The Thrifty Homesteader

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Stall cleaning: A necessary part of homesteading

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stall cleaning

It’s not fun or sexy or exciting, but it is necessary — cleaning or mucking out stalls. If you asked ten people how they do this, you’d probably get ten different answers, and our answer has changed over the years. The answer may also vary based upon the animals occupying the stalls.

When my daughter had a horse years ago, it was easy to simply scoop out the poop each day because it was big and obvious. The same was true with a milk cow. However, when you have sheep or goats in a barn, most of their little berries will filter to the bottom of the bedding. They’re so small that it’s not realistic to try to remove just the manure.

With winter rapidly approaching, we recently did a complete stall clean out. We won’t clean them again until sometime in spring. There are two reasons for this. First, it’s not practical to try to drive a wheelbarrow through the snow and across ice. The second reason is that the goats will actually be warmer with “deep bedding.” We’ll continually add new layers of straw through the winter to cover up the poop. The deeper it gets, the more they’re insulated from the ground. As the poop and pee are buried, some decomposition starts happening, which creates an even warmer bed for them.

This is also why you don’t want an insulated barn. Ammonia needs to be able to escape. Otherwise it can irritate animals’ lungs and cause illness, such as pneumonia. It’s important to know that the human nose cannot smell ammonia before it reaches the level that can cause problems. So, if you can smell it, it’s at a really high level. And this is why you don’t want your animals living in the barn 24/7 through the winter. Our goats go outside every day, summer or winter, unless it’s raining or snowing.

For our recent barn cleaning, I was excited that Standlee had sent me a bag of Horse Fresh to try. In the past we’ve used barn lime to sprinkle on the barn floor after it was clean and before adding fresh bedding. Horse Fresh is 100% zeolite, which is a natural mineral that comes from volcanic ash. Don’t let the word “ash” fool you. It feels more like sand. It’s not at all dusty (like lime), so I didn’t feel like I needed to hold my breath when applying it. Here’s a video I created on Facebook Live while using it.

Because zeolite is not hard on your skin and lungs like barn lime, I’m planning to add zeolite through the winter as I add additional bedding. This will help to neutralize the ammonia. I was always a little worried about doing this with lime because I didn’t want my goats to come in contact with it, so I’d only sprinkle it on the floor before adding a thick layer of bedding. (There’s a lot of disagreement over the safety of barn lime.) Zeolite is also compostable, so will be fine in our compost pile when spring arrives, and we clean out the barn again.

Don’t be confused by the name. Horse Fresh can be used with any type of livestock, including poultry. Although I got this bag for free in exchange for an honest review, I’ll definitely be buying it in the future.

The nice folks at Standlee have agreed to send a bag of Horse Fresh to one of my blog readers. There are several ways you can enter below. You get three entries if you leave a comment. (No fair clicking that link if you didn’t actually leave a comment.) Be sure to use your real name when commenting so we can match it up with your entry in case you win. We’ll send an email to the winner, and you need to respond within 48 hours with your address, or we’ll choose another winner. Be sure to check back here on the website when we announce the winner, and check your spam folder so you won’t miss our email!

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Comments

    • Glad to learn about this new HorseFresh product will be looking for it at Tractor supply. That lime dust has always been a problem. Also will try the layering that you use for bedding always thought it was better to clean everything out every day.

      Reply

    • I clean the barn daily. I do it while they are eating out of their buckets. I love it when I see my barn nice and clean. After one episode of coccidosis, I am actually really grateful to see goat berries. I only use bedding on their risers. (raised pallets) The ground is a truck load of sand brought in. We use lime on the wet spots on the sand. Then I put lime on the wet spots on the risers and then put new bedding on top. I love Standlee Alfalfa pellets, because their is a lot less dust then with other brands. So, because I trust Standlee, I would be willing to try this for fresher bedding.

      Reply

    • I presently clean outside goat stalls – my goats are not permitted in the barn unless sick or spoiled – I use PDZ stalk freshener and cat litter occasionally if things get real wet with Urine and don’t dry out during the day. I will look for Horse Fresh at my supplier.

      Reply

  2. It’s definitely not my favorite chore, we dont have a large goat farm, 17 does and 2 bucks but it does warm me up cleaning the stalls out and a nice little workout. We’ve been using barn lime so im curious about standlee’s product, I’ll be trying it for sure and since it’s safer I’ll most likely start using it.

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  7. I hate cleaning my chicken coop. Have to do it this week 🙁 I’m sorry that I’m not living in US of A because you won’t be posting a bag of Horse Fresh to me in Denmark, I’m sure. It’d be way to pricey, for you AND me (postage for you and import taxes etc for me) So I just want a little whine on chichen cleaning. And see f I can find something smilar at my local seller of things like that (Missing a word for such a place, too lazy to search for a dictionary).

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  10. Definitely one of the least desirable chores. I use sand in the chicken pens and hay with lime in the goat area. I have 18 goats and with all the rain we had in Oklahoma this year the hay and ground got soggy. We had over 40″ of rain in one 30 day period and the hay became deep bedding. When I cleaned it out I had to use lime to help dry the ground up. I am glad to hear there is something that is safer than lime to use.

