Cleaning out a deep litter barn.

[Latestarter]

Good luck trying to find those LMAO BTW, @Pamela ! Good to have you here!

 

[Bossroo]

Grab a pick axe and start swinging, next grab a shovel and start shoveling into a wheelbarrow. Repeat untill task is done !

 

[goatgurl]

cleaned out two years worth of deep packed bedding this spring with a spading fork, a wheelbarrow and a lot of tenacity. not easy but i do like the deep litter bedding best of all I've tried.

 

[Bo Peep Soays]

How often do you muck your barn? Put lime down before the straw.

 

[goatgurl]

@Bo Peep Soays I usually clean the barn out every two years. I've cut way down on the numbers of does i'm keeping so it doesn't build up to fast anymore. once its cleaned out I let it dry out for a day or so, put lime down and then put down a layer of straw. I've been doing it this way for over 25 years and have never had a problem. hope it works for you.

 

[BrenM]

We've been tossing straw on the barn floor for the past year trying to use the "deep litter" method.

Well kill me now because I attempted to start cleaning it out today because I'm sick and tired of not being able to get our doors open and not only does the pitchfork practically bend when I try to dig it out but the smell underneath the surface is enough to knock me out.

So now I've started, I have to finish but if I do it by hand it will take me six months. We don't have any equipment or machinery here that could help, if I was going to rent something to dig out the barn what would I look into? Would a skid steer loader be what I'm after?

I know this is an old thread
But have to tell you about my alm time favorite tool onnour farm. The MATTOCK!! If I could inoy have one tool- it would be this one. Absolutely essential in the ozarks with all these rocks. We also use the deep litter method with a once a year clean out in the spring. We add lime and wood shavings to keep it dry plus what hay the goats pull down and waste (too much!!). Two teenage grandkids were trying to use shovels and pitch forks - a LOT of work. So I (59 years old) went and got my trusty mattock and had had that bedding busted up to shovel out in no time at all. They were like- wow Nana! I wish you would have thought of that a lot sooner!!

 

[Baymule]

We use the deep litter method also. We cleaned out a pen this morning. In the past we have used a pitch fork. Today we ran a tiller through it, scooped the loose manure and hay, which was well rotted, and loaded the Kawasaki mule. It rained last night, this pen gets rain blown in, so it was wet. The tiller busted up the manure pack, it was great. We will use a tiller from now on!

 

[Ridgetop]

This is an old thread! We have used the litter method when we have El Nino rains so bad that it floods the barn. The only way to keep it dry is to continue packing straw on top.

Straw layered with clay, urine and manure becomes smelly adobe. they used to build houses with that stuff here! The only way to get it out is using the mattock, then prying up long flat layers and tossing them, Our barn does not have any access other than wheelbarrows. We use minimal straw now and only in very cold winters for lambing.

I would go with the pigs doing the work. They are the heavy duty diggers of the animal kingdom and would really do the job. Keep removing the loos pack to the compost pile, and keep them at it until you are down to the bottom. don't keep them in once you reach the barn floor though since they will keep excavating.

I wonder if we could get a little feeder pig and try it on our barn where we now have a solid adobe layer.

 

[mendofarm]

I know this is an old thread
But have to tell you about my alm time favorite tool onnour farm. The MATTOCK!! If I could inoy have one tool- it would be this one. Absolutely essential in the ozarks with all these rocks. We also use the deep litter method with a once a year clean out in the spring. We add lime and wood shavings to keep it dry plus what hay the goats pull down and waste (too much!!). Two teenage grandkids were trying to use shovels and pitch forks - a LOT of work. So I (59 years old) went and got my trusty mattock and had had that bedding busted up to shovel out in no time at all. They were like- wow Nana! I wish you would have thought of that a lot sooner!!

One of the first tools my DH bought when we moved to our rocky hilltop 3 years ago. Invaluable.

 

[mendofarm]

We use the deep litter method also. We cleaned out a pen this morning. In the past we have used a pitch fork. Today we ran a tiller through it, scooped the loose manure and hay, which was well rotted, and loaded the Kawasaki mule. It rained last night, this pen gets rain blown in, so it was wet. The tiller busted up the manure pack, it was great. We will use a tiller from now on!

Bay, do you use straw, shavings or wood chips for your goat stalls? We are enclosing a lean-to with rough concrete floors (already there) for our first herd. Plan on deep litter with sleeping platforms. PNW so does not get below 30 usually but I like the idea of lotsa compost, nice heat for them and less work for me (60+).