# goat sleeping benches



## Tim Pruitt (Oct 26, 2007)

I am thinking of building some goat sleeping benches along the side of my barn. Somehow, I have an idea that this would completely do away with the need of bedding. My thoughts are to make them out of 3/4 inch sturdy floor plywood and about 18 inches off the ground. They would have a slight slope to one edge of a couple of inches or so in order to drain properly. These would be swept daily and keep the does off of damp ground. Any thoughts on this?


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## NWgoats (Jul 17, 2008)

I have been considering this as well. I have a friend who has them in her barn.
The goats love them. While it does not completely do away with the need for
bedding, it does make a difference in how much you use. Since the girls "do
their business" while up on the benches, it is easy to use a scoop shovel to
clean off the bench without getting the bedding below messy.


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## Ashley (Oct 25, 2007)

My grandpa did this for his and they LOVED it.


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Do make them tall enough so that sweeping underneath them is easy. It also make an excellent place for young goatlings to escape if need be. But it also makes for a perfect place for does to get under and kid where you can't reach them to help! And when was the last time you were down on your hands and knees  Mine are all burnt with the massive cleanup we had going this year, but I will be making more of my soild topped platforms that I set out in the grass right off the barns, the girls love to lay on these and sun, even in the winter...plus you just tip them up, flop them over and then over again...there clean and in a new area. And about 8 inches tall they are the perfect platform for young bucks to breed tall does. Vicki


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## Tim Pruitt (Oct 26, 2007)

I am thinking of making them 32" wide along side the inside of the barn and the lenght of the barn. As I said, they would have a drop of an inch or two so that liquids would run off and not pool. I plan to give them a quick scoop with a flat shovel or a quick sweep with a broom daily.


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## doublebowgoats (Mar 6, 2008)

That is a great idea! I don't like using bedding either (except for kidding). It just seems to make a big expensive mess. And the goats like to dig through and lay on bare dirt anyway.


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## LynninTX (Oct 25, 2007)

very very nice idea... LOL I had just asked dh 2 days ago to make me something like this. He just made a hay manger thingie and that gave me the idea. We are talking about using 2x8x8 I think... we discovered those are cheaper than 1x8x8. We were setting up a hay storage system and discovered that.


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## LynninTX (Oct 25, 2007)

chuckling though Vickie on the breeding platform... I had a LM doe stay open one year... I was using a spring buckling and I guess she just was not interested in the young wipper snapper. 

I was then boarding a Nigerian Dwarf buck for a friend... and since she was dry I stuck them in together... no hills or dips... nothing for him to stand on... but about 7mos later she kidded 1st gen MM....


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## Nana (May 12, 2010)

My goats have them and they love them. The kids like to hide under them when they are real little and cuddle up under there. They just like to climb up on them and be higher than everyone else.


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## dragonlair (Mar 24, 2009)

What a great idea. I have pallets and such for them outside they love to nap on, but maybe putting something up inside is another option also!


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## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

We have them. Although we did not make them for sleeping (we - yeah, me and the mouse in my pocket ----my husband made them). It was for the goats to climb on. He built them next to their lean-to in the outside yard. He also made them in their inside stall (two) so they could see out AND see their neighbors (our horses). When the kids were born, we started with bales of sawdust, but had to build a smaller one so they could get up to the bigger one and climb on the roof. The big girls also do this. 

Sometimes, one of the big girls will lie on them. Mostly they just stand on them. The little girls, however, love to lie on them. One lies on top, the other lies underneath. It would make a great picture.

However, it does not save on any bedding. What is your thinking that it would save on bedding? Just having them outside saves us on bedding, but in the stalls, well, no real savings there. But they love them.


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## Dana (Dec 7, 2009)

I used old wood benches that were left over from a deck someone had. I put them in last fall and through the winter and did my big clean out this spring. My goats never slept on them but would stand on them often. The bench seat was not big enough for a full sized goat to really lay down and sleep on I guess. So I would just tell everyone to make sure the sleeping benches are big.

My hubby built a tree fort for the goat and they sun bathe and nap on it all the time!


