cleaning the pen

[MamaDee]

Well, hubby had a fun day today. He spent the entire day pitchforking out straw from the pen and driving it to the garden for compost. All day. It got me thinking about cleaning in general.

How often do you all clean out your pens? I mean really clean them out? Remove everything (well, almost) and start fresh? I know it makes a difference what's on the bottom....we have very small rock called screenings. On top of that is a thin layer of barn lime, then straw. We add more straw as needed so there is no odor or wetness. How often should we be getting rid of all the old straw and starting over? It is a HUGE job to get that all out. DH looked a big pooped!

Also what do you all clean your feed troughs with? What's the best way to clean off the milking stand pad? We have a rubber mat that needs to be brushed out b/c of all the little bumps in it. Anything else that needs cleaning? Hay manger is wood...how would you deal with that. Do you?

We have our first kid due in four weeks......I want it CLEAN!!!

Dee

[christij]

Well I cleaned everything out twice over the winter and then spring I cleaned it all out. Now that it's summer I clean every 2-3 days to keep the flys out. One stall is on concrete which I am not a big fan of --- I have to put in stall dry to keep the urine under control. I have everyone in two stalls right now -- I am still in the process of cleaning out the third w/ help from the chickens. I have a stall in the big barn and will be adding a second for kidding since we kid in late winter/early spring and it has a fire place in it.

[Cloverbud]

The stall has a fireplace, or the barn has a fireplace? Either way, COOL!!

[MamaDee]

Well I cleaned everything out twice over the winter and then spring I cleaned it all out. Now that it's summer I clean every 2-3 days to keep the flys out>>>

How big of an area are you cleaning every 2-3 days? Are you cleaning everything out that often?

Our main pen is 16 x 16. We now have 7 does in there...plus it's open all day to the pasture. If I tell my DH he has to pitchfork that out every 3 days he'll sell the goats! :baby04: How often for a big pen with good drainage?

Dee

[BlueHeronFarm]

We have dirt floors in the barn and rake them out every day. We tried bedding once, and we'd pick poo out and take any wet stuff daily, too. What a hassle!This may sound oxymoronic, but dirt is SO much easier to keep clean.

We throw down stall dry on any icky wet spots and we spray down the walls and floors with bleach solution a couple times a year.

[goatsareus]

we have dirt floors topped with limestsone dust, 10 goats and an area about 20 feet by 20 feet for their loafing pen. I clean it all out about every 5 to 6 weeks, year round. Load it up in a wheel barrow and wheel it out to the garden which is blessedly close to the barn.

[lynpea]

Mine gets cleaned out (20x15) every 6-8 weeks in the winter and every 3-4 weeks in the summer. Mine are on a wooden floor so we try to keep it clean. I clean it in the a.m. and then let it airdry until evening.

Spraying with bleach water I have been trying to come up with a way to clean the walls and stuff in there......I'll do that next time I clean it out.

What exactly does the lime do and what kind do you use?

[goatsareus]

the lime does a couple of things, it keeps the urine odors down and makes it easier to clean out, you stop digging with the pitch fork when you hit the lime layer. Don't remember the kind, had it delivered in a dump truck.. I would be either agricultural lime or what is called 'bug dust' around here, fine limestone for roads.

[Scrounger]

I usually clean mine out every other Saturday, year round. My wife's dad cleans his every day. He has concrete, I have dirt.

[Oldntimes]

I clean all my pens out completly every other week.


MamaDee: You get your DH to clean your pens out for you?? Not here They are my goats I do all the dirty work.LOL!!!!!

[vancom]

We do the shed 2 times in winter and 2 times in summer. They are in the woods from 6-5 each day, so time in bedding shed is minimal. It's big so it's a huge job to fork it to the dirt. But we do it. Takes half a day.

The loafing area is raked twice a week and they hang out there until midnight, I swear! Goat berries for days...

[MamaDee]

We do the shed 2 times in winter and 2 times in summer. They are in the woods from 6-5 each day, so time in bedding shed is minimal. It's big so it's a huge job to fork it to the dirt. But we do it. Takes half a day.

The loafing area is raked twice a week and they hang out there until midnight, I swear! Goat berries for days...>>>>>

What's the "loafing area"? Four times a year for the main pen is a bit more manageable. It is a HUGE job! It took DH more than half the day--almost all day. I'm assuming those who clean everything out every day or every week either have concrete and have to or it's a smaller area--more like stalls? I can't imagine forking a 16 x 16 pen to the dirt often. Not only back breaking for your back--but for your pocketbook, too.

