Bedding

Anna Cummings October 23, 2009 at 9:41am

I read not to use pine shavings in the kidding stall. I think it was because the kids could inhale the dust or little particles and it's not good for their lungs.

For my nursery area, this spring/summer I used pine shavings in the kidding stall, it was very absorbant and cleaned up easy for daily cleaning.

Adrienne October 10, 2009 at 7:18pm

Oh how convenient! This is one of my burning questions about goats!! I have read that many goat farmers don't use any bedding during the summer, and their barns/shelters have wood or dirt floors. To me this seems like a reasonable idea. The thing is...Living in South East Louisiana...at what point could it be considered winter? It's October and we still have close to 80 degrees most days. It rarely ever gets below 40 degrees at its coldest and is 95+ at the hottest. Could mulch be used as bedding? Cleaning poop and pee spots twice daily, How often should the entire bedding be changed?

Deborah Niemann-Boehle October 6, 2009 at 9:38am

Oh, yeah, we make a LOT of compost here! :)

Mary Colman said:

I use straw thru the winter for warmth and it builds up nicely for bedding. If I pick up a cheap hay that doesn't have much nutruition I may use that along with the straw. For my nursery area, this spring/summer I used pine shavings in the kidding stall, it was very absorbant and cleaned up easy for daily cleaning.
Does every one have huge compost piles from cleaning their barns???? I thank my goats for all of this because my gardens really benefit. Each pile composts for about 6 months and I turn them weekly.
I did get alot of sawdust this past summer (for free) and added that to my compost too!

Mary Colman October 6, 2009 at 9:13am

How do you heat your nursery? I use a heat lamp over the sleeping area for the little ones.

Vicki Wright said:

I use straw it is a nice insulater for our cold winters. I use wood chips in the Nursery pens. Our Nursery is heated and the chips clean up easy.

Mary Colman October 6, 2009 at 9:11am

I use straw thru the winter for warmth and it builds up nicely for bedding. If I pick up a cheap hay that doesn't have much nutruition I may use that along with the straw. For my nursery area, this spring/summer I used pine shavings in the kidding stall, it was very absorbant and cleaned up easy for daily cleaning.
Does every one have huge compost piles from cleaning their barns???? I thank my goats for all of this because my gardens really benefit. Each pile composts for about 6 months and I turn them weekly.
I did get alot of sawdust this past summer (for free) and added that to my compost too!

Vicki Wright October 3, 2009 at 9:30am

I use straw it is a nice insulater for our cold winters. I use wood chips in the Nursery pens. Our Nursery is heated and the chips clean up easy.

Deborah Niemann-Boehle October 3, 2009 at 9:06am

We used shavings when we only had a few goats, but it costs a lot if you have to do more than one stall, so we've been using straw for the past five years. After switching, I realized that straw is a lot warmer. My legs and butt used to get really cold sitting out there with the goats when I had shavings, but the straw insulates from the cold ground really well. Makes sense now that I think about it since they have straw-bale houses. So, during the summer we don't have anything in the 3-sided run-in shelters, but in winter, we bed them really thickly with straw to help the goats stay warm.

Elyse Nicholson October 2, 2009 at 7:59pm

Dianea,

I guess shavings don't cost much for us, because I just have the four goats and they only use a half a bag. They also have spools in their stall, so I really couldn't imagine using straw.

WG4

Dianea Fay said:

We are using straw right now. HAve discussed using pine shavings but they cost too much and straw composts easily for the garden so I get double duty.

Elyse Nicholson October 2, 2009 at 7:58pm

We use wood and corn pellets for our horses, but I didn't people used them for goats. Interesting. Do your goats not eat them?

Abigail Lippmann said:

Hi!
I used to use straw but cleaning up straw after it is used and locks together is not fun. I am now using the pellet wood for wood burners topped with shavings.

Abby

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