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## Nana (May 12, 2010)

My goats use my childrens old climbing tower with sliding boards. Did you ever see a goat go down a slide. It is pretty funny. They also like to try to go up the wrong way after my children but don't usually make it up. :biggrin


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Tim if Phred on Nubian Talk emails you photos of what he is talking about, could you post it to me or perhaps on here? Vicki


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## Rose (Oct 26, 2007)

I'd love to see pics of all of these!

Our goat house in Texas is my mother-in-law's old chicken coop. There's a row of chicken nest boxes on the back wall. The smaller goats sleep up there.


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## LMonty (Oct 25, 2007)

Ive seen it done wide enough for fullgrown nubian girls to lay down on, but @ 1 in space between the boards (3) 2x6's IIRC which allows berries and liquid to drop thru under the benches. if you make them to tilt up (or down, depending on design) and get secured against the wall, cleaning underneath is easier, especially if you have a nifty little frontloader (i only wish I did! maybe when I win the lottery, LOL). Short pig panels in front of them can keep the herd out of the area under the benches, and that would reduce the need to clean so often and reduce bedding underneath.


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## cheesemoose (Jun 23, 2010)

Have been planing layout of my barn and was going to put a platform for the goats but the benches sound better. But I am thinking of hinging them to the wall so they can be easily lifted out of the way for floor cleaning or getting to a doe under one of the benches.


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## LynninTX (Oct 25, 2007)

> Did you ever see a goat go down a slide. It is pretty funny. They also like to try to go up the wrong way after my children but don't usually make it up.


My *baby yard* is the yard my toddlers use. So all the play equip. And my goats go up & down the slide and love to hang out on the top of the slide platform or the top of their house.


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## Sondra (Oct 25, 2007)

Tim, why not make them with 2 x 6 or 8 like a slat so the poo falls thru.?


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## Fiberaddict (Jun 4, 2009)

We've been talking about doing something like this. I'd love photos if possible - to give us an idea of *what* to build.

We have plenty of wood - my husband's been bringing home free wooden pallets. So far, we've "panelled" the milkroom, built the kidding stall, and built playground equipment out of them. Beds would be easy, I think.


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## Tim Pruitt (Oct 26, 2007)

Vicki,
Phred hasn't contacted me privately about this. Sounds like he is using expanded metal for his beds. The tenderfoot brand the pig farmers are using cost over 200 a sheet. 

I think some sturdy but moveable benches would be the way to go. Somewhere in my travels (I can't remember where) I saw goats kept in a dry lot situation in a barn at night. The whole flooring was made with a 1X4 turned edgewise with spacing between where the pills and urine dropped through but feet did not. It was built high where that a tractor could drive underneath for clean-up.


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## cheesemoose (Jun 23, 2010)

Think I saw that several years a go and seem like it was in out of country. Maybe in the Caribbean someware.
check this out http://burundigoats.tripod.com/Project_Training/Housing/housing.html


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## cheesemoose (Jun 23, 2010)

http://thekebun.wordpress.com/category/goat-house/


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## Ashley (Oct 25, 2007)

Ok, I so want a goathouse now.


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## buckrun (Mar 7, 2008)

I know someone with benches in her barns. Be sure you make them tall enough to clean under and narrow enough to reach someone hiding. Also do leave spaces for urine to drain- they will stand up and pee before they get down and it will soak the wood and smell awful in summer. This person used plywood but drilled holes for drainage. Seems like slats would be the best.

Wonder why they elevate those houses- can you imagine how much lumber that is? 
Flooding? Snakes? surely not just for manure collection?


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## Tim Pruitt (Oct 26, 2007)

> I am thinking of building some goat sleeping benches along the side of my barn


LOL!!! :crazy I have not gotten around to making these sleeping benches. Although we have not had a lot of rain, the goats staying in the barn because of little browse or grass at this time of the year has made part of the floor sloppy. My barn floor is dirt (sand) where the animals stay and I don't really want to put down a lot of hay or straw for sleeping.... However, they need something.... it is either benches or lots of wood chips..... It is decision time and I know I will have to do something. With the temps in the mid 70's today we have the barn doors open in hopes that it will help dry it out. Anybody know how to potty train a herd of goats? My problem would be solved if they would go outdoors to potty! :sigh


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## buckrun (Mar 7, 2008)

That made me laugh! One of my goat buyers called me back after a month or so and asked me how you train them not to soil their bedding. I laughed so hard and told her as soon as she finds out she is a rich woman. Glad to know someone else is behind on planned projects.
Whew- feel so much better now.


