Are you tired of dealing with soggy, smelly goat pens? Discover the power of deep bedding and transform your goat farm into a thriving ecosystem. It starts with organic recycling.
Cleaner corrals with organic recycling deep bedding (YouTube)
Do this to improve goat health and reduce waste
By layering organic materials like wood chips, straw, and hay, you can create a dry, comfortable, and healthy environment for your goats. The deeper you go, the better for your goats.
These materials can include waste straw and woodchips; there is no need to haul extra materials. The key is to avoid wet, soggy ground that can contribute to hoof rot. Wet soggy ground can habor parisites too.
Health is critical when raising goast for meat and milk. Start with deep clean bedding in shelters. Focus on a stimuliating pen environment dry with absorbant materials.
Imagine having a goat farm that's not only profitable but also sustainable and regenerative. Deep bedding is the key to achieving this vision. And deep bedding works raising goats in small spaces.
By adopting this innovative approach, you can improve animal health, reduce waste, and promote soil health. It reduces waste because the deep bedding can be used to feed other homesteading systems.
Cultivating a thriving ecosystem in your goat pen
What if you could turn your goat pen into a fertile ground that produces a wealth of biomass for feeding, bedding, and even human consumption? Deep bedding makes it possible.
Learn how to implement this game-changing approach and take your goat farm to the next level. This goes beyond manure management on a small farm.
You are actively considering both bedding and soil conditions. You are providing for your goats today and growing biomass for them in the future.
The reason deep bedding works so well is the conversion of bulk carbon into high-quality soil. The kind of soil teaming with microbes, mineralized by your goats.
A practical example that works all seasons when raising goats for meat and milk
In today's podcast, you'll see our deep bedding system in action. Starting with 6″ to 8″ of wood from the forest mulching, plus waste hay from goats.
To be clear, this “waste hay” is the result of feeding goats. Not soiled hay is more suitable for garden mulch or composting. You are starting with clean hay, picked through by goats, then what's left behind.
Being mindful of depth, new layers of materials help keep the goat corral dry. A warm, dry environment that's perfect for your goats.
As important, a deep bedding system promotions soil health, encouraging beneficial microorganisms, and even supports mulchroom growth.
Too good to be true! Do deep bedding systems have any faults?
Deep bedding systems aren't hands-free. They do require management. For example, if you feed too much hay, the waste can get slimy and moldy when the goats don't eat it.
You still need to be mindful of feed volumes, weather, and what goats can eat in a day. If you are using pelletized textured rations, surplus material can attract rats. Have a portion of rations include whole grain seed.
Then again, we feed less than 1% of body weight in rations. Primarily to offer palatable minerals beyond free choice. Blended in feed is a cereal grain, soybean, and blended whole seed mix.
If you don't have chickens, you can end up with thin and wet spots in deep bedding. Chickens tend to scratch and level bulk materials. In doing this, it dries out materials.
While you may need to haul materials. A wheelbarrow of woodchips isn't that difficult to manage. Once you source these materials, a large gate (or throw it over the fence) lets you spread it around.
Takeaways:
- Joel Salatin's “carbonaceous diaper” concept. He uses it with cows over the winter, then pigs in the spring. The same concepts apply to goats during rainy seasons.
- Using chickens and ducks to help manage the deep bedding system. Wet bedding can be turned to dry it out. Then that bedding is suitable for poultry deep bedding.
- Growing biomass for feed, bedding, or human consumption. As your deep bedding breaks down, fed by goat urine and manure, seed it. You can even grow a garden in it. This creates so much abundance.
- A heavy wood-chip deep mulch can be inoculated with mushroom spores. Choose strains that grow well in grass, on mulch beds, or are compatible with vegetables. Mushrooms help break down materials.
DISCLAIMER: No goats were ignored in this video. They all received generous neck rubs after filming. At least they didn't have the liberal protests screaming for attention like they do around feeding.
