# New to Goats and Pen STINKS!



## 9byDesign

We only have 2 Nigerian Dwarf Goats (5 mos. old) ...and they live in a nice sized pen 10x32 with house 6x4 ft....

We live in Florida...and it is Winter NOW...and it still STINKS!  How can I control that...I like things fairly neat and clean, as I'm sure most of us do.  Do you rake and shovel your pen?  Keep anything down on the bottom?  It's some grass and soil in ours.  Also, ours eat peanut hay...so that doesn't cover the ground like T&A does.  

Any suggestions for a newbie?


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## 4hmama

We clean out our goat housing, sprinkle lime and/or sevin dust (to combat lice - if needed), and use pine shavings for them to sleep in.  They tend to pee on the hay if you put it inside the shelter.  My question - do you have bucks or wethers or does?  If you have bucks - that answers the 'stink' question right there!  Bucks REAK!


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## ThornyRidge

you could try sprinkling some deoderizer products aimed to cut down the urine smell..such as stall dry or sweet pdz.. there are also liquid disinfectant/deoderizers you can purchase at livestock stores but I would be leary to start spraying liquid in winter even in florida. sprinkle that powder type deoderizer liberally on floor of shelter and then put down fresh bedding.. I use pine shavings and then over winter here hay builds up on it..  I can't tell you there will never be odor with livestock.. it all depends on your cleaning habits and how often you keep their area cleaned out.. I see your in Florida and not sure how cold it truly gets in your area but here in NE part of Country in winter a lot of us let build up accumulate in barn as the decomposing stuff underneath generates some heat for the animals.. I clean my barn once before bad weather sets in and then not again until early spring.. talk about smelly at that time when digging it out.. put it on a pile for awhile though and you got great compost..


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## Emmetts Dairy

I would first recomend cleaning out what you can.  Then I recomend putting a layer of sand mixed with your soil so the wet will drain a little better for you.  Then mix some Dolomitic Lime.  That will neutralize that anmonia smell.  You can get that at TSC or any garden center really. Lowes, Homedepot etc..

You want to clean that out because breathing that is not good for them at all.  Then on top I would put a layer of Straw down.  In the winter in NH we have a thick layer of staw down that I will fluff and add to keep clean.  But I have to say with the sand and the lime...we have no issues..thankfully!!!  I do muck a bit of the overly saturated areas throughout the winter if needed...but it makes it very easy!!!  Put your cleaning in a wheelbarrel and add it to your compost!! You will have happy gardens next year!

I would be careful what you are putting for deoderizers.  Make sure its okay for livestock.  But the Dolomitic Lime is cheap enough for 50lbs and it works!!  

I would make sure all feed hay is in a manger and not on the ground. You never want goats to eat hay off the ground!  They will eat more and be healthier if you get it in a manger.  Ours is homemade...dos'nt have to be anything fancy..just off the ground!

Clean pens makes happy and healthy animals!!!  Good luck!!!


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## 9byDesign

I was wondering about sand...we use that for our chicken coop and it works GREAT!  I am just having a "stink" problem with our rabbits and new goats (one wether and a doe).  It's not in their houses but in the goat pen (poo/pee) and under the rabbit cage.  Maybe the sand will help dry/ ammonia??


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## Emmetts Dairy

9byDesign said:
			
		

> I was wondering about sand...we use that for our chicken coop and it works GREAT!  I am just having a "stink" problem with our rabbits and new goats (one wether and a doe).  It's not in their houses but in the goat pen (poo/pee) and under the rabbit cage.  Maybe the sand will help dry/ ammonia??


It absolutley makes a differance.  With the dolomitic lime added which neutrilizes the amonia!   Its great!!!!

We just built a new barn this year and we learned over time..that soil works...but sand is the way to go!!!  We put about 1 ft of sand down over stones in their new barn and its awesome! Recomend it highly!!!!  Also..being in NH...sand really dos'nt freeze like soil cuz it dos'nt really hold alot of moisture.  So I imagine this spring during the thaw...it will be pretty dry still!!!  Very happy with it!!!!


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## SDGsoap&dairy

Last Spring I got a vapor torch to flare off ammonia in the areas the goats tend to congregate most.  It's not practical on a large scale, but for the dirt floor in the kidding stall and under their awning I've been happy with the results.  It won't dry out more than the top half inch or so, but in these areas it's dry and the soil is packed so urine doesn't tend to soak very far into the floor anyway.  I use it when I do a full bedding change, especially in between kiddings.

http://www.flameengineering.com/Heavy_Duty_Vapor_Kits.html


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## elevan

9byDesign said:
			
		

> Also, ours eat peanut hay...


I don't know about peanut hay...but peanuts and peanut hulls can cause an animals urine and droppings to have a stronger scent.  The hay may be the reason that the smell is so strong.  Just a thought.


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## julieq

Welcome to the wonderful world of goats!  All of ours are housed in our big dairy barn on rubber mats.  If it gets too bad we clean the stalls and then use vinegar spray and/or baking soda in the wet spots.  But we've been raising goats for over a decade so we're most likely more used to the smell...