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## Cotton Eyed Does (Oct 26, 2007)

Tim, if your goats are anything like mine they will chew on plywood and peel off the layers like peeling the bark off a tree.


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## goatkid (Oct 26, 2007)

I love the idea of sleeping benches, but we could never do without bedding in the winter here. I always put down a layer of straw for warmth when the weather is like it is this week - snowing with subzero nights.


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## NPgoats (Mar 18, 2010)

ROFL! Potty trained goats would sell like hot cakes and cost much! I'm an optimist. They train killer whales. You could probably do it the same way...clicker training. Time, patients, and an intelligent goat is all it takes. LOL! Potty trained goats! Tim are you retired?! Linda


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## Tim Pruitt (Oct 26, 2007)

> Tim are you retired?!


Nope! I am not retired - just retarded! Retarded enough to do a daily scrape of the barn to keep manure build-up down. However, the urine soaks the floor - turning it to mud.

My goats are not retired either - they are just too retarded to go outside and potty.


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## Wendy Tinney (Jul 15, 2008)

Would it be crazy to put a "lip" on the benches? Then slat the bench and put straw on the bench? I have the same problem as Tim. I just hate getting out deep beds of straw and the expense. 
Wendy


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## Cotton Eyed Does (Oct 26, 2007)

And when you clean out your barn and put down fresh bedding... well that is just a que for the goats to run in there and pee and poop all over it. :lol


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## Wendy Tinney (Jul 15, 2008)

:/  Isn't that the unfortunate truth! Wendy


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## Tim Pruitt (Oct 26, 2007)

Well, we have finally got around to making the benches. The word is still out as to whether the goats will use them for sleeping or will prefer the ground. Now that I have this job done, I still got to figure out how to potty train them. :crazy

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## Tracy in Idaho (Oct 26, 2007)

goatkid said:


> I love the idea of sleeping benches, but we could never do without bedding in the winter here. I always put down a layer of straw for warmth when the weather is like it is this week - snowing with subzero nights.


Kathie, I have thought about making them with a lip around the edge so that we could put straw in there for them. Just haven't done it


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## Tim Pruitt (Oct 26, 2007)

I don't think in our Southern area that they would need the bedding on top. However, that might be a good idea. If so, a 1X6 or a 1X8 could be nailed along the edge to hold either straw or other bedding. What about some kind of rubber mats like for a horse trailer?


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## Dana (Dec 7, 2009)

I had wood benches last year. Two of them over 5 feet long. There were literally benches that someone had made and there was a wooden back on them, so they weren't very deep, probably 2 feet. The goats loved them for jumping on and off, but I never saw them sleep or lay down on them. It might have made a difference if they were wider, I don't now.

But here in Michigan, they won't have been very warm anyway. I wish you luck, Tim. You have a nice set up for you herd. I wished I lived in Texas right now. It's very cold here!


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## Ashley (Oct 25, 2007)

My grandpa did his slanted so the poo rolled off. The goats were always laying on it.


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## buckrun (Mar 7, 2008)

The mats will hold the urine. They stand up and pee before they get down according to my pal that has them all around the edge and down the center of her loafing barn. She left gaps between the lumber so the urine would drain on the second set they built. She does have ledges and does bed them in winter but not the rest of the year. Perhaps you could drill some holes for drainage or maybe yours will potty train 

We never considered bedding to be for warmth. Bedding to me is to have a clean place to lay for long periods of time like overnight with udder and teats in contact with the ground. If you have them on the ground or on wood that has manure on them they are going to be rubbing their udder and teats in that and you will have far more cleanup before milking and more problems with bacteria migrating up the teat.


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## Wendy Tinney (Jul 15, 2008)

Thx for the pics, Tim and thx to all who replied about the straw. I'm off to copy Tim's benches. Wendy


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

They turned out excellent Tim!


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## NPgoats (Mar 18, 2010)

I have a milkstand made out of wood kind of like what Tim built only taller. Mine got wet one night when it was left outside. The next morning when the goat ran to leap up onto the stand she went right off the other side...slipper thing it was! :rofl
I think when I have my benches built I want slats for the poop and urine to drip through. I don't need any skating goats! LOL!
Tim great looking benches! Linda


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