For those whose goats are not pastured full time, I am interested in hearing about the nature of the surface your goats are on outside and how you manage the space. Mine (1 NG and 2 very small Oberhalsi, all 3 1/2 -4 months old) are pastured for about half of each day, but are in an enclosed 18 x 10 yard attached to their shed for the rest of the time. What is your method for keeping things relatively clean and sanitary in the yard? I currently cover the bare soil with a thin layer of straw, rake it once or twice every day, and clean it out once a week, and that seems to be working okay, but I wonder about other approaches and how others handle their goat yards.
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Thanks! I guess I'm not too far off track in my management :) With my chickens, I always used the deep litter approach, but I wasn't sure if that could work for the goats. And Julia, thanks for the tip about road bond -- my current goat yard is in a relatively low place, unfortunately, so it's good to hear about a technique for dealing with soggy places.
I found that with the amount of rain we have here, the outside around the entrance to the barn gets disgustingly soppy with practically anything covering it. I tried hay (oh no never again!), then sand, then chipped wood but it always gets so muddy they hate to step outside the barn. A few weeks ago I finally tried covering the whole area with "road bond" which is basically granite sand with rock in it. It forms a nice hard surface that doesn't get soggy. It's what many of us have on our driveways. It works! They now step out of the barn after it rains with no problem and I can sort of sweep away the poo that starts to collect there.
I layer spent hay from the feeders over the barn floor (dirt) and covered area. Stays clean, and sweet smelling, and I muck out once or twice a year. The rest of their yard is dirt/rock, and I rake that clean every year or so, depending.