# What is the best flooring in the goat barn?



## Marsha

We are in the process of building a new barn for our pgymy goats. What do you consider the best flooring? Would it be:

dirt
concrete
gravel 
wood

Thanks,  

Marsha


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## Guest

For the floor I would say dirt since it will absorb the pee ext where as the other stuff won't. I would put like straw or something on top of the dirt though.

MotherClucker


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## Guest

I also like dirt with bedding. It's nice to have concrete in the feed/hay storage room, but you don't want little goaties jumping on it. You'd be surprised how easily they can break their little legs. (I had a kid break a leg once when it bounced onto the feed can and back down onto a concrete floor.) Wood would absorb bacteria and be nasty, imo.
Gravel sounds good, but how would you keep it clean? No, I'd go with dirt.
mary


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## ForMyACDs

I have concrete, but I put rubber stall mats over any area the goats reside for cushion. It's SO darn easy to clean!


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## mpillow

DIRT for warmth in cold climates and drainage.

Mine strew enough hay to make a nice bedding for themselves. I clean 2 times a year if they are lucky!

A little slope is also a plus for good drainage. In the summer my girls like to paw and roll in the kids sandpile and driveway....they get all frisky about 4-5pm every day and play in the sandpile...Its quite a sight!


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## Laura Workman

I had dirt floors and wasn't happy with the drainage. Once the dirt got compacted, it was pretty well waterproof. So when we moved, I put wooden floors into the goat pen, figuring the urine would drain between the boards into the dirt below, and the dirt wouldn't get compacted because the goats weren't standing on it. I got those cheap cedar fence boards and laid them side by side on two-by-fours laid on their sides. Because the fence boards are only about 1/2 inch thick, I spaced the two-by-fours about a foot apart for good support. Then just used the drill driver to screw the cedar to the two-by-fours. It was easy and inexpensive, and it's worked out really well for keeping the bedding drier. It's also easy to clean.


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## jim/se kansas

I have dirt with six inchs of rock in my barn. It works good and drains well.
Hope this helps.
Jim


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## james dilley

Wooden floors = RATS just remember that ,I would use wood over concrete if theres money for it.


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## Corky

I have dirt floors and put wood chips on it in the summer and straw in the winter for added warmth. BUT!

I have learned from the ladies I trust to know, that dirt base with sand on it is the best! In the winter you just don't clean up the spilled hay and it builds up for warmth. I can see how that would be soooooo much easier to clean. In the Spring when you get those big thick chunks of old bedding, it would be much easier to pick them up off of a sand base. It is supposed to be easier to rake goat berries from in the summer. Also cooler.Makes good since to me.  

Now my problem is how to get enough sand here to do the job.


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## Galloping Goats

We used the plain old ground with a couple of inches of crushed gravel then plenty of straw. I tried the rubber mats and hated them because they didn't let the urine drain out. I guess if you clean every week like some people do it wouldn't be too bad but we only clean about once a month or so. Depends on time and weather. I like the sand idea though. We are building a barn as soon as my contracter reappears  . I think I'll try gravel then sand maybe.


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## havenberryfarm

We're building a barn soon too. I like the gravel and sand idea too. Seems like the gravel would also deter animals that burrow. Gravel isn't too comfie to dig under. Maybe it would help keep mice out???? We are also thinking about using a concrete block foundation to keep mice and rats from digging through. We are going to use deep litter in the stalls. We might incorporate red worms in with the chicken litter too. Don't know if it would work for goats, tho. A deep litter system produces compost right there in the stall and the extra decomposition helps keep the animals warm. The trick is to keep drainage good so that there is not too much ammonia, and to keep litter fine and easily broken down. You also have to stir it every week and add more fresh on the top. It has to be at least 6 inches thick at all times. I hope it works. I am not terribly worried if it doesn't. We are just starting out and will have extra stalls if we need to do a little cleaning out.


