Deep Litter with Goats

Our barn has cement floors. It is really nice for cleaning.

The stall floors are covered in straw. In the summer we clean the stalls weekly. All that dirty straw goes into the composts bins and becomes wonderful compost for the garden.

As summer came to a close we decided that we would use the deep litter method in the stalls.

What on earth is the deep litter method?

It is a way to not have to clean stalls for months. Just joking. Ok, so it is nice to not clean stalls for months but there is actually a less selfish reason for it.

Instead of cleaning all the straw out of each stall every week we simply add fresh straw on top of the old stuff. It covers up the goat berries (aka poop) and helps to soak up the urine. Over the weeks the bottom layer of straw begins to compost. As it is rotting and breaking down it creates heat. Cement floors don’t create any heat on their own. The deep litter method creates a nice warm place for the goats to lie.

This past Saturday we decided to clean out the buck stall.

For whatever reason they drink a lot more water than the girls……which means they urinate frequently. We have to make sure they are not constantly walking in wet/damp places every day, all day. It can cause hoof rot. In Oregon that is pretty hard to do. We give them platforms to stand on in the outdoor pen and we put sawdust down on the ground to help absorb the rain.

Michael felt that it would be good to clean out the stall. It had only been four months. Deep litter can be done until the weather turns warmer. For us that would probably be at least another three months.

I said I would do it since Michael was working on another big project (sssh, it’s a secret. I’ll post when it is done. Until then, no hints!)

Joshua and Nicholas took turns working with me.

Wow! Can I just say that it certainly doesn’t come close to being as easy as the weekly summertime cleaning. By the time we were done my shoulder and lower back were in PAIN. But I racked up almost 10,000 steps on my Fit Bit.

Composting was definitely happening. So much so that it was very difficult to remove the composted bottom layer. It actually seemed as though it had rooted itself to the cement. It was a good 8 – 10 inches deep.

We used the pitch forks to lift off the top layers.

It was impossible to use the shovel so I dug down through the composting layers with the fork tines.

When I scooped to pick up the composting layers they peeled up in very big sections. It was like sod.

It was also very heavy. And gross.

In some sections the straw had already turned to dirt. In the end the stall was nice and clean.

And our compost bins were full again.

And then I soaked in a hot bath.

Have a great day,

Karen