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## AlaskanShepherdess

My girls live in a 12x12 pen with a 10x4 house. During the winter I clean out the house twice a month, and during the summer I clean out the pen once a month. It's works out really well, I'm super picky about the smell of animals and all I use is wood shavings that we get for $25 a truckload.


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## AkTomboy

CrownofThornsNDGoats said:
			
		

> My girls live in a 12x12 pen with a 10x4 house. During the winter I clean out the house twice a month, and during the summer I clean out the pen once a month. It's works out really well, I'm super picky about the smell of animals and all I use is wood shavings that we get for $25 a truckload.


Wow where do you get it by the truck load! I have been stuck buying it by the $30 bale at AK Feed for years for my chickens. The last time I called for shavings in Fbx no one would let me get a whole truck load at a time. Thanks for the info if you dont mind sharing


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## AlaskanShepherdess

When hubby has work on the mill then I have all I want, but when there isn't any work, we've gotten it from Northland I think? I'll ask hubs and double check. Although someone told me a while back that when she had gone to get some they had just sold their whole pile to the wood pellet factory and she was only able to get a few bags. Hopefully they only do that when it builds up and they don't make a habit of regularly doing that.  Oh and they load it up for you, that's REAL nice!


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## AkTomboy

That was the problem I was having when looking for shavings most places seem to be selling them to the new pellet plant...dag nab it


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## iamcuriositycat

I live in NC with only two ND wethers, and I haven't really had a stink issue. I use a deep litter--just add straw to their floor when it starts to look wet or poopy. Clean it out a couple times a year and use it as mulch on flower beds and fruit trees.

Basically, it works like compost--you add enough "browns" (carbon-rich material) to the nitrogen-rich manure, and there's very little to no odor. And in the end, compost is exactly what you get.

Good luck with yours! How's the weather down there? We're snowed in.


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## bettybohemian

I'm fairly new to goats but have chickens ducks rabbits. I live in the low desert in so Cal so my substrate. Is sand. For everyone. No odor. That must be why? I have straw on top of the sand in the goat house and in the nesting boxes for the other critters


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## Livinwright Farm

Emmetts Dairy said:
			
		

> I would first recomend cleaning out what you can.  Then I recomend putting a layer of sand mixed with your soil so the wet will drain a little better for you.  Then mix some Dolomitic Lime.  That will neutralize that anmonia smell.  You can get that at TSC or any garden center really. Lowes, Homedepot etc..
> 
> You want to clean that out because breathing that is not good for them at all.  Then on top I would put a layer of Straw down.  In the winter in NH we have a thick layer of staw down that I will fluff and add to keep clean.  But I have to say with the sand and the lime...we have no issues..thankfully!!!  I do muck a bit of the overly saturated areas throughout the winter if needed...but it makes it very easy!!!  Put your cleaning in a wheelbarrel and add it to your compost!! You will have happy gardens next year!
> 
> I would be careful what you are putting for deoderizers.  Make sure its okay for livestock.  But the Dolomitic Lime is cheap enough for 50lbs and it works!!
> 
> I would make sure all feed hay is in a manger and not on the ground. You never want goats to eat hay off the ground!  They will eat more and be healthier if you get it in a manger.  Ours is homemade...dos'nt have to be anything fancy..just off the ground!
> 
> Clean pens makes happy and healthy animals!!!  Good luck!!!


We hadn't thought or read about using the dolomitic lime before, but we were already thinking of doing the compost type bedding areas. Obviously AFTER we treat all the critters and entire barn with the Python Dust.


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## dianneS

I'm afraid I might not be too much help.  I like things neat and clean too, but don't have much of an odor problem.  I have more than twice the space needed for the number of goats, so its not an issue... however, I did just have to bring a sick goat indoors for a few days.  I put her pen on the concrete floor in the basement with newspaper covered in a thick layer of straw.  By the next morning the stink was pretty bad!  I removed the newspaper and put her pen over the floor drain in the cellar.  I put just a thick layer of straw down.  It worked like a charm!  No smell at all!  So I conclude that increasing drainage and straw or waste hay might help the situation.

I would look into that peanut hay too as someone else suggested.  There might be something to that?  I know nothing about peanut hay myself.


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## Babushka Blue

Regarding the Dolomitic Lime...  are you saying that it needs to be cleaned back out after it is put down?


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## Latestarter

Greetings and welcome to BYH @Babushka Blue from NE TX! So glad you joined us. The thread you posted to was last posted to over 7 years ago. I hope you'll consider taking a minute to visit the new member's thread and introduce yourself so folks can welcome you properly. https://www.backyardherds.com/forums/new-member-introductions.17/  There's a wealth of info, knowledge and experience shared in the multitude of threads. Browse around and see what interesting stuff you can find. By all means post away when the desire strikes you, especially if you have questions (provide as much detail/info as possible and pictures truly help)... With all the great folks here, generally someone will respond in no time at all. Please make yourself at home!

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## Babushka Blue

Thank you


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