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how to prepare the floor in the barn?

Posted by Lori Adams on March 16, 2011 at 5:37pm in Goats 101

As some of you may know we are starting from scratch and we are planning on leaving the floor of the barn alone. My question is this, how do I prepare the ground before I put in straw for the girls?

Do I need to put in a layer of sand or gravel to help with drainage? Right now the grass is still growing in it!

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Replies

  • Deborah Niemann-Boehle March 21, 2011 at 8:33am
    Three adult does with their kids in a 10 X 15 stall 24/7 start with a bale, then I add about three flakes every day or every other day to keep the top clean. If they're going outside for 12 hours every day, the one bale usually lasts for a week, then we muck out the whole thing.
  • Lori Adams March 21, 2011 at 7:34am

    That's a good question....never thought about that....maybe the ammonia?

     

    My husband got a bunch of pallets from work to put in the hay side of the barn to keep the hay off the ground. How much straw do you guys usually go through in say, a month? I'll have 3 adults and a minimum of 2 kids in a 12x16 barn space.

  • Deborah Niemann-Boehle March 20, 2011 at 9:53pm
    You wouldn't have to worry about moisture under the straw on a regular basis. If you wound up with a lot of rain or something that might cause the straw to mold, you would just need to muck it out.  I think you would have the same problem with pine shavings. We've had our barn flood a few times, and I don't recall ever seeing moldy straw in the stalls. It does get moldy if it's just stacked up and the bottom gets moist. I wonder if there is something in urine that keeps mold from growing?
  • Lori Adams March 20, 2011 at 6:21pm
    The concern I had was moisture from rain getting into the soil under the straw and possible mold issues....we haven't had any standing water or anything in there but we do hope to get some gutters put on that side of the barn to help keep the water out.  We just didn't want to get any moldy straw in there. Because we are starting from scratch I just wanted to know if I needed to do anything special to prepare the floor or just add some lime and toss in the straw.
  • Deborah Niemann-Boehle March 18, 2011 at 9:09pm
    I don't understand the concern about moisture under the straw. The straw will soak up urine about the same as pine shavings.
  • Lyn Adams March 18, 2011 at 12:08pm

    Hi Lori,

      We went with a dirt floor in our barn, I have a about 12 -18 inches of gravel( for good drainage ) then dirt. We put down pine shaving and I also use PDZ in between shavings.

      I haven't clean the barn yet, we have be using deep bedding method. In a few weeks when it warms up I'll be taking everything out, add lime, some diatomaceous earth then the pine shaving again.

     When are you getting your goats ? I can't wait to see them. :0)

  • Lori Adams March 18, 2011 at 9:45am
    Cool, we figured agricultural lime and our breeder uses sweet pdz in between cleanings so I already have that. I am just worried about moisture on the bottom of the straw bedding. Could I put a layer of pine shavings under the straw or would I just be better off leaving it alone? Hopefully when we get the gutters on the barn it will eliminate the moisture issues.
  • Deborah Niemann-Boehle March 16, 2011 at 9:47pm
    We've never done anything special.
  • Rachel Whetzel at MigMog Acres March 16, 2011 at 6:35pm
    I have a dirt floor in my barn. I also have a sheep farming friend that puts lime onto the floors to help keep them disinfected when she changes out straw... I don't have anything special under my hay between it and the dirt.
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