lime ("chalk dust with Mag-Carb mixed in") under fresh bedding somewhat aids in inhibiting odors, absorbs moisture, neutralizes urine pH, aids traction on wet surfaces and may even amend clay soils to aid in drainage; not to mention it helps fight indigestion.

This explains why around here I've seen white powder (I assumed was lime) spread on the mud infront of & in feed bunks. It makes sense that they are trying raise the pH of the mud so the cattles' lower legs don't get tender and get hoof health issues. Still, I don't see how these "farmers" consider standing knee-deep in the mud of their own urine mixed with run-off acceptable animal husbandry. :soap: Anyway's,...

My barns dirt floor is pretty dry now but I've yet to find some lime to put down. Since I'm running out of time, I'll just put down a thick layer (6") of straw and remember to pick-up the lime as time permits then use it next time I clean the barn.

Jan,
You can get lime at Home depot in the gardening section by the fertilizers. They have the best price for it that I've seen.
Susie

Been there. We bought a dairy farm and the previous farmer didn't clean out the barn. What a mess. It does have a Patz cleaner so hubby and I used a gas pressure washer, scrapers, and shovels to push the old bedding into the gutters, while the Patz cleaner pushed it all out into manure loading area. The bedding was stuck on bad. Took us weeks. But got some nice fertilizer/compost. Then I spread dry stall stuff down. Now we have 2 cows and 4 goats. All doing well.

This should propbably be another thread, but have any of you heard of Q Fever? My DH, Sister in Law and I all got it from bottle lambs in 2004. Nearly killed DH & SIL. I fared much better. It is caused by bacteria in urine, feces and birth by products, drying out and becoming airborn and being inhaled. We had all sorts of information coming at us from CDC, DOH & State Vet - according to SV 80+% of sheep carry it. However most people only have flu like symptoms. We had our entire herd of goats blood tested and all came back negative :-) just one of the four bottle lambs which had already been sold (before we knew we had a problem). Anyhow, with Q Fever the animal never appears ill, they are simply the carrier so regardless if the PO's animals were "healthy" the could have been carriers. Please wear :nono: a respirator when cleaning your barn, and practice as good of hygeine for your animals as you do for yourself.

You mean I gotta teach them to wipe their rears and then wash their hooves??? ;) Sorry, couldn't resist. Thanks for the words of warning....