Rubber coating on sheep house floor?

[Sfbayequine]

Horses are all good so here is a random farm question.

We just built a sheep house. It has a floor that is pressure treated plywood - the good stuff and thick. It’s 2 x 4 frame is sitting on a rock, stone dust foundation. I ahhhhh wouldn’t let the guys put it on blocks cuz snakes.

We have been pondering putting a rubber coating on the floor or leaving it as it is and using straw for bedding. I’m worried about condensation and rot from below if we do the rubber coating. I’m worried about pee rot and slipping if we don’t.

Thoughts? Ideas? Experiences?

[carman_liz]

How large is the area of floor you’re trying to cover? Why not use stall mats and some pelleted bedding to absorb the urine? If you want a sealed surface people on here have talked about using stall mats with flex seal or some type of outdoor silicone in the cracks to seal it.

Look for epdm rubber roofing material on fb or cl, or a cheapo pond liner would be a good barrier for the wood. Every once in awhile I would pull up whatever you put down though and let the wood air out and dry. Moisture will come up from the stone dust and rot your wood if it cannot dry out or you did not put a moisture barrier between the stone and the wood floor.

[Sfbayequine]

@carman_liz

How large is the area of floor you’re trying to cover? Why not use stall mats and some pelleted bedding to absorb the urine? If you want a sealed surface people on here have talked about using stall mats with flex seal or some type of outdoor silicone in the cracks to seal it.

Look for epdm rubber roofing material on fb or cl, or a cheapo pond liner would be a good barrier for the wood. Every once in awhile I would pull up whatever you put down though and let the wood air out and dry. Moisture will come up from the stone dust and rot your wood if it cannot dry out or you did not put a moisture barrier between the stone and the wood floor.

thanks so much for your reply. That’s exactly the kind of idea I was looking for. It’s not big. About 8 x 10’. I don’t really want shaving dust with their wool. It’s not so bad in the summer because they are hair sheep and slick out. Winter the shavings are going to get matted when they get wooly. We have pellets for the horses, but we always wet them a tad and fluff them.

I like the stall mat with silicone idea. I’ll see what hubby wants to do. That may just be easier all around. Thanks!

[poltroon]

I have one sheep barn with a dirt floor and one with a rubber mat floor.

Both generally end up with a deep litter scenario in the long term.

Sheep paw a lot, aggressively, IME more so than horses. They will dig up stone dust even with bedding over, if the surface is at all vulnerable. So, the barn we built that got the imported road base floor got the rubber mats. The nice thing about the rubber mats is that it gives you a clear “bottom” to stop digging to when you clean. You won’t get your gravel or stone dust in the shovel. It’s easy to give clear directions to other people.

The barn with the dirt floor had an established compacted dirt surface before the sheep were added. This meant that there weren’t the problems with them digging out the floor, and at the time I didn’t want the expense of mats. This barn is in some ways more challenging to clean out completely because it can be hard to tell where the floor is. It’s where we do lambing and when the weather is nasty and there are baby lambs it’s usually easier to add more bedding than to try to strip stalls and rebed, which is why they end up deep littered. It’s easier to just do a big cleanout in spring/summer.

I think your plywood won’t do well between the pee and the pawing. I think they’ll end up splintering it and damaging it. I’d do the rubber coating or add rubber mats. The mats add up in expense which is painful on the day, but I’ve never regretted having mats in my matted barn. It protects the floor and has made my life nicer for years.

[carman_liz]

@Sfbayequine

thanks so much for your reply. That’s exactly the kind of idea I was looking for. It’s not big. About 8 x 10’. I don’t really want shaving dust with their wool. It’s not so bad in the summer because they are hair sheep and slick out. Winter the shavings are going to get matted when they get wooly. We have pellets for the horses, but we always wet them a tad and fluff them.

I like the stall mat with silicone idea. I’ll see what hubby wants to do. That may just be easier all around. Thanks!

Tractor supply sells the 1/2inch mats for pretty cheap, I would lay those down for now and see how the sheep do with it under the straw.

[ASB_Stars]

I would put down something Rhinoliner on the plywood, to protect that from moisture, and THEN I would do Matt’s. Easy to clean and the plywood is protected

[moonlitoaksranch]

@poltroon

I have one sheep barn with a dirt floor and one with a rubber mat floor.

Both generally end up with a deep litter scenario in the long term.

Sheep paw a lot, aggressively, IME more so than horses. They will dig up stone dust even with bedding over, if the surface is at all vulnerable. So, the barn we built that got the imported road base floor got the rubber mats. The nice thing about the rubber mats is that it gives you a clear “bottom” to stop digging to when you clean. You won’t get your gravel or stone dust in the shovel. It’s easy to give clear directions to other people.

The barn with the dirt floor had an established compacted dirt surface before the sheep were added. This meant that there weren’t the problems with them digging out the floor, and at the time I didn’t want the expense of mats. This barn is in some ways more challenging to clean out completely because it can be hard to tell where the floor is. It’s where we do lambing and when the weather is nasty and there are baby lambs it’s usually easier to add more bedding than to try to strip stalls and rebed, which is why they end up deep littered. It’s easier to just do a big cleanout in spring/summer.

I think your plywood won’t do well between the pee and the pawing. I think they’ll end up splintering it and damaging it. I’d do the rubber coating or add rubber mats. The mats add up in expense which is painful on the day, but I’ve never regretted having mats in my matted barn. It protects the floor and has made my life nicer for years.