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## goatlady

I have used the deep bedding system for years over dirt and it work fine for me. I just keep adding straw in the winter and clean it out in the Spring and Late Fall. My chickens run in the barn all the time and do the "stiring" for me so when I clean it out it's almost completely composted. Letting the chicken have the run of the goat barn relly cuts down on parasites and flies as those chickens have a good eye for anything in the straw/dirt that's edible. In 11 years I have not had any problem with ammonia odor or sickness in the herd. After each semi annual cleaning I cover the dirt real well with diamatous earth and/or gardner's lime before starting with the fresh bedding. Seems to freshen things up and gets rid of any residual bugs in the dirt. Havenberry, if you put worms in the chicken coop bedding you will not have any left in a day or 2. Outstanding protein for the chickens and they will eat every one immediately. I have trouble keeping worm in the compost pile as the chickens get in that also, but since they keep it turned over for me and eat all the weed/missed grain seeds I end up with really good weed free compost.


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## debitaber

we use dirt. In the winter, we just keep adding straw. works really well. then we haul in all out in the spring. I spray the goat house down with a bleach mixture. and then in the fall, we start adding lots of straw again. Now my vet, says to put down concrete. But we live in the north, [michigan], and our winters are cold. and IT is very hard to warm up a concrete floor, so we use dirt. the girls are happy, and that is what counts.


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## Dee

I had dirt in the barn but decided to put down rock dust. Biggest mistake I made. It turns as hard as concrete with no drainage. My goats are so dirty right now. I just started cleaning every week, putting down shavings. 

I like that idea of the cedar panel fence. Think I will try that.

Something I found out. Wood cinders work really great, like lime. Works great on smells. All the cinders I have left over from the woodburning stove came in handy.


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## debitaber

do you mean the ashes out of your wood stove? is that what you mean by cinders?


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## Dee

Yes, that is exactly what I mean. The charcoal absorbs the odor. It really does work.


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## mysticokra

Dee said:


> Yes, that is exactly what I mean. The charcoal absorbs the odor. It really does work.


What happens when the pile of ashes gets wet? Does it become caustic? I thought leaching ashes was the first step in making lye soap.


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## Galloping Goats

Dee said:


> I had dirt in the barn but decided to put down rock dust. Biggest mistake I made. It turns as hard as concrete with no drainage. My goats are so dirty right now. I just started cleaning every week, putting down shavings.
> 
> I like that idea of the cedar panel fence. Think I will try that.
> 
> Something I found out. Wood cinders work really great, like lime. Works great on smells. All the cinders I have left over from the woodburning stove came in handy.



What is rock dust? Sand?


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## Guest

I worked at a walking horse breeding facility where we had Million $ studs used for stud service. The farm always bedded the stalls with quarterdown (finely crushed stone) and then cedar shavings on top. Easy to clean and keeps pests away. I do the same thing for my goats. In the summer use the cedar shavings, in the winter, bed with hay. The key is the quarterdown. It allows the urine to drain and makes it easier to clean.


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## debitaber

thanks for the tip. I will try that. is the quarterdown, finer than gravel?


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## Sheryl in ME

Check your zoning. I wasn't allowed to have a dirt floor here (there is a creek behind the paddock and a swamp behind that so I was denied due to wetlands) so I put in a wood floor. I used hemlock which is pretty rot resistant and lime it every time I clean (which is often - every 1-2 weeks). I bed heavily in the winter and clean less often. I did raise the barn a couple feet off the ground (actually 1 foot on one side and two on the other) to reduce the rat issue. That way my cats can get under there easily and there's no place to hide. I did have to put in a wide step for the goats to make it easier for them to get in and out of the barn. The barn smells good and the wood floors are easy on the feet. 

I definately wouldn't use concrete unless you went with rubber mats. I worked at a farm that had concrete floors in the goat barn and even with heavy bedding (the owner also owned a lumber mill so bedding was free and plentiful) some of the goats developed foot and leg issues. Concrete is also chilling in the winter unless you let your bedding compost in the stall.


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## NannyGoats Farm

Might seem like a silly question but as a new goat owner... if the goat housing is on the ground (dirt), how do you keep water from seeping from the ground outside the housing into the inside.


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## o&itw

NannyGoats Farm said:


> Might seem like a silly question but as a new goat owner... if the goat housing is on the ground (dirt), how do you keep water from seeping from the ground outside the housing into the inside.


Ideally the ground level inside the barn should be higher than the ground level outside the barn. If you have the equipment or money, about 4 inches of gravel should be laid down (it can be even with the outside ground) with about 6 inches of (sandy) dirt on top of it.

