The Deep Litter Method for goats

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Keeping animals warm throughout the winter can be tricky when there is snow, wind, and cold day after day. That is where the Deep Litter method comes in. It is a great way to help keep your animals warmer even in those frigid temperatures.

This old-fashioned approach works great and will save you time by allowing you to cut back on some of those wintertime homesteading chores.

When learning how to raise dairy goats, keeping them healthy is the easiest way to ensure your herd thrives even during the coldest months.

In the winter, it gets pretty cold and wet in Northwestern Pennsylvania making it downright miserable for my animals. Because of this, I am always looking for ways to keep them warm when the temperatures get brutal.

If you are just starting out, you can read my post, How to Keep your Animals Comfortable in Frigid Temps. There, you will find other ways to keep all of your animals a bit more comfortable while it is snowing and blowing outside.

One surprising thing I found out those first few winters was that even though the air is cold, it is the ground where the cold really gets intense.

My barn is half dirt and half concrete, and that means that when the wind chills are in the negatives, there really isn’t much difference in temperatures between the two surfaces.

Both grounds are rock hard, and both floors are ice cold.

Let’s just say if it looks cold from inside your home…you can only imagine how cold it is outside in your barn, chicken coop, or goat shelter. 

That first winter, I remember going out to feed my animals in the morning.  I discovered all of my goats standing in a bunch, all huddled together with their tales tucked tight.

I realized the ground was so cold they could not even lie down. And because of that, they were forced to sleep standing all night long.

Yes, it was time to come up with a new plan.

deep litter method for goats

How to keep your animals warmer in the winter using this tip will be a game changer for you and your animals, and the good news is that it is so easy to incorporate.

A few years ago, a friend and fellow goat owner herself told me about the deep litter method. I had never heard of it before, but after talking to her, I knew this was the solution I was looking for.

What is the deep litter method?  

The deep litter method uses thick bedding on the ground to create a barrier from the cold. The bedding helps to insulate your animals feet from the cold ground making their shelter much warmer.

This will work for any livestock, including cows, goats, chickens, and rabbits.

How does the deep litter method work?

The trick to it working is accumuation. Rather than just one layer you will havea multiple layers througout the winter months.

In the fall, you will start with a fresh layer of bedding of your choice.

1. Straw
2. Sawdust
3. Wood shavings or chips

As the animals soil things up, rather than cleaning out the bedding, you will add a fresh layer on top. This is done every week, depending on how many animals you have.

Throughout the winter, the added layers of bedding will work to create a thick and warm barrier between your animals and the cold ground. 

The deep litter method does two things. First, it saves you from doing the tedious chore of cleaning pens out in miserable weather. Second, it provides a nice soft bed for your animals to stand and lie down on.

Using Deep Litter – Step-by-Step

Remember, our goal with any of our animals is to keep them safe, warm, and dry. By keeping this goal at the forefront you will go a long way to a healthy and happy herd year-round.

Step #1  Start with a clean pen. 

It is important to remove all the soiled bedding before you begin giving you a fresh and clean area. This will help to keep the smell down throughout the winter.

Plan a complete cleanout each fall to ensure you start with a fresh and clean space in your shelter.  

If you have not yet done your fall shelter cleanings, you can read our article on How to Prepare Your Barn for Winter for more specific help.

How to Clean a Dirt Floor in a Barn

If you use a dirt floor in your barn or shelter, you will need to remove the top layer of soil. Even though it looks like soil, it is actually compacted manure and urine and the more you can remove the better off you will be.

Using a shovel, dig down until you hit the soil to ensure you have removed all of the soiled layers. You will know you hit dirt because it is a different consistency. Compacted manure tends to come up in flat sections the size of a dinner plate, whereas soil has a more chunky look.

Step #2  Put down a fresh layer of bedding.

Once the area is cleaned, put down a generous layer of clean bedding. For the barn, I like to use sawdust for bedding. Sawdust helps to dry things out quickly and smells nice, too. Sawdust is also very affordable, making it a great option for larger areas.

SLCG Pro Tip: We also like to sprinkle food-grade Diatomaceous Earth all over the ground before we put our sawdust down.

DE is a natural way to control and prevent pests. Look at the bag’s label to be sure it is food grade.

Also, always wear a mask when working with dusty materials, as this will help to protect your lungs.

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Step #3  Add more bedding as you go. 

As the weather continues to get cold, add a layer of fresh bedding on top of the old every week or more often if you have a large herd.

The fresh bedding will help keep the smell down while keeping your animal’s lungs free from ammonia. It is good to know that a goat’s lungs are pretty delicate, and the ammonia created from their urine can be toxic for them to continuously breathe in.

Adding fresh bedding over the old will keep the smell down, and your goats will do just fine. If you are worried about the smell, you can use Sweet PDZ Powder. I have not used it myself, but I have heard good things from others who have.

SLCG PRO TIP: Goats tend to drop quite a bit of hay while eating in a barn, and I just let that hay lay where it is. This also works excellent as insulation on the ground, and many times, I will find my goats sleeping next to our large hay bin because the ground is much warmer there.

It is important to remember that whatever you add now and throughout the winter season will need to be removed later. This can mean a bigger spring cleaning chore than what you are used to.

