Straw or shavings?!

[Southern by choice]

I let it build up im the winter
You get new dry hay on top and the decomposing hay and waste underneath generates heat
You do have a big cleanup on the spring but I don't have the time to clean weekly in the winter
My barn has good ventilation so I've never had any respitory issues

I know you put the grit in this year... are you doing deep litter over it?

 

[OneFineAcre]

I know you put the grit in this year... are you doing deep litter over it?

About half of my barn has no bedding the main walkway
The stalls I just cleaned last week and put fresh bedding
The very back doesn't have any rock
The feeder is back there
I haven't cleaned it in a while

 

[MamaBlu]

I see that someone mentioned the heat from the deep litter....

I had been doing this in our barns, especially in my chicken pens to keep the chickens warmer in the winter.

Well this year in Feb we had a double barn fire, we had a very large barn and then a smaller open air barn with a closed building built into it that we used as a milking/treatment room and quarantine bay.

It was horrible they say it must have started in the big barn and because of wind it spread to the second one. They were both engulfed very quickly, I had gone out to check on my daughters calf at around 10pm and at 11pm my husband noticed flames outside I ran out but it was too late.

We lost 14 goats, 10 does that were confirmed pregnant and due in March, 2 large buck brothers that I had raised by bottle from birth that were my first goats I ever had, they were from a birth of 5 kids and only weighed 2 pounds each, they were not thought to live long but I nursed them and loved them and they were both almost 200 pound Oberhasli males.

We also lost my daughters calf, well she was not a little calf anymore lol we had raised her from birth around 70 lbs I think and she was 300 lbs.

It was the most devastating night of my life, and the hardest few weeks following as I tried to clean up and prayed over each animal that they had not suffered greatly.

Anyway sorry this got away from me, but I was told by arson investigations that they believed it was spontaneous hay combustion. Basically they said the deep litter got too hot and caught the bedding on fire.

Now our barns did not have electricity, so no heat sources from lamps or wires were even a part of it.

Personally I think it was arson I had been doing deep litter for years, cleaning out once a year, but we were renting our farm and the day after the fire my landlord said he didn't want to renew our lease which was up 2 months later.

He's a bad guy I really wouldn't put it past him to kill all my animals thinking it would be easier for us to find a new place.

But anyway, I know where we are now is much better and we are much happier here.

I still wonder though if the deep litter heat really could have started that fire? There were no chemicals or gas or anything like that in there either.

 

[BlessedWithGoats]

I see that someone mentioned the heat from the deep litter....

I had been doing this in our barns, especially in my chicken pens to keep the chickens warmer in the winter.

Well this year in Feb we had a double barn fire, we had a very large barn and then a smaller open air barn with a closed building built into it that we used as a milking/treatment room and quarantine bay.

It was horrible they say it must have started in the big barn and because of wind it spread to the second one. They were both engulfed very quickly, I had gone out to check on my daughters calf at around 10pm and at 11pm my husband noticed flames outside I ran out but it was too late.

We lost 14 goats, 10 does that were confirmed pregnant and due in March, 2 large buck brothers that I had raised by bottle from birth that were my first goats I ever had, they were from a birth of 5 kids and only weighed 2 pounds each, they were not thought to live long but I nursed them and loved them and they were both almost 200 pound Oberhasli males.

We also lost my daughters calf, well she was not a little calf anymore lol we had raised her from birth around 70 lbs I think and she was 300 lbs.

It was the most devastating night of my life, and the hardest few weeks following as I tried to clean up and prayed over each animal that they had not suffered greatly.

Anyway sorry this got away from me, but I was told by arson investigations that they believed it was spontaneous hay combustion. Basically they said the deep litter got too hot and caught the bedding on fire.

Now our barns did not have electricity, so no heat sources from lamps or wires were even a part of it.

Personally I think it was arson I had been doing deep litter for years, cleaning out once a year, but we were renting our farm and the day after the fire my landlord said he didn't want to renew our lease which was up 2 months later.

He's a bad guy I really wouldn't put it past him to kill all my animals thinking it would be easier for us to find a new place.

But anyway, I know where we are now is much better and we are much happier here.

I still wonder though if the deep litter heat really could have started that fire? There were no chemicals or gas or anything like that in there either.

I'm so sorry that happened to you!! That must have been awful to lose all those animals!

 

[Southern by choice]

Just horrible @MamaBlu
I know this has had to leave such an incredible wound to the heart, I am so sorry.

Arson investigators are really amazing at what they do, I would think if it was arson they would know. Spontaneous combustion happens more often than people realize. Often we hear about it happening with barns filled with hay. We keep our compost piles in the middle of the fields now... we never had a fire but one of our compost piles did get VERY hot one time and it was close to the trees... we sifted, watered and spread it... After that we decided a "new" location would be better.

 

[sadieml]

@MamaBlu my heart aches for you and so much loss. So glad you are able to be happy where you are and you sound as though you're healing. I sincerely pray that your former landlord is not to blame in any way, so much loss of life! @Southern by choice is definitely right about arson investigators, one of my dearest friends' father was one for years. They left no stone unturned to be certain about possible arson.

I hadn't thought about the heat issue with the compost pile. I think we will relocate ours before it grows.

I'm really glad for this thread, because I've been thinking of re-flooring our goat shed since the recent floods, and this gives me much food for thought. So, like @BlessedWithGoats said, thanks for asking this one, @Dogma.

 

[babsbag]

What a horrible feeling of helplessness. I watched my coop burn once and there were 50 chickens in it, I was devastated... and to loose my goats...I can't even imagine. I agree with the others though that the arson investigators are good and leave no stone unturned. My DH is a Fire Marshal and when my coop burned he could tell where the fire started by looking at the burn patterns on the wall and the way a light bulb stretched as it melted. It is amazing what the remains can tell you. Ours was an electrical fire that was most likely rodent related. My new coop has electrical in conduit and it is not at floor level.

I have had some hay get pretty hot when a bale gets wet and left baled. I too use the deep litter method and it is hot under there. I have had it let off steam when I dig it out. Mine is not in a barn though, it is just a BIG BIG lean too so I don't worry about it.

 

[Latestarter]

I do deep litter in my chicken coop (plywood floor raised ~20-24" above ground level) and run. If too dry it is very dusty. If too wet it can smell. Gotta keep a happy medium. Mix green stuff; grass clippings, pulled weeds, kitchen scraps, etc w/brown stuff; bark, sticks, wood chips, dead leaves, etc. Throw in some good compost or garden dirt to give it a start, and then just let the animals move it around. In a barn with large animals, I wouldn't have a raised floor if I could avoid it...

 

[Bossroo]

YUP ... deep litter , exposed electrical wires where rodents can chew on them, hay stored in barns with not enough air movement between bales or piles of loose hay are some of the major causes of spontanious cumbustion for barn fires. Just 2weeks ago a barn near us with 500 tons of hay whent up in flames and smoldered for days. Last spring, a neighor's hen house burned to the ground when the deep litter burst into flames roasting a dozen hens.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I hate rodents.... ugh!