What a Load
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What a load
The Saturday before Easter, we were lucky enough to spend it with Tina's good friend Marie's family. Now, when I say family, I mean a two-generation, dedicated Catholic family. There are a lot of folks. But as Jason, Marie's husband, was doing his duty by grilling, the rest of the guys were driving golf balls. Jason gave me a lot of information about the proper stance before he noticed my glaze. Apparently, my lack of golf knowledge was pretty easy to read. It dawned on me that our little soap family has grown a bit, and there might be some folks who are a little further removed from the farm life that might give me the glazed-over look if I explained why we do some of what we do on the farm.
Last week was the perfect timing, as far as the weather goes, for the barn to be cleaned out. By cleaning out the barn, I mean scooping all of the bedding that has been collecting goat droppings and urine since the last clean out. Upper Management let me move the Man Blog back a bit so I could finish cleaning out the barn. We had two nice dry days last week, so the fields were dry enough that I could take the tractor and manure spreader across them without making ruts. I had my hopes set on just getting one side of the barn cleaned out so the babies' stalls were all ready to go. However, the rain held off, and I decided I'd better make the most of it.
For several years now, we have adopted a more European-style barn management. It's called the deep litter method. Basically, we don't clean out the barn all winter. We add fresh layers of dry hay on top of old bedding. The reason for this is two-fold. First, it creates a warming effect as the old hay breaks down, creating heat. Secondly, it gives the girls a nice thick layer of bedding, keeping them off the cold floor. The girls end up with the equivalent of a heated bed.
Over the winter, we keep adding fresh bedding and leaving the old bedding under it. It does have some drawbacks. There is always more work to be done to clean out the barn in the spring. If we were ever to pick up a bug, that philosophy is out the window until the barn is cleaned out. But the number of goats that we have and the size of our barn work for us. I always put down a heavy coating of lime after all the dirty bedding and manure are taken out. Either hydrated lime, which is overly dusty and just about makes it impossible to breathe, or just an anti-slip barn lime with less dust. I have been moving towards the less dusty one under the bedding more recently. To me, lime is the cheapest, multi-purpose problem-avoider for a farm. It is right up there with grease and duct tape. The lime neutralizes the ammonia in the urine. When it is spread on the field after use, it helps with the pH. It seems to keep the flies down and the hooves healthy.
On top of the lime, we roll out a round bale of hay. Hay is the main roughage over the winter when there is no pasture growth. We had tried sawdust and wood shavings on top of the lime. The girls would pull an excessive amount of hay from their feeder and lie on it. I don't pretend to talk goat, but a barn floor of sawdust, and they chose to bed themselves made up my mind. As the bedding gets dirty, we add more hay to keep the girls dry and clean. The bottom layer continues to absorb moisture and begins to release some heat. The girls end up spending the winter on a soft, dry, heated bed. If we had too many goats, we wouldn't be able to keep adding hay over the winter before it would need to be cleaned out. For our size, it works perfectly.
After the barn has been cleaned, I like to put a bag of hydrated lime directly in the doorway from the barn to the pasture so the goats have to walk through it. I put the entire bag down and just cut the side out of it. That way, the goats have to put their feet directly into the lime. Our goats do not like change. For the first couple of days, they leap over the lime. Finally, because of their pushy nature, they will concentrate more on getting out the door than on what they are stepping into. The lime works between their hooves and is a great preventive measure against hoof rot. I also sprinkle half of a small coffee can of copper sulfate on the lime. Copper sulfate is the absolute best at eliminating hoof rot. Years ago, we went through rounds of hoof issues and have been following the same preventive routine ever since.
When I worked on a dairy farm, they used a bleach water bath that the cows had to walk through after milking to soak their feet. I internet researched what to use for soaking goats' feet. It was a water copper sulfate bath. What the internet didn't know is that our girls would walk on the ceiling or set world records for jumping goats to avoid getting their feet wet. That did not go away in a few days. I'm not saying that goats are smarter than cattle, but they do notice when their feet are wet.
So on the farm, two days of dry fields gave me the chance to clean the barn and get some fresh lime and bedding down for the girls. I suppose it gave some folks a chance to go out and enjoy some golf. The only question that I have about golf, I was afraid to ask. Is golf a planned event? I view it as something that is done when there is absolutely nothing else to do. I do know the ball should be farther down your swing with a heavier club because the club's bend is a thing. Don't quote me on that.
Until next month, keep your eye on the ball. It is all in the hips. Don't pass up any dry days for field work. Stay safe and wash on.
1 comment
I think there’s a lot more work goes on at your farm than most of us ever imagine. Thank you for all you do to bring us the lovely Goats Milk products that you and your girls produce. You are very much appreciated.