Wood absorbs moisture and harbors micro-organisms. It should not be use on a floor. The same is true of dirt, but dirt drains better, and can be removed and replaced to some extent. Further more, in dirt there are beneficial micro-organisms living that will, to some extent, feed on harmful bacteria.

Ag lime (rock dust) used to be laid down on purpose because it became hard. It was the poor mans concrete. If it is used, it should be sloped, just like a concrete floor should be sloped, to help from pooling. The biggest problem with it is that is is strongly alkaline and contributes to an ammonia build up in an enclosed area, which is bad for your animals health.

Back when the bark peeled from logs used to be free at sawmills, it was a great bedding as it is absorbent, and its acidic properties not only kept down the ammonia, but also was detrimental to many harmful bacteria. Regrettably, the mulch market has become huge, and mostly eliminated free bark. Still, in large quantities, at a good price, it may be one of the best beddings around for health (it does tend to get stuck in the coat)

Wood chips are not near as good, and may attract termites. They do work fairly well in outside chicken pens though.


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## rule4

I am building a goat barn in the spring was happy to see this thread. I was split between wood and dirt. I am leaning more towards dirt now.

In my chicken coop I use wood shavings over old linoleum flooring. I do the deep bedding method and only really clean out the coop about 4 times a year. It works really well and cleanup is pretty simple. Would something like this work for goats but use straw in place of the shavings?


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## boerboy

I use dirt floor. I keep adding hay through out winter, clean it during spring, and again during fall. I keep sprinkling barn lime.

I only wish I have few inches of rock under the dirt...


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## Meckerhex

We have stonedust under the pens. No concrete. The stonedust is porous but also fairly solid. Just have to add more every couple of years. When it gets wet and impacted, it drives to a hard surface. Works great!


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## marusempai

Yup. I deep litter the chickens, the ducks, the goats, everybody. Works great. Except I kinda just use whatever is on hand as the bedding, not anything specific - shavings, straw, waste hay, fall leaves, dried grass clippings... I've been experimenting with mixing in small amounts (proportionally) of shredded paper in the chicken coop. I think of it as a compost pile and seem to do alright.  Our floors for the goats are dirt, if that makes any difference.


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## sammyd

Why on earth would you want a dirt floor and lose all the nutrients.
Most of the N in manure comes from the urine and letting it absorb into the ground under the pens is a sad waste.
Dirt floors allow rats to enter your pens which is no fun at all.

Pour a good slab with a 6 inch wall around the sides build your walls on that.

Dump in 8 inches minimum of good chopped straw and keep that pen bedded thickly. Kneel on it once in a while and make sure your knees stay dry. Add more bedding if they are damp when you stand up. Clean it out twice a year in the spring and fall and put that wonderful manure in your gardens or fields. We use the drier stuff on top to plant our potatoes without burying them in the dirt. The rest (6-10 spreader loads)went on our corn patch or out where we wanted to plant viney stuff.

We have successfully kept lots of goats up here in WI using the deep bedding method on concrete and I wouldn't do it any other way.


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## motdaugrnds

I, too, use dirt. My soil is sandy loam and drains well. However, prior to adding straw bedding, I spread a layer of agricultural lime 2" thick all over the dirt inside the barn. What this did was 2-fold. It not only helped keep ammonia down, it also let me know where to stop when cleaning out the bedding (taking bedding to compost in garden adjacent to barn). Chickens love to scratch in the barn and the agr lime also kept bugs off them.

I did something similar just outside the barn. At that time there was an area that was constantly muddy. I alternated with "crushed run" gravel, agr lime and sawdust; and within ONE year, the area no longer was muddy....a great way to get rid of muddy spots!

Also, I sat my barn floor up in such a way it is higher than the surrounding soil, which means the run-off water from rains goes away from the barn instead of into it.


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## Laverne

I have a loafing area where I put perforated mats. Rain can blow in and they are great for drainage. I put straw on top. I got most off Craigslist and a few at the feed store when on sale. http://www.cowmatsusa.com/parlor/perforated/.


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## boerboy

sammyd said:


> Pour a good slab with a 6 inch wall around the sides build your walls on that.
> 
> Dump in 8 inches minimum of good chopped straw and keep that pen bedded thickly. Kneel on it once in a while and make sure your knees stay dry. Add more bedding if they are damp when you stand up. Clean it out twice a year in the spring and fall and put that wonderful manure in your gardens or fields.


