The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Goats => Topic started by: ScotsGirl on December 16, 2012, 11:16:53 pm
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Can any of you experienced goat owners advise on different bedding choices. I currently use straw but it is bulky to dispose of and seems quite wet. I try and put up like the horse bed to air it and lift out really wet stuff before putting down at night but worried feet aren't getting a chance to dry out.
I use a 12'x12' shelter at the moment for 6 boer x girls. Is this big enough and should I put some slabs down in part of it to give a solid base? I don't want to lay concrete and trying to make life easier for myself. Are shavings any good or too expensive?
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Paving slabs excellent................try rubber mats, a lot of people use secondhand conveyor belting in stables.
I got all my shaving from a factory making bee hive etc, all whitewood....dont use cedar shavings - can be toxic. Paid very little for huge bags which are equivalent to a compressed bale.
Try furniture makers or anybody like this......usually only too glad to get rid of it.
Straw is heavy ........... I had to give it up because of arthritis................only use it now for kidding.
This winter I reckon I have saved 75% of previous costs by tracking down these shavings.
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We have tried all sorts of stuff for bedding over the years but always go back to straw
They love snuggling down into a deep fresh bed and nibbling the straw when its fresh
We use 2 big round bales a month for the goats and donkeys
We tried shavings but they ate them and I am sure that's what set them off wood chewing as untill then they had never done it
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imho nothing will beat straw for bedding.
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We use Easibed as they are in with my pony, and that is what suits her.
Helen
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I know people use Hemcore as it is easier to muck out (not too heavy) and seems to soak up more of the liquids. Quite expensive though.
I use straw as I get my bales in exchange for a couple of jars of honey...
If you put paving slabs on soil rats will most likely burrow under it.
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If you put paving slabs on soil rats will most likely burrow under it.
likewise for pretty much any standing with the exception of concrete.
maybe worth thinking about a solid floor rats can bring in all sorts of nasties as well as the damage they cause.
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If the straw seems so wet, maybe a lack of drainage is the problem? When I had my two goats, I put a pallet down in one corner of the pen to keep the straw off the ground and built up a nice warm straw mat on that over winter, and that's what they slept on. The entire pen floor (concrete) was on a slight slope, though, so unless we had heavy rains (not unheard of here ::) ), it wasn't ever too wet.
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We let the straw build up throughout the winter - deep litter system. So far we have used 2 big bales of straw and the straw on the ground is now about 10 inches deep - with the top layer lovely and dry. If you dig down, it is compacted and wet, although the floor is chalk so liquids drains away.
The vet likes it and so do the goats as it is soft. They have a stack of stones, bricks and paving slabs to clamber on against one wall too.
I got a man and digger in to clear it last spring and take it to the muckheap - a couple of hours work.
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I got a man and digger in to clear it last spring and take it to the muckheap - a couple of hours work.
I wish..... ;D , I get "my" man and his wheelbarrow and between us we muck out in spring... exhausting job, but we can do it one pen (5ft by 8ft and at least 1ft 1/2 high) at a time....
But it is amazing how warm the deep bedding gets!
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I semi-deep litter mine, using straw, I clean it out (me, a gripe and a quad-bike trailer, it's a day's very hard work :P) every 2-3 months.
The straw on top stays pleasant and dry, I keep adding to it over the weeks. The stuff underneath is smelly and awful but you only find that out when you clean out.
I put mine in the corner of a field, let it rot down and then use it in flowerbeds.
I'd certainly put down paving slabs, rats will burrow under them and in due course you may need to lift them and re-do them. If you can put them onto 20mm chippings or bigger, that will both improve drainage and make it harder for digging rats.
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My problem is getting rid of the stuff. I have five big bins made from pallets and they are nearly all full. I can give it away on Freecycle in the spring but no one wants it now. Any ideas? Can't get a digger in here unless it will go through a three foot gateway.
