# Barn lime with pigs



## Rustic Green Acres

Can you use Barn lime with pigs?


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## Baymule

If you mean garden lime, I don't see why not. I use dolomite lime and even put it out for the sheep along with their mineral.


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## Rustic Green Acres

Baymule said:


> If you mean garden lime, I don't see why not. I use dolomite lime and even put it out for the sheep along with their mineral.


this is what we got from the feed store.


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## Baymule

BeeHereAcres said:


> this is what we got from the feed store.



The front of the bag says Danger Corrosive. I would not use it where animals are. Hydrated lime I believe is used for mortar and such. I could be wrong.


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## Rustic Green Acres

Baymule said:


> The front of the bag says Danger Corrosive. I would not use it where animals are. Hydrated lime I believe is used for mortar and such. I could be wrong.


 
Yeah, didn't know there was so many different types of lime.


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## Ridgetop

I use hydrated lime in the lambing jugs to sanitize them between uses.  It is not very dangerous to use, although it is recommended to wear a mask and gloves when using since it is a dust.  The giant Caution and Danger labels are for stupid people that might not use it properly.  (Like the people that get hot coffee from MacDonalds, take a giant gulp and then sue because they burned themselves.)

Any chemical must be used with caution.  

Quicklime is the dangerous lime.  It reacts to water by sucking in all moisture immeditely.  Occasionally this has cause explosion type reactions when people using it have mixed it with water too quickly.  Hydrated lime has had water added back into it after processing to make it safe when adding water  (as in making concrete).

Quicklime is what was poured into graves over animals with foot and mouth, and the graves of criminals to destroy the bodies quickly.  Quicklime's ability to suck in all moisture quickly would destroy the tissues quicly and completely thus eliminating any possibility of contagion.

If you use lime carefully, it is an effective and cheap sanitation agent for heavily used areas like farrowing barns, lambing and kidding stalls, etc. *with dirt floors.  *I spread it around lightly and rake it into the dirt. Then leave the stall for a few weeks or months before the next use. If you are disinfecting concrete or wood floors, bleach or some other liquid disinfectant would be better.


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## Rustic Green Acres

Ridgetop said:


> I use hydrated lime in the lambing jugs to sanitize them between uses.  It is not very dangerous to use, although it is recommended to wear a mask and gloves when using since it is a dust.  The giant Caution and Danger labels are for stupid people that might not use it properly.  (Like the people that get hot coffee from MacDonalds, take a giant gulp and then sue because they burned themselves.)
> 
> Any chemical must be used with caution.
> 
> Quicklime is the dangerous lime.  It reacts to water by sucking in all moisture immeditely.  Occasionally this has cause explosion type reactions when people using it have mixed it with water too quickly.  Hydrated lime has had water added back into it after processing to make it safe when adding water  (as in making concrete).
> 
> Quicklime is what was poured into graves over animals with foot and mouth, and the graves of criminals to destroy the bodies quickly.  Quicklime's ability to suck in all moisture quickly would destroy the tissues quicly and completely thus eliminating any possibility of contagion.
> 
> If you use lime carefully, it is an effective and cheap sanitation agent for heavily used areas like farrowing barns, lambing and kidding stalls, etc. *with dirt floors.  *I spread it around lightly and rake it into the dirt. Then leave the stall for a few weeks or months before the next use. If you are disinfecting concrete or wood floors, bleach or some other liquid disinfectant would be better.



Thank you so much! all of our floors are dirt and the previous owner was NOT very clean.


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## Ridgetop

I let the stalls sit a while (a couple weeks?) before putting livestock back in and rake around a bit so the lime goes into the dirt.


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## misfitmorgan

Ridgetop said:


