Farmers of old started using beddings in pens and coops to reduce the immediate effect of poo / waste in pens and also to insulate the stalls during cold temperatures. Keeping the bedding fresh will benefit your animals health and keep their home clean.

This article discusses several bedding materials for Goat stalls, some that should never be used, as well as how to dispose of spent bedding in a way to benefit the soil.

Pine Shavings

Pine Shavings are the most popular material to use for goat pen bedding. Pine Shavings are very absorbent, and a goats poo disperses well within the thin wood chips.

Shavings are easily accessible at most

all farm outlets and their light weight makes bringing home a package or 2 easy to get from car to barn. Shavings are easy to remove when they become soiled. Depending upon your season and the amount of time your goats are in their pens, you can use Pine Shavings for a few days to a week or more.

The cons of using Shavings is that they can add up financially if you are purchasing multiples bales each week.

Straw

Just like pine shavings, Straw is also a great bedding material for your goat pen.

One slight issue with Straw used as bedding is that Goats will sometimes eat Straw, and you don’t want that to happen (especially if they have pooped on it).

Don’t worry, not all Goats will eat Straw from the ground (in fact, most goats will not eat any feed off the ground), so you can use straw if it works for you and your Goats. The cons for Straw usage is that it can be very heavy to remove once saturated with urine or water. A Pitchfork and a good back is a must have.

Pelleted Bedding

Pelleted bedding (made of compressed wood dust) is mostly used in horse pens but it can also be used in Goat pens.

When they get wet, they decompress into saw dust, making urine or water spills a much drier result.

This bedding material is an inexpensive form of bedding that is highly absorbent, easy to manage, and unattractive for goats to eat. Pelleted beddings come in bags of different sizes and can be bought from various places near you.

Sawdust

Sawdust is probably the most popular bedding material for the largest variety of livestock. Sawdust is light, easy to spread, absorbent, and helps control odors.

Sawdust is also very advantageous to use as a spent bedding material (will be discussed later).

The cons - One usually needs to purchase this material in bulk, usually by the truckload. Storing a truckload of sawdust requires space in a DRY barn.

Cedar Chips/Shavings

Cedar chips or shavings are good as a goat pen bedding, but it is not as

cost-effective as some other options.

The Odor control is wonderful. They are not easy to find in bulk, and tend to be much more expensive option of litter than other materials here.

While cedar chips are as effective as other bedding options, you should stop using it if you find your goats eating it because cedar can make goats sick if they eat too much of it. For this reason I do not recommend using it.

Sand

Sand or sandy soil is great for drainage. It blows out well, and rakes well. It can be used as the main bedding - or as a under other bedding amendment for drainage.