And yes, my DH does the pen cleaning. It would have taken me a week! Also, I have an 11 month old human kid to look after. She can handle life without Mommy long enough for me to milk--but an entire day? Forget it! ; )
Actually the 3 year old wanted to help, but he's not much with a pitch fork--he rode in the tractor. The other kids (ages 5, 8 and 11) are pretty good help with milking, feeding, etc. but this job was just too big and nasty.

DH is the hard labor....pen building, fence upkeep, mowing. I'm the milking, feeding, baby feeling, temp. taking, first aid, record keeping, supply getting (read money spending), and herd manager.

Thanks for all the replies. Looks like we need to clean the pen more often. I'll blame that on you guys if you don't mind, when I tell him!

Dee

[Alice In TX/MO]

When it's dry, could I use a shop vac on the berries?

[vancom]

Mama Dee--the loafing area is the dirt and gravel section in front of the shed. They hang out there when the weather is nice of an evening. A quick rake is all it needs so long as it is dry. When it's wet, it's muck!

I wish they could LIVE in the woods--the goat berries break down better out there just like Mother Nature intended! But I like them inside a more secured area at night.

[Liese]

MamaDee, do some looking around for info about deep pack bedding for winter. I can't remember her name but there is someone (in NY ?) who wrote up about this and I think if you goggle deep pack bedding or something like you will find her article. Anyway, this is what we do here - start with a base of dry straw and keep adding all winter. The chickens do a great job aerating it. Then after it gets warmer I forked it all out and to the compost pile. But next year I'm going to try trench composting - more direct. Now the goats are on the bare dirt floor which I rake every morning but this is a small open shed 20x14. Couple times a week I sprinkle garden lime & DE over the dirt and the llamas promptly roll around in that! When my girls kidded I had feed bags ready and as the kids came I put them on the open feed bag and in front of the Mum so we both could clean, we would be in the main area. After all the hoopla I then slowly carried the kids in front of Mum to a seperate pen where they stayed for at least 1 day for bonding and observation. I liked this method: 1. because I could then go back and really clean up the area where they birthed, 2. had more room to work then a 4x6 area & 3. the does can move around more easily whilst in labour. Hope all goes well in the next few weeks.

[BethW]

As a goat newbie, I was wondering about this same question recently. I have three minis in a 14'x14' stall that they have access to in the day but are locked into at night. The floor is packed dirt with a layer of straw. Right now, I'm cleaning all the straw out every 8 weeks down to dirt. I'm finding while the top layer of straw is dry, the bottom layer is damp and starting to break down.

[christij]

Originally Posted by Cloverbud

The stall has a fireplace, or the barn has a fireplace? Either way, COOL!!

The barn has a wood stove! Imagne my delight when we came across that when we were buying the place.

[christij]

Originally Posted by MamaDee

Well I cleaned everything out twice over the winter and then spring I cleaned it all out. Now that it's summer I clean every 2-3 days to keep the flys out>>>

How big of an area are you cleaning every 2-3 days? Are you cleaning everything out that often?

Dee

The goats barn use to be a horse barn so the two stall's I'm cleaning are not the size of yours. And the only bedding is hay waste so it's a sweep -- usually one wheelbarrow with hay waste and manure. Takes about 30 minutes maybe.
I can also relate to the baby thing -- mine is 18 months old -- so an 1/2 day cleaning in the winter required her to be at the sitter.

[Milk n' Honey]

Our barn floor is dirt. We allow the hay to pile up and form a manure pack in the winter. We throw lime down when we notice any odors or too much moisture. It stays that way all winter, while the weather is really cold. The pack does provide some extra insulation and warmth. In the spring, we use the loader on the tractor to clean it all out and move it to a pile near the garden, which we will spread this fall and till into the garden. We are getting ready to start composting soon also. During the spring/summer, I'll rake the barn if needed but the goats are rarely allowed into the barn as we have small shelters spread throughout the property that are sufficient during warmer weather. So, we basically do one good cleaning and the barn is allowed to sit and rest for a while. We'll be looking to use the barn again soon as we'll be kidding in August-October. Our creep feed area is inside the barn so we'll at least have babies in and out during that time, until really cold weather hits. I agree that dirt floors are easier to keep clean. LOL!! It is true!!

[Spinner]

Clean them? Your suppose to clean them? Just kidding.

I cleaned twice a year when I only had 2, but now I have 9 girls in there. They have 2 rooms in the barn, one is fairly large about 16'x20', the other is only about 12'x'12. They can move freely between them. They only go in at night to sleep so it didn't get real dirty last year. It has a dirt floor with lots of hay for them to play around on. This year I'll probably have to clean it at least once a month. With it raining almost every day, they have been spending a LOT of time inside. It's open on the south side so there is good air ventilation. That helps keep the smell down and so far we haven't had a fly problem. Chickens, ducks, and guineas hang out in there so they do a lot of cleaning up too.