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I have same issue with disposal and no "man" to do the hard work. Also not enough access for a tractor even if I could find one. I think I will try a combination of some slabs along entrance and pallets. Roof sheets coming tomorrow so if I can find some muscle power to help at weekend hopefully new shelter will be up :fc: :fc: better still maybe Father Christmas will do it for me :innocent:
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My problem is getting rid of the stuff. I have five big bins made from pallets and they are nearly all full. I can give it away on Freecycle in the spring but no one wants it now. Any ideas? Can't get a digger in here unless it will go through a three foot gateway.
Are there any allotments local to you?
Where I lived before and had an allotment, someone brought a load of muck, piled it in the corner and anyone could help themselves, always wanted more.
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Good thinking, I may ask although had a bit of an issue a few years ago. Someone sprayed my field, god knows what with but someone took some manure from the pile and it killed all their veg and prize roses! Oops!
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I wote a reply and it clashed with yours I think Scotsgirl, so here it is second version:
The straw in our goat shed is wet too as it doesn't absorb very well so I used a bale of straw each per goat as a raised bed for them, so at least their feet are dry at night and when they lie on them during the day. Once the floor straw is getting a bit too smelly and wet I clear it out then snip the strings on one of the raised beds and spread it out over the floor, then replaced the raised bed bale for whichever goat it is I've nicked from.
I used to deep litter but it's a real job getting it all out. I find that one bale spread around in our wee shed isn't too much to clear out or get rid of once a month. And it's something I can live with which is always a plus and my OH is always far to busy dealing with other nightmares than to deal with my own. ;)
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Brilliant idea Goosepimple. I will get some more bales and try that. Adult Boers don't seem so bothered about being up high although my little AN loves her chair. Used to be a raised dog bed but now seems popular with the goats.
Hoping to get time to concentrate on my girlies over the holidays. They are such timewasters, they love cuddles and scratches.
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There is an allotment very near us but they already have a supplier of well rotted manure. Mine needs to go before it reaches that stage.
Goat shed, BTW, is an old garden shed with a wooden floor. I drilled one inch diameter holes at intervals to help with the drainage. Once it gives out, I will have concrete laid.
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Forgot to ask if you all keep yours shut in now? I shut mine in for a few nights as they seemed a bit wary of their new quarters but now seem to take themselves in at night and when wet but I do leave them with quarter acre to wander around. Worried though it will get churned up before kidding and lambing but feel mean shutting them up all the time.
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All of our goats live in and only get out when we let them out , nine times out of ten when we put them out they start creating to get back in within an hour and if they are in the big field they jump the wall and go back in themselves
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Mamby Pambies Sokel ::) , get them off the computer and out to play.
Scotsgirl, quite a few of us just leave the door to their shed open and let them free range - they will go in at night anyway and cosy down and they will stay there when it's rainy. Ours are 50/50 in and out. It's unlikely they will churn your place up before spring. The entrance area does get churned though - I've put down that plastic web mesh you get on a roll from the garden centre - type of stuff you might put around tree trunks or as temp fencing - the small gauge 2cm-ish size grid type is best as they can't get their wee hooves through it - it stops the in/out area from getting too muddy - you don't want mud plugs and consequently foot scald and it has worked really well for our girls (and they don't eat it).
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Mine only have a yard and they come and go as they please. I never shut the shed door.
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I shut the byre door at night but during the day they come and go as they please - either into the yard or right up the ghyll depending on the weather. The chooks live in there during bad weather in the day too.
Mine have sleeping benches, made out of planks and 4x4, which look like very heavy and agricultural coffee tables :D They both prefer them, and when there are kids, the little ones often make a nest underneath :D
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Mine are in and out during the day but sometimes I do close them in when the rain is coming horizontaly from the east and straight into their shed as nobody wants to be out then anyway and to stop the bedding getting wet - could be one of those days today!!
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I turn mine out with the pony if the weather is ok. None of them like being out in the rain. They all share a stable , in the barn and it is only when it is horrendous weather, I shut the door.
Helen