Goats Shed...REALLY SMELLY...Baking Soda??

[ThornyRidge]

Quit with the straw. I did that for some time when I only had 3 goats and yuck. Moved to a big barn with dirt floors and now use strictly pine shavings.. even go so far as to make my own..so much easier to clean.. worst time is the couple months I let it go over the winter and there is a ton of wasted hay that gets compacted.. just cleaned my barn out a couple of weeks ago and put in all fresh pine bedding after dumping a bunch of stall dry down especially in more pee'd on areas.. barn smells so good after fresh pine bedding.. I don't go crazy with it either and then about once a week scrape up any wasted hay and shovel out wet areas, throw some stall dry on it and replace with some fresh shavings.. voila.. no more smell..

 

[Skyesrocket]

What kind of a floor do you have? Is it dry? Is the area the goats are in ventilated? What size area and how many goats?
I think in a different post you said you have only had the goats for one week. In that short of time you shouldn't have a really bad smell. Unless you have a buck peeing all over.

 

[alabamariver]

I have goats and mine stink but I.have wooden floors what is PDZ ? I am so glad I seen this , my husband is complaining so much lately I am concerned he may want me to get rid of my babies

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

This is an old thread, so if you don't get answers, you could try posting a new thread with your question!

I've never used PDZ but I've heard a lot about it. When I had goats, we used pine shavings and they worked just fine.

Do you have uncastrated bucks? They tend to smell a lot more than castrated ones. Otherwise it it probably just a bedding issue. If you are using straw, I find that is the smelliest of all the bedding. Once it gets wet, it's also near impossible to clean.

 

[alabamariver]

I've been using straw and I didn't know it made it smell worse but I'm going to stop now lol .I have 2 bucks and they haven't been castrated . But the does shelter stinks worse because I'm using outside utility buildin. I took all the tools out and made it their castle lol thank you for your reply I appreciate it

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

I've been using straw and I didn't know it made it smell worse but I'm going to stop now lol .I have 2 bucks and they haven't been castrated . But the does shelter stinks worse because I'm using outside utility buildin. I took all the tools out and made it their castle lol thank you for your reply I appreciate it

Having uncastrated males will definitely contribute to the smell, and unfortunately there is not much you can do about that. Bucks will urinate on themselves and unless you bathe them daily, that smell won't be cured by changing the bedding! I do think you might see some improvement going from hay to shavings though.

If these guys are for breeding, then just keeping the area as clean as possible will probably be your best bet. If they are just pets and not for breeding, castrating them will probably help tremendously.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Waste stinks, clean daily or do deep litter, covering it up with more bedding. Bucks stink, but that's a different smell, if your sheds are smelling of ammonia than you need more ventilation as well. We use barn lime spread on the ground after cleaning, we do deep litter and it starts to smell when it warms up in the spring, cooler weather keeps the smell down.

 

[cassie]

Animal pens stink for two reasons, primarily. Lack of ventilation and dampness. My favorite bedding is shavings on the floor and straw on top. I always used a deep litter system for my goats and meat chickens. I just added bedding whenever it was a bit damp. My pens were well ventilated without being drafty. Odor was always minimal. An ammonia smell is not healthy either for you or for the animals.

 

[GringoJRF]

We have three lambs (about four months old) in a 12ft x 16ft corral, dirt floor and open fencing. We have had them about a month now. We clean the poo once a week. Their food goes in feed bins, not on the ground. We do not give a bedding material, they sleep on the ground. We are getting a strong urine smell. Will lime help? If so, how much for this size corral? If not lime, then other generic products (we live in Mexico so things like PDZ are not available).

 

[cassie]

Just a couple comments that may or may not apply. My favorite bedding was a generous layer of shavings topped with straw. As for odor, is the barn well ventilated? Dampness and poor ventilation will make any barn smell bad.