I know we've discussed it. My barn is a sloppy mess

Doug Hodges · #1 04/15/14, 02:55 PM

What do I put down to dry it out or in this case, soak up the excess water. I have a drainage issue. I have guys coming out this afternoon to begin installation of a gutter. What do you use. Sand? Sawdust? Hay?

After I get it dried up, all the goats get a bath. It's a sloppy mess right now.

simi-steading · #2 04/15/14, 02:58 PM

Sawdust and hay.. then once it soaks up a lot, get it cleaned out..

Tango · #3 04/15/14, 03:00 PM

My barn has a concrete floor but a severe drainage problems beside it swamps it. I was tired of changing out pine shavings Then I found a cl ad for wheat straw for $3 / bale. They are heavy bales and kept under roof. My hens and doelings stand on about a foot of wheat straw. Instead of cleaning out every week I let it start to compost in there throwing in a fresh flake each day (two or three for the doelings). The doelings love the straw and nibble on it throughout the day. Throwing in fresh means they are never in their urine or feces. I use the old stuff for compost when I do clean it out entirely.

Doug Hodges · #4 04/15/14, 03:10 PM

I had a foot of hay in it. I didn't realize it was so wet underneath until we cleaned it all out.

Doug Hodges · #5 04/16/14, 05:04 AM

The gutters are being installed today. Fingers crossed it fixes my problem. Then I'm going to Lyme everything and add some old dried out hay to the top of the dirt. I'm considering pouring concrete. I have concrete in two of my bigger stalls and love how easy it is to clean.

SeaGoat · #6 04/16/14, 05:47 AM

Saw dust and maybe even wood chips should soak it up pretty well.
Maybe not standing water,m though

myheaven · #7 04/16/14, 07:33 AM

I use to use straw. I hated cleaning it out. Oh it was hard on my back. Always tangled together. Wood shavings and dust clean out so much faster and less pain. If I ever get my big barn. I'm going to get a chopper to chop up the straw and hay used for bedding. The whole tangled mess is such a pain!

Bret · #8 04/16/14, 08:13 AM

I am slowly adding 12 foot of geotextile fabric around barn.

I first added downspouts that go into 4" tile underground, around and away from the old drive through corn crib and lean too. In the same trench was perf. 4" tile to carry ground water away. When this was done, I graded some top soil away, put down fabric and three inches of No. 2 stone and a 2 or 3 inches of crushed lime stone.

As I can afford it, I will expand outward with traffic areas in particular. Good luck.

Tango · #9 04/16/14, 09:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by myheaven

I use to use straw. I hated cleaning it out. Oh it was hard on my back. Always tangled together. Wood shavings and dust clean out so much faster and less pain. If I ever get my big barn. I'm going to get a chopper to chop up the straw and hay used for bedding. The whole tangled mess is such a pain!

It is hard on my back too but I have about an acre of bare red clay from dozer work that needs a good mulch cover so the straw for me is dual purpose. I can't say that the pine shavings, when I used them, were any easier on my back though. Plus they were more expensive and didn't last as long. I noticed they were way more susceptible to mold as well. I guess it depends on the area and the problem. My barn doesn't keep standing water. The way the land eroded above it, the water seeps in during rain but seeps out on the other side. The floor and bottom of the boards get wet but there is no standing water. I had to buy a proper pitch fork for clean outs and a garden cart too. The hens do a great job composting the straw and the bottom layer is ready for the garden when I take it out.
I love to see the doelings cuddled in a nest of straw. It is always dry. Straw really has worked well here.

wberry85 · #10 04/16/14, 09:38 AM

Ever heard of french drains? Easy to build and if you have an area where the water settles they are great for directing water where you need it to go.

wintrrwolf · #11 04/16/14, 05:50 PM

Well being one that spent almost a whole day cleaning out my poultry house(because over winter it housed chickens and ducks) if anyone knows ducks they really fling that water around. Over the winter I used pine shavings, straw, and hay even some leaves...it was a harsh backbreaking job getting all that wet smelly mess shoveled out...
I laid down pine pellets and it is working soooo much better!! The pellets absorb the wet, swell and then break down dry, into sawdust

the odor control has been great, 2 weeks and still no ammonia smell.

Backfourty,MI. · #12 04/16/14, 09:23 PM

I bet the gutters will help a lot with the drainage problem but I think I'd also raise the inside of the barn floor with sand, then lime it & add fresh bedding.

Dfreddie · #13 04/16/14, 10:06 PM

I put down a layer of stall pellets under my straw. It's amazing how much they can soak up! And then it's All fluffy when it soaks up. Not sure if they are pine or what but they are called stall pro and I get them at runnings. They're made for horse stalls and your actually supposed to soak them first when used for the real purpose I guess but they work great for me. And I don't soak them obviously becuz I'm using them to pull water from the pens and from urine. Good luck. I'm slowly getting all my leaks etc fixed. It's a pain

PricklyThistle · #14 04/17/14, 02:00 PM

I have the exact same barn issue. Dirt floor, poor drainage - it gets sloppy as heck. I use deep bedding - straw and wasted hay is recycled to pad the floor thick enough that the top is dry. In the winter you don't clean much, just keep fresh bedding on top and the natural composting action generates some heat too. In the Spring, you clean it out proper, down to a layer that has totally composted to dirt and put lime or DE and new bedding down. It might take a while but this method will create a higher floor as it generates "new dirt" and less water seeps in.