> I use hydrated lime in the lambing jugs to sanitize them between uses.  It is not very dangerous to use, although it is recommended to wear a mask and gloves when using since it is a dust.  The giant Caution and Danger labels are for stupid people that might not use it properly.  (Like the people that get hot coffee from MacDonalds, take a giant gulp and then sue because they burned themselves.)
> 
> Any chemical must be used with caution.
> 
> Quicklime is the dangerous lime.  It reacts to water by sucking in all moisture immeditely.  Occasionally this has cause explosion type reactions when people using it have mixed it with water too quickly.  Hydrated lime has had water added back into it after processing to make it safe when adding water  (as in making concrete).
> 
> Quicklime is what was poured into graves over animals with foot and mouth, and the graves of criminals to destroy the bodies quickly.  Quicklime's ability to suck in all moisture quickly would destroy the tissues quicly and completely thus eliminating any possibility of contagion.
> 
> If you use lime carefully, it is an effective and cheap sanitation agent for heavily used areas like farrowing barns, lambing and kidding stalls, etc. *with dirt floors.  *I spread it around lightly and rake it into the dirt. Then leave the stall for a few weeks or months before the next use. If you are disinfecting concrete or wood floors, bleach or some other liquid disinfectant would be better.



ummm...well I dont wanna sound like a nay sayer but.....both the limes listed are the wrong kind.

You're not suppose to use hydrated or quicklime near livestock. If it gets in their eyes. nose or mouth(mucus membranes) it can cause sores or blindness. Using it for livestock when they are not in the area and letting it sit is one thing, however pigs dig and eat everything. So even if you rake it in, they are going to dig it up...with their FACES.

When people talk about liming a barn they are talking about crushed limestone aka barn lime aka garden lime. It is not caustic, is safe for eyes and mouths and ok to breath in. It takes away the smell from ammonia and the smell from feces.

Dolomite lime or calcitic lime are types of garden limes.
Calcitic lime is just calcium carbonate
Dolomite is calcium carbonate combined with magnesium carbonate.

Calcium carbonate is limestone.
Calcium Oxide is quicklime, yes it is made using limestone but the limestone is burned to remove a molecule. This makes it a different chemical.

I live an hour from the largest limestone quarry in the world, which my father also worked at for 40yrs. We learn a lot about limestone. Also our 40lb bags of barnlime or garden lime are $4.

Thats a long winded way of saying, for your pigs go get barn or garden lime. We use it all the time, also good for poultry.


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## misfitmorgan

Baymule said:


> The front of the bag says Danger Corrosive. I would not use it where animals are. Hydrated lime I believe is used for mortar and such. I could be wrong.


Yes hydrated lime is what is used in mortars and cements and a few other things as well.


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## Ridgetop

I don't have pigs.  I think I will look for the garden lime to be safe though.  I wouldn't touch quicklime - it is supposed to be very caustic.  I'm not sure how expensive garden lime is here.  Thanks.  

Just looked it up at Lowes.  40 lb. bag is $3.48.  I will take back the 2 bags of lime my son bought for me (probably in the building department) and get the garden lime (in the garden department).  Hope it is in stock - during the quarantine Lowes seems to be out of everything in their garden centers.  

Since I used to put it down and then not use those stalls for several months at a time, it was probably safe, but now I am lambing every month I need to take more precautions.  *Thanks, MisfitMorgan!*


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## misfitmorgan

Ridgetop said:


> I don't have pigs.  I think I will look for the garden lime to be safe though.  I wouldn't touch quicklime - it is supposed to be very caustic.  I'm not sure how expensive garden lime is here.  Thanks.
> 
> Just looked it up at Lowes.  40 lb. bag is $3.48.  I will take back the 2 bags of lime my son bought for me (probably in the building department) and get the garden lime (in the garden department).  Hope it is in stock - during the quarantine Lowes seems to be out of everything in their garden centers.
> 
> Since I used to put it down and then not use those stalls for several months at a time, it was probably safe, but now I am lambing every month I need to take more precautions.  *Thanks, MisfitMorgan!*



Happy to help, lime confuses a lot of people! There are just so so many kinds. 

I should also mention as a sidenote.....whitewash(limewash) is used in livestock buildings and is made from slacked(hydrated) lime. I'm mentioning it because the important difference is the animals are not put into the buildings until it is dry(normally) and has had some cure time(24hrs between each coat). This is a very very thin even coat of lime. The curing time is because when exposed to air and with a bit of time slacked(hydrated) lime will turn back into calcium carbonate(limestone) because the molecule lost when lime is burnt is 1 co2 molecule.

So in theory yes you could just spread the slacked lime out very thin and even and wait 12-24hrs before disturbing it, but if you've every spread lime you know thats pretty much impossible. If it is mixed into anything that doesnt evaporate or under anything the reaction also won't happen. So a pile of slacked lime on the floor is not going to turn into calcium carbonate.


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