Deep litter for sheep...

[Beekissed]

I haven't found anyone on the net that is talking about using a composting deep litter in sheep shelters or even in goat shelters. I guess I'm going to have to be the guinea pig on that....which isn't new territory for me, so it should be fun.

The only info out there is using deep bedding, which is vastly different than a planned, intentionally built for good composting, deep litter. Deep bedding is just a huge diaper, which is why it always presents problems, particularly to clean out in the spring. Ick.

 

[Sheepshape]

I'm wondering what would happen if you had a good composting DL going~not just deep bedding~ and you just buried that birthing mess in it each time it happens. Putting it underneath where it can't touch the sheep would give it a chance to be consumed and incorporated into the bedding without it affecting the sheep.

I think that there would be just too much of it. If they are in for any length of time, there's just a heap of excrement. They're not small sheep and seem to poop many times in the day. When the maximum number of 50 or so are in, then the smell of ammonia is strong before cleaning out in the morning, and that wouldn't be solved by deep litter system. Most of the girls have twins and that's a lot of placentas, too.

I accept that a daily 'clean up' in lambing season, though hard work, has resulted in avery low infection rate even with a high stock density. Nothing goes to waste, though. The sodden straw rots up very fast and is the best organic compost ever.

 

[Baymule]

A ewe had twins today, in the barn. Usually they lamb in the pasture. I got a shovel and scooped up the afterbirth and goo and buried it in the garden. Then I laid down fresh hay. Just this morning I told my husband that we need to clean out the barn, lay down hay and deep bed with pine shavings. I like to start fresh when the lambs are due, these snuck up on me. This ewe lambed in the barn last year too.

https://www.backyardherds.com/threads/ringo’s-lambs-baymule’s-5th-lambing.40081/#post-625774

 

[Beekissed]

Why don't you let the dogs clean it up instead of burying it? Is that some big no-no with LGDs that I haven't heard about? Good and good for them, my dogs loved it.

I intend for the sheep to be lambing in the pasture, so no issues with afterbirth and blood in the DL I'm building in the pens. The dogs can't reach down there, but the chickens will clean it up pretty quickly.

I take it from the lack of responses on this thread about composting DL for sheep that no one has actually done it , so it will be interesting to see how it goes. I'll post pics and such as I build it and then start to use it effectively.

I can't find anyone or info out on the web about anyone using it either, but not surprising. It wasn't too long ago one couldn't find anything about using it for chickens either but it's slowly catching on with a few people and becoming a growing practice, though I think people still can't grasp the concept of not cleaning it out every year. Maybe they haven't yet achieved true composting yet and so it is still more deep bedding than working compost.

 

[Sheepshape]

Is that some big no-no with LGDs that I haven't heard about?

I can't think of any problems with dogs eating placentas. In my case there are way too many for the dogs and I use them as 'bribes' to the crows/foxes/kites/buzzards (our main lamb predators), so that they are less hungry and more likely to leave the lambs alone. Crows are the main consumers here.

Actually there's a lot of 'old wives' tales about eating placenta....from those ladies who eat their own to those folk who think placentas are somehow taboo even to touch. Admittedly if a ewe has toxoplasmosis and aborts then the abortus and placenta are teeming with organisms, but, beyond that, it's like any other piece of meat. In the case of sheep it looks rather like a disjointed bunch of grapes, but that's about the length and breadth of the 'creepiness factor'. My neighbour, mid-seventies, and a life-long sheep farmer says he would never knowingly let a ewe eat her placenta. To me, this vegetarian animal has an instinct to get a protein boost at a time when she most needs it, and I have no problem with her or any other animal eating them.

Beekissed, keep us updated with how you get on.

My girls are out by day, but quite a few of the ewes choose to come back to the shed to lamb as they feel safe there. My girls who are expecting singletons do not come in at night, so they always lamb outside, but, as sheep do, choose an area along the hedge line to lamb in order to avoid the gaze of predators.

 

[Beekissed]

To me, this vegetarian animal has an instinct to get a protein boost at a time when she most needs it, and I have no problem with her or any other animal eating them.

I agree! And, it seems that some will and some won't, so I figure it's all about their individual nutritional needs at the time.

I'll definitely let you guys know about how the DL goes, the good, the bad and the ugly. I figure I'll never know until I try it, so may as well give it a good try.

 

[Baymule]

The only dog with access to the sheep barn right now, and lambing ewes is Paris, due to the new puppy that doesn't need to be running rampant with the ewes at this time. Sentry, the puppy has a part of the barn, is next to the ewes in the lamb's weaning pen, and can see, smell and hear all the goings on.

Paris doesn't sleep in the barn, preferring her dog cave or dog house in the back yard. She is very respectful to lambs and new moms, sometimes she eats the placenta, sometimes not. Trip will ask to go in with the ewes so he can eat the placenta. So, sometimes it is a dog treat, sometimes I bury it.

 

[misfitmorgan]

I think what we do every winter is a sort of composting floor. It is intentional but we do still have a big spring clean out so we can let our cement floors breath thru the summer and powerwash then bleach everything.

We let our bedding build up hay, straw, wood chips, spilled shell corn, spilled chop, minerals, etc. Then we house our poultry in the barn so they turn everything and our pigs turn everything. Then we keep adding dry bedding on top. It all ferments and makes heat. By spring it is mostly all composted and go outside next to the garden. It doesnt really have any smell until we start cleaning it out in the spring ten it does smell but i believe that is mostly due to the cement floor not allowing the urine to drain away. After the barn gets cleaned out and powerwashed them bleached sweet lime is put down and we use minimal bedding until late fall.

So i would say it isnt exactly deep bedding because it is turned and aerated and particle sizes vary as well as grain fermenting but it isnt exactly a carefully planned compost floor either. I think the only problems we have found is sheep/goats eatting the bedding.

 

[Baymule]

We were talking about dogs and placenta...... LOL Miranda Lambed twins last night in the side pasture. Paris claimed her prize.

 

[Baymule]

Lily lambed a single tonight-in the pasture, in the sand. So if they have the choice of where to lamb, most choose outside. They go away from the others to lamb, that does help keep the barn cleaner