Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
MAINTAINING A HEALTHY
BARN ENVIRONMENT:
THE DEEP-BEDDING METHOD
Build up an 8-inch-thick (20 cm) layer of bedding (straw, wood shav-
ings, sawdust, shredded paper or newsprint, and dried leaves all
work). Once every day or so, clean the dirtiest spots off the surface
of the bed, and then add just enough fresh bedding to the surface
to create a clean, dry environment. Once every year or two, you'll
need to clean out all the bedding down to the ground and start
again. The bedding you remove is already partly composted, and if
you pile it up outdoors and let it compost for one more year, you've
got black gold for your garden. Proof that deep bedding is best for
animals: Sweden has some of the toughest animal-protection laws
in the world, and Swedish farmers are required to use deep bed-
ding for animals kept indoors.
sharp corners or right angles, and they should have at least one gate that is
wide enough to drive a vehicle or tractor into. Long, rectangular pens with
curved ends work better than circular pens, though either design will do.
Handling facilities can be either purchased as prefabricated panels that are
connected to each other or permanently constructed on-site. The prefabri-
cated models have the advantage of being portable, relatively lightweight, and
fl exible to meet changing needs (you can always buy more panels as your fl ock
size increases), but they are rather expensive. The type that is constructed on-
site doesn't provide the same degree of fl exibility, but it can be constructed for
less cash outlay, especially if you use recycled building materials.
The gathering pen should be large enough to accommodate all the sheep
you'll ever have at one time, with lots of room to spare. We keep water tanks
and salt blocks in gathering pens, and feed treats there, so the animals are
accustomed to going right in. When we need to catch them, we simply place
some treats out, wait until everybody's in and chomping happily, and then
close the gate behind them. In a home-constructed system, the gathering pen
can be made out of woven wire, seven strands of smooth wire, or rails. A good
size for gathering pens is 5 to 6 square feet (about 0.5 m
2
) per mature sheep
and 3 to 4 square feet (about 0.3 m
2
) per feeder lamb. If the gathering pen is
12 feet (3.7 m) wide or narrower, you can reach sheep on either side of you
