[egglady]

friend of ours is coming round tomorrow to help build the goat house (old shed) & asked if it needs a floor - realised i didnt know!  can anyone help please?

and do i need to get thenm to line the interior?

[little blue]

it depends!
I'd say yes, but you could have any number of materials, each with pros and cons...
concrete ~ cold but wash-down-able

wood, chipboard ~ warmer, might rot, get chewed, rat holes if you feed in there,

bare earth ~ will need covering in Winter, in theory urine should soak in (til you cover it in straw!)

Are you getting kids?  they will run and jump to kick the shed, if they're anything like mine! So extra lining might be useful. And goats will chew the wood - we've patched ours up numerous times....

how long til you get goats?  very exciting!!

[Anke]

In Scotland - yes floor very sensible.

If wooden I would treat it with creosote (and get dry before goats arrive), and make sure it is strong wood, not your normal shed floor.

Concrete really would be the best, with a thick straw (or other) bedding on top.

[ambriel]

I guess a lot depends upon the site and whether rainwater will drain into it or away.

In winter I'd think some insulation from the cold ground would be welcome.

[egglady]

thanks, not sure yet

[Skirza]

I'm on the fence with this one. We have one side of our goat shed with a concrete floor and the other side with a dirt floor. The concrete side needs a lot more cleaning out, the dirt side is harder to keep smelling sweet ( I generally chuck a bucket of jeyes over it and let it soak in for a couple of hours once a month). I do use a lot less straw on the dirt as the pee just goes straight through and soaks away.

[Brucklay]

Agree with Skirza - We have concrete one area and the other a foot of gravel then a bed of straw - pebbles are good for drainage and always seems dry.

[Antz]

Our spoilt lot have 3 choices,
Converted garage with concrete floor - easy to clean out but needs doing more often, needs a thick
bed of straw in the winter.
Old goat house with wooden floor - had to replace the floor as it rotted last winter, not sure how old it was as we inherited it with the land,
Field shelter with dirt floor - straw down as bedding, lasts the longest but takes a while to dig out and replace, agree about the smell though. For drainage we added a couple of underground perforated pipes running into the ditch behind and guttering off the pitched roof.

[goosepimple]

I'd say yes to a floor - a quickie method is to get some large scale concrete slabs from your local Diy store or maybe you could get some free on www.freecycle.org - make sure the ground is level though - using sand for this is good.  A nice cosy bed of straw on top is good.  We're also about to make a concrete area around our goat shed as there's been quite a bit of rain recently and its pretty slimy and muddy where the goats trail in and out and it takes ages to dry out - think about what their potential routes are around the place and maybe include those too.  Concrete makes for easy cleaning and hard standing is good for their hoof nails too.  Enjoy your goats, they are lovely creatures.

[ambriel]

I do use a lot less straw on the dirt as the pee just goes straight through and soaks away.

That's what I'm trying now. We had a plastic/lino floor in it at first but this wasn't allowing the pee to drain away so whilst it's still summer I'm going to try them straight onto the ground with plenty of hay, of course, and give it a good forking each day.

[gem]

my parents goats have a concrete floor but with a wooden shelf for the goats to sleep on 

[ambriel]

my parents goats have a concrete floor but with a wooden shelf for the goats to sleep on 

Good idea! I've got a few pallets laying around that I can use to do that.

[jaykay]

We have concrete/brick floors, bedded out with straw plus wooden sleeping benches 

[Mays]

I have concrete floors with rubber matting on top, I sprinkle the mats with powder deoderiser, then a layer of shavings topped with plenty straw. I muck out twice a week to keep it free of flies & smells better that way, but in the winter I deep litter for warmth.

[goosepimple]

Read a couple of you are using benches for goats - I haven't done this up to now but it sounds appealing.  Do the goats actually use them?  Do they butt them around?  Are they best slatted?  Do they use one each?  Do you put more straw on them to soften them?  How high?  Questions, questions, anything else I need to know I haven't asked???