Author Topic: Best bedding for pygmy goats? (Read 6437 times)

laurelrus · « **on:** July 29, 2014, 06:52:43 pm »

We have put straw on the floor of the goat house for our pair of pygmy goats but I wonder if this is the best option?
I went on a donkey care course at the weekend through the Donkey Sanctuary and they use deep litter bedding and I heard how good that is (for donkeys at least). Would this be better for our goats? Would it be easier to clean them out? I wonder how it compares for cost?
If anyone can offer any advice, that would be excellent, thank you.

Melmarsh · « **Reply #1 on:** July 29, 2014, 07:37:10 pm »

Hi ! I don't think there's any problem with straw, the deep bedding is just a term for adding straw regularly to keep the top, laying area dry for the goats. I am see to empty my deep litter beds in summer so that they had a cool bed to lay on, then add to it and by the time you get to winter they have extra warm under them as the straw starts to rot beneath them. This is OK if you can empty it relatively easily. Depending on the floor area it shouldn't build up too quickly with a couple of pigmies. Good luck with them, mine were quite naughty climbing stock fencing like a ladder, after they had rubbed on it to make it lean.

fiestyredhead331 · « **Reply #2 on:** July 29, 2014, 07:59:10 pm »

with our dairy goats they have straw down but they pull down/drop extra hay on the floor themselves

deep litter is just topping up rather than cleaning often, ideal in the winter as it provides extra warmth and then a major dung out in the spring,

shygirl · « **Reply #3 on:** July 29, 2014, 08:37:33 pm »

we use a wood shavings base and often a top layer of straw if its really cold so the can snuggle up/munch. shavings keeps the urine smell under control.

laurelrus · « **Reply #4 on:** July 30, 2014, 09:05:33 am »

Thanks for the replies, I should have explained better, what I meant was deep litter using wood shavings, not straw. I just wasn't sure if I could do that for goats, so thank you Shygirl, I'm going to switch to that and see how that works.

fiestyredhead331 · « **Reply #5 on:** July 30, 2014, 10:55:24 am »

woodshavings are great but be prepared for some back breaking work when it comes time to clean it out, it sets like chipboard but does make the place smell nice for a day or two

Anke · « **Reply #6 on:** July 30, 2014, 05:44:29 pm »

You can buy either hemp or rape straw, cut down into small bits, as big bagged square bales (you can just about carry them). They are god at absorbing moisture, stay dry on top, not as hard on the wrists/back/knees when mucking out (straw, especially from large round bales will be very heavy to muck out) and will rot down much quicker than straw based muck. If you use wood shavings they will rot down even slower than straw based manure.

Only drawback is cost, but it really depends on your circumstances. With an arthritic wrist I now have to optimise what I can do, and mucking out deep straw beds is just not an option.

Tradenames to look for are "Hemcore" and "BlissBedding".

Treud na Mara · « **Reply #7 on:** July 30, 2014, 09:55:53 pm »

They are SO fussy about their hay that we just use the 'rejected for eating' stuff, lifting out big mucky clumps every day and completely clearing out every few weeks depending how much time they have been spending indoors. The clear out then goes in to the chicken pen and lastly on to the compost heap. We did try our girls on straw but they didn't seem very impressed so as the hay they use would be wasted otherwise this seems to work well.