Goats are one of the most untidy and dirtiest animals in the world; they poop and pee frequently, anyhow, and anywhere.
They mess up their farm or stall almost all the time; hence, you need to clean your goat poop regularly to facilitate rapid growth, a healthy and conducive environment, and an ever-clean stall.
Unfortunately, scooping a goat or poop isn’t what you can achieve in a jiffy because goat poops are one of the hardest things to eliminate from their stall or pen.
Though picking a goat poop seems like a simple task, you must deploy effective methods and techniques to get the job done accurately. So, in this article, we will discuss the best way to get rid of goat poop, how to clean the poop, what to do with goat poop, and how to prevent your goat poop from smelling.
However, let’s discuss what a goat poop is all about and what it means to scoop a goat poop.
Contents
What Is A Goat Poop
Goat poops are tiny dry pellets that the goats pass out as waste products or byproducts. Also known as feces, goat poop is characterized by a dark color, cycle shape, and small water content. Goat poop is a bit bigger than a raisin with a size ranging from a handful to a 1-foot pile, although the size of a goat pool largely depends on their diet and the goat’s size.
Scooping a goat Poop
Scooping a goat poop means collecting or packing a goat poop from one spot using a scooper before disposing them into the trash, or before using them for other purposes.
In other words, scooping a goat poop means cleaning a poop to provide a clean, neat, healthy, and conducive environment for your goats.
How do you clean goat poop?
As mentioned earlier, cleaning a goat poop can be frustrating and tiring if you don’t know how to go about it. Luckily, below is the five ways to clean your goat poops
- 1. Use bedding that doesn’t absolve too many Poops:
Though this may not sound like action or activity, it is one of the things you should do to ensure a smooth and effective cleaning session. Ensure your goat stall contains bedding that doesn’t absolve too much poop and pee so you won’t struggle to eliminate excess poops.
Straw bedding is inarguably the best option for goat farmers as it doesn’t absolve poop and pee. It is spacious enough to ensure that urine and poop sieve or strain to the floor.
You can easily change or cover a soiled or wet straw with a new straw layer. Pine bedding is equally good for goat pens. Meanwhile, a pitchfork is the best tool for cleaning goat pens with straw or pine beddings.
- 2. Prepare all the required tools:
It is necessary you get all the needed tools; if you must obtain the desired results. Tools used for cleaning goat poop include rakes, brooms, pitchforks, shovels, and wheelbarrows. The type of bedding and size of the goat pen will determine the type of tools to use.
Meanwhile, a pitchfork, shovel, and wheelbarrow are required for a large pen with straw weddings. We advise you use a rake or broom in a small goat pen with pine beddings.
- 3. Soak up the pee and poop with a sawdust layer or straw layer to aid cleaning.
- 4. Use a leaf rake to navigate or move through the straws before using a wide bow rake to flip and drag the poop. Then, pack the poop into a bucket with a shovel.
- 5. Pick the bedding using a pitchfork while you sweep the remaining poop with a broom.
- 6. You can use an extra-large dog Poop scooper to pick the poop.
What do you pick up goat poop with?
Though some people love picking up goat poop with a plastic bag, it’s not the best thing to do. We advised you to pick your goat poop with a scooper.
You can equally pick goat poop with a shovel or popper scooper before flushing them in a toilet or trashing them at the appropriate quarters.
Alternatively, you can pick up goat poop with newspapers if the poop isn’t wet or watery.
How do you pick up goat poop from grass?
Picking a goat poop from grass shouldn’t be a problem if you have a leaf blower and other tools mentioned above.
Separate the poop from the bedding with the leaf blower, then pack it into the wheelbarrow using a shovel.
Transport the poop to the right quarter or spot using the wheelbarrow and dispose it appropriately.
How do you get rid of the smell of goat poop?
Goat poop and pee smell and are dangerous to their health. They contain a large toxic ammonia content which will affect their delicate organs and system. Hence, you must ensure regular sanitation and cleaning to prevent the unhealthy odor that could affect their health in the long run.
One of the best ways to get rid of the smell of goat poop includes applying air freshener to the goat pen or stall.
Though there are various forms of stall fresheners, we advise you choose a powdered one as it promises more lasting effects than other products.
Apply the stall freshener on the affected spot to absorb the adverse effects of the ammonia present in the pee and poop, or eliminate the poop odor.
Alternatively, you can apply limewash to the affected spot to get rid of the smell. Lime is known for its ability to neutralize ammonia smell to the nearest minimum, therefore it won’t be out of place to say that limewash can eliminate poop’s smell.
Lime powder, vinegar, and baking soda can also help to prevent smells. Endeavor to disinfect your goat pen periodically if you must protect your boat from disease and pests.
It is advisable you clean and disinfect your goat pen once in the spring and once In the fall if you are exploring the Deep-litre method. Goat owners using the non-deep liter method are to clean and disinfect their goat pen every 10 to 14 days.
What do you do with goat poop?
Ignore the smell or irritating appearance, goat poops aren’t as useless as people pictured them. They are used as manual and mulch to boost farm produce. Goat manure works effectively on flowering, plants, fruit trees, and vegetables.
You can also use it as a compost fertilizer or manure to enhance the soil nutrients, and promote rapid plant growth without experiencing any harmful chemical effects.
Goat’s compost manure’s greatest advantage over other fertilizers is that it allows more air to penetrate the compost pile, thanks to its pelletized structure.
Sources
https://goatyoga.com/2019/12/13/goat-poop/
https://www.familyhandyman.com/list/8-genius-ways-to-pick-up-your-dog-poop/
https://farmhouseguide.com/how-to-clean-goat-poop/
https://backyardhomesteadhq.com/raising-goats-poop-and-hygiene-what-you-must-know/