I agree with this. Sheep and goat urine has a lot of ammonia. Wood floors just don’t hold up. We have stall mats in our sheep barn (over rock). That urine needs to drain or it can cause respiratory issues.

[cowolter]

We built a new barn last fall, with a wood floor. Before letting the girls move into it, we poured 4 gallons of Chevron Log Oil on the floor and spread it around with an old broom. We then let it sit for two weeks…all of that oil soaked in. Then we covered the floor with shavings
We clean the barn every two weeks, but shoveling out any saturated spots in between and replacing the bedding. Our barn smells fresh all the time and the floor sheds all of the urine, and the shaving soak it up well.
My website

[candyappy]

I would have just used gravel screenings ( sloped just a bit for drainage) instead of wood? I would use something to repel the wet even if you bed it deeply. I would worry about the wood being slippery.

My goats are on dirt as well as my sheep ( when I raised them). It is amazing the urine output on those guys and it seems once they go in a spot everyone goes there too. If you just have a few sheep it may be fine. I have a lot of goats. That makes a difference.

[secuono]

If you do line it with a rubber tarp, go up the walls a few feet or add slanted bars to keep them away, so they don’t pee on the wall and directly under the liner it goes!

[skydy]

If (or when) any of you that keep sheep have the time and inclination, I’d love to learn something about them. I’m not going to keep sheep, just interested to know. I’m mostly wondering about the timing of sheep shearing.

When do you shear the woolly ones? In the summer, so they won’t be naked in the winter, or do they not mind the cold?

If they are “naked” in the summer do they need shade to keep from sunburn and insects? Is it only once a year that they are shorn or does their wool grow more quickly?

I know absolutely nothing about them but am curious.

Some of us have learned about Ducks on this forum. It would be interesting to know something about sheep. Hopefully it is less shocking than the duck information…:eek: Thanks in advance.

[poltroon]

We shear in spring and early summer. Most people like to do all their sheep in a single huge day; we usually do ours a few at a time. This is because we are slow and we like to spend time with them, and that’s when we have time. If you hire a professional they can do a sheep in 5-10 minutes each. We spend more like an hour and that includes things like trimming hooves etc. March is a pretty ideal time to shear in my area.

If you want the wool, you only shear once a year because you want as much growth as possible. There’s a sweet spot in spring before it gets hot that’s a nice time to do it for optimal wool quality.

People with meat sheep may shear more often, or do effectively a trace clip so that they have the wool off at lambing time. It’s easier to see the condition of the sheep and the udder without the wool. Wool in these sheep is considered just a discard - it is not sold at all.

They’re pretty adaptable for temperature. I am not sure that the wool makes them that much hotter - it is insulating, and sheep don’t sweat. I don’t like to shear them off right before a big heat event because of the sun and insects. I don’t like to shear them off when the nights are super cold either, but I’ve never seen them in distress from that.

[skydy]

Thank you @poltroon What are “meat” sheep? Are they sold as mutton or lamb, or both?
Are “meat” sheep a different breed than “wool” sheep?

I apologize for my ignorance, but there it is.

[poltroon]

All sheep that have wool (there are also hair sheep that do not) are dual purpose, but some breeds have more desirable wool than others, and different wool qualities. Merino and merino-type sheep have long, fine wool that is in demand as wool. Breeds like Suffolk and Hampshires have coarser wool that is less desirable for making clothing, but also stronger fibers. The Navajo-Churro breed has long, coarse wool that is sturdy and ideal for rugs and blankets.

Different breeds do get targeted to different markets. So for example, we have Suffolk/Hampshire black faced crosses, which are colloquially known as “club lambs” because these are the sheep that are raised for 4H and FFA shows and sold as market lambs. As you might guess, ours are the result of a now-adult child’s 4H project.

Sheep vary quite a bit in size. Some are the size of small ponies and some are the size of medium dogs.

Merino-type breeders especially in Australia and New Zealand are constantly upgrading their flocks to improve meat production, since selling both is a better economic plan. In the US people tend to choose sheep for their meat production qualities, because the market for wool is weak.

One of my favorite books on this topic, “The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook” by Robson & Ekarius, lists around 100 breeds of sheep and the various characteristics of their fiber.

[skydy]

Thanks @poltroon

[Sfbayequine]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I’m not sure how much their shelter will really be used. They are hair sheep and pretty flighty. I have six of them. We plan to let them graze over the property too. I can see some use in the winter, but more the shadows for shade. Still not sure what we are going to do. We just really appreciate the input.

[poltroon]

Our sheep really love their shelter. It’s their safe place, their favorite place, and they are in there whenever the sun is harsh and usually at night.

They do also like shade from trees but they are hard on trees and tend to eat their shade so…

The other thing about sheep and shelters is that they ram each other into the sides and can be as hard or harder on the interior than horses in that way, even though they don’t kick and weigh far less.

[Sfbayequine]

@poltroon

Our sheep really love their shelter. It’s their safe place, their favorite place, and they are in there whenever the sun is harsh and usually at night.

They do also like shade from trees but they are hard on trees and tend to eat their shade so…

The other thing about sheep and shelters is that they ram each other into the sides and can be as hard or harder on the interior than horses in that way, even though they don’t kick and weigh far less.

Poltroon… so we put the sheep in their new enclosure and they LOOOOOOOVE their shed. Love it. They are in there all the time. We ended up doing a rubber paint coating and out straw on top. Deeply bedded. They are so happy. We will see how things hold up.

[moonlitoaksranch]

Sheep also HATE being wet (so do goats). Shelters are happy places.