Floor in animal stalls

[Farmyid]

I have read several threads that mention crushed stone over more coarser stone as a floor for the stalls that stays dry. My thought is that I'd like to be able to clean out the stall with my bucket loader without getting stone mixed in. Question is will I regret having concrete slab in these areas? I have always housed critters on the dirt and that had its drawbacks for sure, especially in the spring. Is some kind of drainage mat the answer? Any ideas of square foot price? (We have no TSC in New England)
Mark

[MikePA]

What kind of animals, horses?

I'm doing a bit of an experiment in 2 of our stalls. Both were prepared the same. I dug the existing clay soil out down to a depth of 12 inches below grade. I then sloped the ground towards the center and buried a 30 gallon plastic barrel there (holes drilled in the bottom and top). I placed geotextile cloth over the entire floor (12' x 12') and filled the stall with stone dust, compacting every 4 inches.

In one stall I put in solid rubber stall mats ($350 for six, 4' x 6' mats), in the other a perforated mat ($500 for one, 12' x 12' mat) each are covered by wood chips for bedding. In both stalls, I can use a snow shovel to clean the manure and soiled wood chips instead of a manure fork. Speeds up the cleaning process. It remains to be seen if the stones underneath the perforated mats turns into a cesspool [img]/forums/images/icons/blush.gif[/img] . Each stall takes about 20 - 30 minutes to clean, even when they are really dirty and the mats prevent picking up stones with the dirty bedding.

[joywagner]

My property slopes down to the barn and even though the barn is about 1 foot higher, I anticipated some drainage problems. I put drain tile around the barn to catch the water coming down the slope. I was then able to eliminate having to put in a drainage system in the stalls. We dug out 6 inches in each stall and put in crushed limestone which was compacted. Then put 3/4" 6x4 solid mats in the 12x12 stalls. I use saw dust which is very absorbent - like a diaper. The urine either seeps down into the limestone or is absorbed by a layer of saw dust above the mats which we clean out every day. I would only use concrete if you need a sterile area for injured animals. Otherwise, its hard their legs and you will need to use thicker mats and more shavings or saw dust. Mats can cost you any where from $29.00 (See Ramm Fence sales) to $60.00 for a 6x4 mat. Hope this helps

[Slyder]

For two years I had dirt floors in my stalls and then decided to go to stone and mats. Here's what I did. I sloped the floor to the outer edge of the barn slightly. I then dumped chips and dust at a depth of six inches in each 12 x12 stall. I compacted this with a hand compactor. I then applied 4 inches of screenings and compacted that. Now for the interesting part [img]/forums/images/icons/blush.gif[/img]
National Horse Stalls (www.nationalhorsestalls.com)
has a rubber product that pours like concrete and becomes a one and a half inch solid rubber mat. They spray a solution over top and liquid will not go through it at all. I have been using a shovel to clean out the stalls, no problem. I have not tried a tractor...won't fit.