Bedding questions

[Simpler1773]

Thanks for all of the fencing advice ~ the building is up and the pen is done!

[IMG][/IMG]

Now, a couple of questions about bedding inside of the building! It's a pretty large area(24x38 I think), and we'll only have 3 goats to start with. Can I use hay, or would it need to be straw? I have access to cheap hay, but not cheap straw ~ that's why I ask. Also has anyone ever used sawdust? I *may* have access to that as well.

How often does the bedding need to be changed out?

Thanks everyone! It looks like we'll be getting our girls tomorrow!!!! :banana02:
Ricki

[ozark_jewels]

Looks GREAT!!
Old hay will work, but its not as good as straw. It gets wet faster, packs faster, and is much harder to muck out with a pitchfork. And you must make sure its not moldy. Goats will nibble on their bedding and some types of mold can affect goats simply because they stir it up and its in the air.
Bedding needs changed out when you can get down on the goats level and smell ammonia, or when if you press your knee into the straw, it gets damp.

[topside1]

I use the hay that the goats/steers waste and have never had a problem. In my area of the Tennessee I doubt straw is even an option. This is pure beef country with little or no crops being grown. I have two truckloads of sawdust on order and will be looking forward to experimenting with it as a bedding this winter. Right now my goats perfer laying around on dirt so I only use hay bedding during the winter. Will start a thread in the dead of winter if I feel sawdust bedding has major advantages....John

[ozark_jewels]

Oh, and thuogh I prefer straw, I use the waste hay from the goats for their bedding as well as feeding it to the cows.

[BearCreekFarm]

Our goat pens are in an old dairy barn with a concrete floor. We put down a 4-5" layer of sawdust, then add a few wheelbarrow loads as the first layer "shrinks". After the second layer goes down we just use the wasted goats' hay on top of the sawdust. Sometimes if the bedding gets a little thin I'll throw a bale of old hay or straw in on top of it.

Sawdust is free for the hauling around here, and we bale our own hay. If I had straw I'd use it, but we haven't grown anything yet that we can bale for straw. I think this fall I will collect a few truckloads of bagged leaves in town to add to the bedding. The goats will eat some of the leaves, and the rest breaks down into lovely compost when mixed with the sawdust/hay/straw bedding.