To help, try to keep bedding additions to a minimum, adding enough to keep the smell down and create a warm area without overdoing it. 

Step #4  Spot clean.

To help keep the inside of our barn dryer, I like to spot-clean up any heavily soiled areas as I find them. This is especially helpful if you have a larger herd of goats in your barn.

When using the deep litter method, things can go south quickly if you do not stay on top of bad messes. I usually try to remove a few shovels of overly soiled bedding each week. This helps to keep the main pen -from getting too out of hand.

Another tip is that a goat’s manure freezes into clumps that are like small rocks during winter. Those frozen manure clumps can cause you to trip as well as your goats. By removing fresh, manure piles routinely, you help to keep those hazards to a minimum.

My Spot Cleaning Routine.

For me, spot cleaning is just a part of my routine and I have simplified it over the years to make it quick and easy.

1. Each morning after milking, I will bring my wheelbarrow as close to the main stall as I can.
2. While the goats are eating, I use my manure rake to scoop up piles of manure.
3. I can easily toss the piles in without having to move too much.
4. If you only have a few goats, you can use a large bucket instead.
5. My compost pile is nearby, allowing me to dump without too much trouble.
6. Finally, I will add fresh bedding to any areas that need it.

This routine helps to keep things dry and comfortable for the entire herd. 

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Step #5  Keep the gate clean. 

I learned early on not to have a thick layer of bedding where the gate or door is to the main pen.

Remember, not removing soiled bedding and litter means you will have a good foot of bedding by spring, and this can make it hard or even impossible to open the gate and door.

We now keep things cleaned out at the entrance, so we no longer have any issues with the door. This is just something to keep in mind if your setup is similar to ours.

Deep Litter Method – What to Watch For

It’s true that using the deep litter method to keep animals warm is a great way to ensure a healthier herd, but there are a few things to remember.

Be prepared for a bigger cleaning job in the spring

The more you add in, the more you will need to take out when winter is over. At first, this was a deterrent for me, but I soon realized the benefits were worth it.

Even though you will have more bedding to remove in the spring, I still feel the time saved in the winter and the help provided to my herd is worth the trade-off.

The good news is that any bedding you remove can either go into your compost bin or worked into the soil of your garden.

Compost and manure can help improve any clay soil, giving you a better area to grow plants in.

The smell is pretty intense.

During the winter, the smell is hardly noticeable, however, spring is a different story. As you go deeper, you will soon be hit with an odor that is hard to describe. Send your goats out to the pasture, and be sure to wear a face covering to protect your lungs.

Let me just stop here and say if you are older like I am, having a good wheelbarrow is essential to keeping back pain to a minimum.

I received this wheelbarrow for Valentine’s Day from my Hubby 8 years ago, and it is the best thing he has ever gotten me.

The two wheels make it easy to move no matter how full it is, allowing me to do work without having to ask for help. My best advice is to invest in good tools for heavy work. Your back, arms, and legs will thank you for it.

Where to put soiled bedding

You have a few options of where to use soiled bedding, let’s go over a few.

#1. In the Garden

We will dump piles of bedding in our garden and rake it out into a somewhat even layer. When we are ready to plant; we can use a tiller to work it into the ground.

Once tilled, I like to let it sit and rest. In another few weeks, it can be cultivated one more time, and then you should be ready to plant.

A rototiller is another homesteading tool you will want to research before purchasing. I have a lightweight option that allows me to use it without asking for help. 

SLCG Pro Tip: If you are on a tight budget, you can rent a tiller for projects as you need one. For just a small amount, you can get your hands on one for the entire day and do all of your projects in one go.

If you have chickens, you can give them access to the garden, letting them spread it out for you. They are amazing and efficient workers and can break down a large pile of waste in less than an afternoon.

Once they break down the solid pieces, we can just go in and rake things out, saving us a bit of work and time. 

Since I have begun adding soiled bedding from my barn to my garden area, my garden has thrived.

#2. Compost

We like to add most of the manure to our compost area, allowing things to break down until we are ready to use it in other areas. Compost is best used around plants as it is gentle yet full of amazing nutrients.

Again, you can let your chickens work the manure into your compost pile, helping things to break down more quickly.

Where else can you use deep litter?

Deep litter is not exclusive to goats, this little trick works well with chickens, sheep, horses, and other livestock.

My favorite part of homesteading is learning to reuse and recycle as much as possible.

The deep litter method will not only keep your animals comfortable in the frigid and, sometimes, dangerously cold winter temperatures, but it will also ensure an organic start to your garden.

If you are new to goats, you can find all my posts at Raising Goats: A Beginner’s Guide for everything you need to get started.

Keep everyone warmer in the cold winter by using the deep litter method for goats. This tip is great to use in midlife because it is easier for you and benefits your entire goat herd.

No more daily cleaning and heavy loads; now you can be easier on yourself and help your herd stay cozy and warm.

By giving your livestock a warm, dry space to retreat to in the cold months, you will raise healthy and hardy goats no matter what the weather is doing outside.

Other Livestock Resources:

• Goat Fencing 101
• Best Livestock Feed Storage Containers
• How to Keep a Clean Chicken Coop