Barn floor options

[Emergency Cake]

What is the best option for a foundation when housing goats? Our barn floor is dirt with lots of straw on top of it for bedding. We currently have three dairy cows, but we're looking to switch them out for some goats. I'm not happy with the dirt floor and thought it might be a good time to upgrade to something else. What works best for raising goats?

 

[Birdie]

They each have their pros and cons. Concrete is the easiest to keep clean plus it retains less moisture than dirt, but the hard surface is tougher on the animals. Gravel rarely requires maintenance and it provides an easy surface to walk on, but it's tough to clean around. I prefer dirt floors personally.

 

[RichZ]

I found that concrete works best for goats, and most livestock. Keep a layer of bedding on it, and it's fine.

 

[Pinewood Acres]

I have dealt with goat ringworm twice in my herd. My goats are generally healthy and treated well, so it never got beyond three of four spots on a goat or two. However, the fact that it came back, makes me think I should change my flooring to concrete because it would be so much easier to fully sanitize. I think the dirt floor helped harbor the spores. I removed all the bedding, but it's not like I could pressure wash the dirt.

 

[MartyR]

When we bought the place, the barns were already in place and the floors are made of concrete. I have placed livestock mats and straw over that.

 

[The Big Cowhuna]

I found that concrete works best for goats, and most livestock. Keep a layer of bedding on it, and it's fine.

My neighbor has dairy cows that are kept on concrete flooring a lot and I thought that might be what is causing his problem. His cows seem to fall more than they would on different flooring. Plus once their down, they usually need help getting back up. I help him with it and it's rough on the cows and us. I think it's turned me off concrete flooring.

 

[Birdie]

My neighbor has dairy cows that are kept on concrete flooring a lot and I thought that might be what is causing his problem.

Some concrete is slicker than others. He should look into fixing the traction issue if that's the problem. Or maybe he's prodding the cows along too quickly and rushing them without realizing they could lose their footing. It could be a number of things really.

 

[RichZ]

Good point Birdie. When I put the concrete floor in my barn, I textured the floor into slight ridges for extra traction. None of my animals ever fell. Plus I kept a layer of bedding on the concrete.

 

[The Big Cowhuna]

That makes sense @Birdie and @RichZ. They fall in their milking parlor and it sure seems awful to them when we get them back up. I'll mention the traction thing the next time it happens.

 

[RichZ]

I put grooves in my concrete. It seemed to give them traction. Of course I did that when the concrete was still wet. Cutting grooves into hardened concrete is going to be quite a task.