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  11. I use Sweet PDZ from Tractor Supply, which I think is pretty much the same thing. I use it for goats, chickens and ducks.

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  13. Hmm. I have used barn lime and diatomaceous earth in the past but I like the idea of it being more like sand in texture/size…

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  16. I have been using Sweet PDZ in our bard for our little goaties. I’m willing to try anything once! If it works better I’ll be reformed!

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  17. We have 5 goats and 1 sheep. Cleaning their house is quite a chore, but I do it faithfully. I sure don’t want anyone getting sick. I would love to try this product. It seems like it would work very well!

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  20. We use the deep litter method in the winter with our chickens. I haven’t used lime. Horse Fresh seems like a good way to help with the ammonia build up. I especially like that that it is compostable! Thanks for sharing it with us.

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  21. I just cleaned out the pens again yesterday, and I agree, it’s a necessary task, but never a fun one. Interesting product though, I may have to keep an eye out for it an give it a try!

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  24. Wow, thanks for the information about the zeolite–I was wondering if it was compostable and couldn’t get an answer at the feed store… Definitely going to try this product!

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  25. I’m so glad to hear there is a product that can help neutralize ammonia. I’m always concerned about the risk it creates for pneumonia in my goats.

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  26. We have chickens currently and use the deep litter system and this would certainly help wih the management of that litter system. We are also getting goats in the Spring and will face the challenge of keeping their barn clean.

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  28. We make biochar from all the sticks and branches around. I just started using it in the straw bedding in the overnight dog crates for the goat kids. It is night and day difference. As it is a dog crate the urine can’t even soak into the ground eventually. Then when I clean out the bedding each week , the straw /biochar can go in with the compost or over the garden beds for winter insulation. I will also add the biochar to the deep bedding in the main shed.
    Also will sometimes inoculate the bedding pack with sweet whey to introduce good micro organisms to help with decomposition. Keeps the bedding nice and gets a great jump on the final product that is great for the garden. Instead of waste, think of it as future soil building!

    Reply

  29. Reading about barn stall cleaning, and how everyone has a different method. The same is true for bedding. I currently raise ducks and chickens on my growing farm in central MN. I have tried everything from pine needles, straw, hay, and cedar bedding. I think for me what works best is good old fashioned hard work and staying on top of it.

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  30. Our Farm is in Southern Wisconsin. We opted out of the deep bedding method after the nasty job of cleaning out the deep bedding for a few years. We have Stall matting down over 12-18″ of limestone. Add a layer pine shavings for urine absorption with Stall Dry sprinkled for ammonia , that is spot cleaned daily and topped off again with shavings. The barn ventilator that we use to pull hot air out in the summer is set to run 15 minutes every 6 hours to change the air in the barn. The barn is not insulated except for the roof. We use Prima Heat lamps for the kids and supplement with wall mounted Quartz heaters for radiant heat should the adults start getting cold. The barn stays 10 to 12 degrees warmer than the outside temp. We can rotate doors open or closed based on temp and wind direction as the barn has garage doors on every wall. It is certainly a more expensive approach but the end result is worth the cost to us.

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  32. I’m glad to hear you talk about deep litter for goats. I use it with my chickens and have been trying it with my goats. I saw some of this product the other day at my local farm and ranch store. I’ll give it a try next time.

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  33. We have goats, sheep, llamas, pigs, rabbits and poultry. We currently use Sweet PDZ and shavings. Cleaned every other day.

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  35. I’ve just used barn lime, I’d love to give this a try, Esp if you can sprinkle it on as you go. I worry about the amount of ammonia that is down close to their faces when they are in the bedding.

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  36. I am constantly trying new ways to keep the barn safe for my goats during winter. This sounds like a great product to use. I like that it’s compostable, since we carry all the winter bedding to the back 40 for compost. Thanks, Deborah!
    Meg

    Reply

  37. This is a great article! I am new at homesteading and it’s simple things like this that matter the most to me! I will definitely follow through homesteader on Facebook! 🙂

    Reply

  39. Using Standlee Flock Fresh in the hen house already. No odors at all. Using a poop board under the roost really reduces the poops in the bedding. The bedding is so much drier than when I just used pine shavings though. They keep it stirred up and it’s amazingly dry.
    Using wheat straw in the goat shelter. 5 dairy goats and lots of goat berries. Would love to try another Standlee product in with the goats!

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  41. Hi and Merry Christmas!
    Love your informative emails. Always ready to hear new advice on raising my ng goats. We love them a lot and strive to do the best we can for their health and happiness. Dont know if I am to late for the chance to win a free bag of Horse Fresh but will look for the product anyway.
    So from one Deborah to another, thanks for all those good articles and keep them coming!

    Reply

  42. I currently use Sweet PDZ. I’m sure contest is over but would love to try Horse Fresh as I shop at TS a lot. Is it available in stores yet? Can’t find it on TS website.

    Reply

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