Barn floor rot

[buck_1one]

Hello everyone,

I've been lurking here for a while. Been reading most of the old post for the last couple of weeks. I feel like I've known some of you for years just from reading all the old posts. LOL

I don't have any goats at this time, but came across some free wood and want to start building the barn. I'm wondering about the floor rotting. With all the hay and everything else that will be on the floor, will rot be a problem? If so what can be done to make the floor last as long as possible. I can not make the floor out of dirt as the barn will have to be a couple of feet up in the air. Which leads me to another question.

Floods! I live in a low area that gets flooded about twice a year. About 6" of water will come across the yard from my creek out back. The goats will stay in the barn during the floods, but what about the mud? It takes about two days (after it stops raining) for the ground to get solid enough to walk on again. Will this make problems for their hoofs, or anything else? I could clean them out real good after it drys up or will this just be too much of a problem for them?

I don't have a lot of land so the barn will not be large enough to keep them pened up for days on end, or I make the barn larger and they have less room to "play".

Thanks for any answers you can give me and I'm sure this will not be the last one I have before or if I do get my goats. LOL If it matters I'm looking at Nubian goats.

Thanks again.
Bill

[Corky]

Do not put a floor in your barn. Put several inches of sand right on the ground.
In the summer that is all you need and in the winter you can put straw on top of that and it will be much easier to clean up.
Wood floors will rot.
Yes, the mud will probably cause hoof rot. Keep their hoofs trimmed well and keep them out of the mud as much as possable. Is there no where you can build that barn out of the flood plain?

[deetu]

Locking them in the barn isn't always a good thing too. They have a bigger problem with ammonia build up, making respiratory problems.

[Stacy Adams]

Hi Bill and welcome! I had my girls on a wood floor for a long time before I moved and got a barn with a dirt floor.. so much nicer.. but if you can't, you can't..
what I did was put a heavy layer of Sweet PDZ (found at most horse supply places) which changes the chemical composition of urine so that it doesn't produce amnonia, then a heavy layer of shavings.. if you don't have a lot of goats - yea, you don't have any now, but they are like potatoe chips, you can't have just one! - then you can clean up wet spots and berry piles pretty easily, and sprinkle more Sweet PDZ on the spot.. I only did it in the mornings on nice days and of course more often on nasty days...
On those rainy days, they will stay in the barn on their own and probably won't venture out into the mud untill it starts to dry some. As long as they have a dry place to go their feet should be fine.. it's only when they can't get 'em dry that you run into problems..
My barn was initially built where water runoff from the pasture hit the west side of the barn.. corrugated roofing material was placed up against the barn and angled away, sort of like an L , the trim came down over the top of the L and dirt was piled up against the lower part to keep water out.. I've since added a bit of dirt to the inside, and the girls have a little 'step-up' to get into the barn, and the floor stay's dry, even in wet wether..
Oh yea, good choice in goats...

[Milking Mom]

Could you maybe have a few loads of dirt brought in before you build your barn to elevate the barn site.... and when they spread the dirt out have them direct a drainage ditch away from the barn? An expense up front, but it could save many many years of aggravation and damage from water and mud.

[susanne]

depends on how much money you can afford you could raise the fundament of the walls with concrete blocks and then fill the floor with dirt. outside you could put some old palletes that the goat can go out of the mud. i got some of my goats from a guy who had a very muddy place and most of his goats had severe hoof problems :waa:
it is sad to see a goat lifting up her feet and looking at you. some of them even didn't stand up. this guy is a meat dealer and he doesn't care so much because most of his goats are only a very short time on his place. it takes only a short time for the animals to stay in thoose filthy conditions to get bad feet.
so if you can prepare your place before you get you nubians that would be great.
susanne

[buck_1one]

Originally Posted by Corky

Is there no where you can build that barn out of the flood plain?

Yes, but it would be soooo much work. I would have to relocate an existing building. I have been kicking this idea around. Just not too sure I want to be taking buildings down, moving, and rebuilding them. Moving things around would be better off me anyhow. Being as it's just me here I don't know if I want to go through all that myself.

Originally Posted by susanne

you could raise the fundament of the walls with concrete blocks and then fill the floor with dirt.

I know where I can get some blocks, this sounds like it might work, but what a lot of work that would be to lay all those blocks! Doesn't look like there is any easy way around things.



What about pressure treated floors? If the floor is covered with hay the goats can't chew on the floor (or will they?) and would be safe from the pressure treated wood.

As far as the mud in the yard goes....being as this only happens about twice a year and only lasts a couple days each time, will that short time really hurt their hoofs?

Thanks for your input on this.
Bill

[susanne]

i would not use pressure treated wood. if it is only muddy twice a year that shouldn't be this bad. another idea is put some skids 4"X6" on the ground and build some panels with 2"X2" leave a space in between so urin could go through. if it is dry and sunny take the panels out in the sun and let them dry. its only for the time it is really muddy. all other times you would have your dirt floor in the barn.
does this sound silly? if you have the chance go and have a look at some barn building books. one i liked very much was "Barns, Sheds& Outbuildings" from John D.Wagner and Clayton Dekorne. puplisher Creative Homeowner.
susanne