WandaCosmo22
Exploring the pasture
Hello,Can somebody explain deep liter method to me please I am new to raising Nigerian pygmy goats and I want to keep them warm and dry as possible this winter I just want to DD Check that I’m doing this right 👍😉
Deep liter method
- Thread starter WandaCosmo22
- Start date
Hello,Can somebody explain deep liter method to me please I am new to raising Nigerian pygmy goats and I want to keep them warm and dry as possible this winter I just want to DD Check that I’m doing this right 👍😉
Baymule
Herd Master
Deep litter, you just keep adding bedding. I dig it out to the dirt, sprinkle a little garden lime, cover with pine shavings, because that is readily available here. Then you can use straw or waste hay. As they soil the bedding, just add more.
In February of 2021, Texas got hit with a freak winter storm. I was living north of Tyler and temperatures dropped to -6F. I had 15 new baby lambs on the ground and my sheep barn was built for heat, not cold. It only had one side, other 3 sides were open to catch breezes. I put cardboard up on one side to block the wind and snow. I put hay down daily for sheep and lambs to snuggle in and they all did just fine. Come spring, I had a LOT to dig out, I spread it in the garden and tilled it in.
Ventilation is important to deep litter. You don’t want to get an ammonia smell from it. So don’t close them up in an air tight box, deep litter or not.
Where are you located? What is your barn, shelter set up?
In February of 2021, Texas got hit with a freak winter storm. I was living north of Tyler and temperatures dropped to -6F. I had 15 new baby lambs on the ground and my sheep barn was built for heat, not cold. It only had one side, other 3 sides were open to catch breezes. I put cardboard up on one side to block the wind and snow. I put hay down daily for sheep and lambs to snuggle in and they all did just fine. Come spring, I had a LOT to dig out, I spread it in the garden and tilled it in.
Ventilation is important to deep litter. You don’t want to get an ammonia smell from it. So don’t close them up in an air tight box, deep litter or not.
Where are you located? What is your barn, shelter set up?
Alaskan
Herd Master
What kind of temperatures are you expecting?
Can somebody explain deep liter method to me please I am new to raising Nigerian pygmy goats and I want to keep them warm and dry as possible this winter I just want to DD Check that I’m doing this right 👍😉
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- #4
WandaCosmo22
Exploring the pasture
Thank you for the info I have Pygmy goats and I’m extremely paranoid about them being warm enough in the Michigan winters they are in a huge dog run and then they have an 8x10 shed we are going to be covering the entire dog run with tarps we use straw it only got down to 35 last night and our boy was shivering this morning my husband doesn’t want to do deep liter because it’s a wood floor he doesn’t want it to get week with weight I’m sorry I’m going of subject but I’m just really worried and I don’t want to use a heat lamp because I want them to live as natural as possible so they grow their winter coats ugh 😩 I’m just so scared this is my first time owning goats ( Pygmies )
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- #5
WandaCosmo22
Exploring the pasture
Baymule
Herd Master
Good grief. Live a natural life? Just put a heat lamp in there for them. Hang it high enough so they can’t reach it and don’t pile straw up under it.
Deep litter goes on dirt floors.
Deep litter goes on dirt floors.
Alaskan
Herd Master
How cold does it get where you are?
I never put up heat for my adult goats, and heat lamps scare me....
There was lots of open area in my barn, and it is 2 story with a big hayloft. I wpuld put up a bit more plywood so they had a place to completely get out of the wind.
But .... one year I had kids (twins) when it was super cold... and I made them a warming box.
The warming box worked well. You use a heating pad withOUT auto-shutoff, duct tape it into a large freezer ziplock, duct tape all plug connections, hide all cord. Or, you can buy a pet safe/kennel safe heating pad...
Anyway, put that in a box just big enough for the goats to snuggle into.
I put the heating pad on the back wall of the box, and covered it with a secured in place washable fleece throw(so warm even if wet, do not use cotton).
You do not want to bend a heating pad. But you can use 2, if you want to cover two walls of the box.
The kids were smart enough, even at a day old, to use the box as needed. Mom would stay close, but never tried to push them out of the box.
One lady who lives where it is colder than my place, doesn't use heat, but makes a cave for them. So a box, just big enough for everyone to fit, with a carpet front. She teaches them to go through the slits in the carpet, but then it falls back to an almost solid wall. Her box, yes, has very little ventilation, but is located in a large room barn with plenty of ventilation.
I never put up heat for my adult goats, and heat lamps scare me....
There was lots of open area in my barn, and it is 2 story with a big hayloft. I wpuld put up a bit more plywood so they had a place to completely get out of the wind.
But .... one year I had kids (twins) when it was super cold... and I made them a warming box.
The warming box worked well. You use a heating pad withOUT auto-shutoff, duct tape it into a large freezer ziplock, duct tape all plug connections, hide all cord. Or, you can buy a pet safe/kennel safe heating pad...
Anyway, put that in a box just big enough for the goats to snuggle into.
I put the heating pad on the back wall of the box, and covered it with a secured in place washable fleece throw(so warm even if wet, do not use cotton).
You do not want to bend a heating pad. But you can use 2, if you want to cover two walls of the box.
The kids were smart enough, even at a day old, to use the box as needed. Mom would stay close, but never tried to push them out of the box.
One lady who lives where it is colder than my place, doesn't use heat, but makes a cave for them. So a box, just big enough for everyone to fit, with a carpet front. She teaches them to go through the slits in the carpet, but then it falls back to an almost solid wall. Her box, yes, has very little ventilation, but is located in a large room barn with plenty of ventilation.
Alaskan
Herd Master
Just how cold does it get where you are?