What is the goat density in your barn? Do you think this could be done for 10 goats in a 300 sqft area? 8" inch deep straw will keep it dry without draining the urine? They free range 4 acres of pasture. But during rainy days they are in the barn all day.


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## sammyd

Our pen was 24x10 and we would keep 12 or so goats in it.
They were inside. 24x7 from like Nov-Apr and inside mostly nights the rest of the year. They stayed in all day if it was raining...
We started with at least 8 inches of bedding but by the end of winter it could be 2 foot or better. Over the summer months it might get over a foot deep.


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## cfuhrer

We had compact dirt with wood shavings or straw depending on the time of year and it worked well for us.

A family friend had wood over river rock with rubber mats and the barest dusting of shavings and that will be what I will do in my next barn.


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## boerboy

sammyd said:


> Dump in 8 inches minimum of good chopped straw and keep that pen bedded thickly.


Sorry I have one more question. I just buy straw bales from wilco stores. The blades are 4" inch to 6" long. Is this what you mean by "good chopped"?


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## OwlHillFarm

The big barn, which is in the buck pen, has a dirt floor slightly sloped for drainage with a series of low earth berms on the uphill side of the barn to redirect stormwater. It works beautifully, but is a pain to clean out. You're never quite sure if you're digging dirt or compost at the bottom, and not sure where to stop. 

The new shelters are much smaller but have raised wooden platforms (we acquired them and decided to put them to use) with straw on them. They are much easier to scrape clean and the does all seem to really appreciate the raised floor. Goats go up, apparently. The platforms are only 2x4 and plywood, sitting up on blocks to prevent ground contact. Giant spiders, yes. Rats, none yet. 

I personally would stay away from concrete, largely because I hate working with the stuff. The raised wooden platforms provide solid floors that can be scraped easily to harvest usable manure (and have a lower frustration level at installation.) I do find that I *have* to change the bedding more often to prevent nastiness under-hoof, since the platforms don't drain like the dirt floor. It's a trade-off.


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## ShyAnne

we built our barn on a dirt pad built up from the surrounding ground. Because I breed ponies we bed with the pellets. 6 inches deep over the dirt. Straw on top during the cold. Works excellent


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## sammyd

I use baled straw which starts out 10" or longer. I run it through a forage chopper and ends up probably 4" or less.
After the initial layer I use the straw without chopping it.


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## Goaty

ForMyACDs said:


> I have concrete, but I put rubber stall mats over any area the goats reside for cushion. It's SO darn easy to clean!


I totally agree it can be easily disinfected as well. Some illnesses can live in the dirt for 6 mths with the mats you can bleach if needed to disinfect.


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## GTX63

This thread started in 2004, was revived in 2013, 2016 and today.
Jesus would be proud.

FYI, dirt floor under straw.


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## muleskinner2

Marsha said:


> We are in the process of building a new barn for our pgymy goats. What do you consider the best flooring? Would it be:
> 
> dirt
> concrete
> gravel
> wood
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Marsha


I don't know. Of the hundreds of goats I have raised, I have never kept one in a barn.


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## barnbilder

Big gravel with carpet on top, straw or shavings on the carpet. You can get carpet for free. Get the lowest pile you can find, like office carpet. You can also sweep it daily if you don't want to ever experience barn cleaning day again. You don't have to worry about goats or chickens mixing all your gravels in with the beddingto be thrown out with soiled bedding. On big cleaning days you can roll it to the center and kick the bottom layer off much easier than all the raking and shoveling.


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## barnbilder

muleskinner2 said:


> I don't know. Of the hundreds of goats I have raised, I have never kept one in a barn.


How many of those made top ten milkers?


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## muleskinner2

barnbilder said:


> How many of those made top ten milkers?


None. I raise meat goats.


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## altair

I like concrete for its ability to be disinfected if needed and easiest to clean. It also keeps out rodents.


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## Makuck

I'd go low tech, dirt and straw, compost happens and helps with heat, humidity, dryness etc. I have probably a foot of compost on the floor maintenance free for years and years. For rodents I use cats and traps, they're going to get in no matter what even with a concrete perimeter.


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## Makuck

Concrete doubles the cost of a building.


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