Barn lime with pigs

[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!

 

[misfitmorgan]

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.