Goat Bedding anyone used hemp

We are getting our first goats in a week and I've been reading alot about different bedding.  The seller uses pine shavings for all of their paddocks and I use to use pine shavings for our chicken coop but they get everywhere and I found that we did alot of replacement.  So for the chickens we switched to hemp bedding and they love it, much more absorbant, less dust, better insulation, and works great with the deep litter method.

Because it went so well with the chicken coop i'm considering using it for the goats.  Anyone used hemp bedding before?  any drawbacks or concerns.  From what i've read on these forumns part of bedding consideration is usage of the area so those details are below.  

Our housing for the goats is a 10 by 14 completely enclosed area with ventilation.  They sleeping paddock is a 4 x 6 and then the rest of the space is open with a loft for hay storage and dirt floors.

In good weather, as I understand goats don't particularly care for the rain and we live in NW Washington, they will have access to a 30000 sq ft pasture that we will rotational graze them by dividing the pasture into two separate areas using temporary polytape fencing.  They also share the pasture with our 7 chickens.  

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  • I've been using it in  sleeping area which is a 5 X 4 foot section and then they have another area that is 4 X 12 for walking around on really rainy days when they can't be out in the pasture.  For the larger area we are using Pine.

    They like sleeping in the hemp area and although the hemp is more expensive.  I use far less of it then I do the pine shavings.  if I add up the cost of pine shavings I spend just about the same.  For the chicken coop I easily spend more in pine shavings then I do with the hemp when doing the deep litter method.  

    If I was changing out the bedding every week then I would agree the hemp would be more costly but with deep litter during winter its probably about the same cost when I compare the fact that I use more pine as its not as absorbant.

  • I was wondering about this too! I’m in Virginia and it’s advertised a lot on goat pages out here. Several small farmers sell it for way less than $58 a bag but I was curious if it would be a good alternative to straw. Try shopping around and look at smaller goat pages in Facebook and you might be able to find a better price. 

  • OMG! $58 per bag?! Now I know why I've never heard of anyone using this. It looks a lot like shavings in the picture, which means that one bag would not even be enough to bed a 10 x 10 stall. This might be okay for  a little rabbit cage, but definitely NOT for goats and chickens in the real world of a farm. Compare that to $5-6 for a bale of straw or $15 for three bags of pine shavings ($5 each), which is what I need for one of my 10 x 15 stalls. 

    I'm so glad you found us! We are going to save you so much money! :-) 

  • This is the stuff I get off amazon and your right unless I order it online I have either straw or pine shavings locally.

    https://www.amazon.com/American-Hemp-Bedding-Chickens-Horses/dp/B08...

  • I've never heard of anyone using hemp for bedding. It's pretty rare, so probably not available in most areas. If it's like straw, that sounds like a good start. I am not a fan of shavings as bedding for goats. I very much prefer straw, but most of what is available in Illinois is from wheat. 

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