The Deep Litter Method

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Keeping animals warm throughout the winter can be tricky when there is snow and wind, and cold day after day. Learning how to use the Deep Litter method is a great way to help to keep your animals warm in those frigid temperatures. Not only is it super effective, but it will save you time cutting 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 is strong. And healthy all starts with a warm, safe shelter.

I’m not going to lie; in the winter, it gets pretty cold in Northwestern Pennsylvania.

So cold, in fact, that it can be 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.

The Deep Litter Method: How to Keep Your Animals Warmer in Winter

One surprising thing I did find out over those first few winters is 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.

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.

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 is a way of using bedding to insulate your animals from the cold ground. How it works is you start out with a fresh layer of bedding of your choice. You can use straw, sawdust, or wood chips. As the animals soil things up, rather than clean out the bedding, you will instead add a fresh layer on top every week or so.

Throughout the winter, the added layers of bedding will work to create a nice 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 in miserable weather. Second, it provides a nice soft bed for your animals.

How to use the deep litter method to keep your animals warm. 

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 litter before you begin. This will keep the smell down throughout the winter. A nice thorough cleanout each fall will ensure that you are starting with a fresh and clean space in your shelter.  

Read:  How to Prepare Your Barn for Winter. 

If you use a dirt floor in your shelter, you will need to remove the top layer of soil. Even though it looks like soil, it is actually compacted manure and urine. Using a shovel, dig down until you hit the soil to ensure you have removed all of the soiled layers. 

Step #2  Put down a fresh layer of bedding.

Once the area is cleaned you can put down fresh bedding. I like to use sawdust in the fall. This helps to dry things out quickly and smells pretty nice too.

SLCG Pro Tip: We also like to sprinkle food-grade Diatomaceous Earth before we put our sawdust down. This helps to keep pests down naturally and away from your goats and other animals. Be sure to use food grade.

Step #3  Add more bedding as you go. 

Every week or so as the weather continues to get cold, you can add more bedding to the top of the old. This helps to keep the smell down while also keeping your animal’s lungs free from ammonia. It is good to know that a goat’s lungs are quite delicate, and the ammonia created from their urine can be toxic to breathe in. By adding fresh bedding over the old, you will keep the smell down and your goats will do just fine. 

SLCG PRO TIP: Goats tend to drop quite a bit of hay while eating. You can use this as a litter addition as well. Either leave it where it is or rake it around when you are upkeeping your shelter.

It is important to remember that whatever you add now and throughout the winter season will need to be removed later. 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.

I like to spot clean up any heavily soiled areas throughout the winter. This is especially helpful if you have quite a few goats in your barn. Things can go south pretty quickly and doing a few shovels out of nasty areas will help to keep things from getting too out of hand.

Also, goat’s manure will freeze into clumps that are like small rocks during winter and can, not only trip up you but your goats as well. By removing some of those heavily soiled areas as they come up you help to keep those hazards to a minimum.

For me, spot cleaning is just a part of my morning routine. I like to use a manure rake like this one and a good sturdy wheelbarrow. As my goats are eating, I can easily go in any heavily soiled areas each morning in just a few minutes time. I can also take a look at where I need to add a bit of bedding to keep things dry and comfortable for the entire herd. 

Step #5  Keep the gate clean. 

I learned early on that using the deep litter method where you enter your pen is not the best idea. Remember, not removing litter means you will have a good foot of bedding by spring. And for our shelter, that meant it was impossible to open the door that leads into our goat’s main area. We now keep things cleaned out at the entrance, so we no longer have any issues with the door.

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.

#1. Be prepared come spring for a heavy cleanout job.

The more you add in, the more you will need to take out. 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 the removed bedding will be perfect for your garden. Add what you take out to your compost pile so it can start to break down before you add it to your garden.

#2. The smell is pretty intense.

When cleaning things in the spring, as you go deeper you will be hit with an odor that is hard to describe. I highly suggest you 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 I fill it up. Invest in a good one, and your back will thank you for it.

If you have chickens, you can give them some manure or just let them in your compost area. They are pretty amazing and efficient workers and can break down a large pile of waste in less than an afternoon. We will even put a few piles in our garden and allow our chickens to spread them out for us.

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

If you do not have chickens, then you can use a tiller to work the soiled bedding 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.

Since I have begun adding soiled bedding from my barn to my garden area, my garden has thrived. It’s pretty amazing when you think about it. Free all-natural fertilizer just waiting to be used.

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.

Helping your goats keep warm in the cold winter by using the deep litter method is something to give a try this season. Do what you can to promote a healthy herd rather than hurry and stress about treating sick animals later on.

Other Livestock Resources:

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