# The dreaded *boggy*muddy*mucky*- what can I do post



## LynninTX (Oct 25, 2007)

Seems the longer we have goats the bigger the issue.

most of our goat yards are incredibly boggy....

add in more rain than usual and the snow and snow melting.... ick

I walked dh around yesterday and he saw what I have been fussing about.

He thought it was just they are down hill, but I was showing how DOWNHILL FROM the holding pen is not boggy... obviously the goats being ON the ground contributes...

4 yards are good... 3 yards are terrible

3 shelters are ok... 4 are terrible

So this is NOT good.

Yesterday they relocated the maternity yard, but that lost us their nice shelter... best shelter we have, but the outside rm of that shelter the ground is so bad... I sank so far I thought I'd loose my boots!

Would sand be likely to help?

We are going to move some yards and try to reroute some drainage, but... we still see some concerns....

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And slightly off topic...

Any suggestions for draining water from a chicken coop???

:crazy

The boys shoveled out the chicken coop.

Then it rained.
Then it snowed.
Then the snow MELTED.

My chicken coop is now a LAKE! I kid you not. It is terrible.

One issue we have here is the house is high ground... then things run downhill from here...

When dh built the coop he dug down to make it level. So on the side facing the house with the main door.... about 1ft out from the coop walls... is a small step down so the water pretty much runs right in the door/under the walls.

Any brilliant ideas??

I have 100 chicks coming tomorrow that will now be going in my garage/apt... in MY birth tub!


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## doublebowgoats (Mar 6, 2008)

This happened to some extent with my chicken coop too. I am thinking of making a "pier" for now from old pallets. In my goat pen I have been moving in pavestones and cinderblocks for the girls to stand on so they don't have to constantly stand in mud.


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## mulish (Apr 26, 2009)

I can't wait to hear the answers to this one as we have been so underwater that we may switch from farming to scuba certification any day. . .


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## tinygreenfrog (Feb 19, 2009)

last spring i put in a bunch of loads of rocks near our barn door. it worked well/ish in at least keeping the girls a bit dryer and cleaner. they rocks about the size of my fist and bigger- dont think small ones would work. i also put down a line of pallets on the path they walk most and near the feed area. they helped....


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## mamatomany (Aug 7, 2008)

I have put pallets up and used "planks" for them to walk through the muck. The hay feeder that I have out in the yard allows enough to escape so they can lay under it without getting wet and I always have a fresh layer of bedding down in the outdoor enclosure. So if they choose to get sloppy it is by choice  Most don't, but the new babies, triplets still lay in areas that are not the best to rest and snuggle - go figure? Wierd kids...


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## Torrey (Feb 8, 2010)

Lynn,

Would have to see the place before any recommendations. We had the same problem with our horses and chickens. Sand will only buy you a little time. The organic by product put down by your goats is going to hold moisture much longer than normal soil. We live on sandy, very well drained land, but our horses could turn their paddock into knee deep manure swamp in a matter of months. We dumped more sand, scraped the manure with a front end loader...lots of work. Finally decided to go to portable paddocks. When it gets knee deep, we just move them and plant rye if its cold, bermuda if it is warm. It's a lot less work and an added bonus is incredible pasture improvement. We do the same with the goats and chickens.


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## LynninTX (Oct 25, 2007)

Torrey that is what I think we are looking at.... doing the moving around thing... which we already do to a degree. 

My biggest concerns then are the holding pen... that got terrible in just a few months... it is where we move them from their various yards to near the milk area... we may need to consider cement for that. but then that means the milk area stays THERE... we have relocated that twice in 6 years... 

the other is my maternity yard. It is the only one with a BUILDING vs hoop house and I so prefer it. But... it is 2 rooms and the room with only 3 walls open to the yard is the worst and then going out from there....

We do not have much.... any pasture area... we have some clear areas, then woods and brush and scrub - Goat heaven, but challenging to get yards in.... BUT I think dh might be committed to it finally. It is just time... my boys can do yards in the clear... but need dh's help the ore they get into trees and scrub.


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## Janice (Jul 17, 2009)

This is going to sound crazy, but our goose helped solve this problem to a large extent. She started trenching our poultry yard. I enlarged her trenches--a shovel is a bit more efficient than a goose bill, and it helped a lot. We have a 90X60 foot chicken yard with several free-access chicken enclosures where the chickens can be sheltered from the rain. Until Goosey got into the act, the big downpours would turn the enclosures and a good portion of the yard into a mud bath. She dug trenches all the way around the inside edge of our chicken enclosures, setting up islands under the canopies. When she finished that she started another trench from the upper fence and down a natural drainage area, which caused the water to bypass the chicken's main gathering places. I followed her example and trenched above the chicken enclosures with my tiller, and it has been much better. This year has been really wet, but we've only had a few problems with mud in one of the enclosures. Goosey is working on another field right now. I hope she lives a long time.


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## LynninTX (Oct 25, 2007)

LOL interesting!


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## jcran (Feb 17, 2009)

We live in the redwood rain forest....tons o' rain and lots o' mud. We do two things: first we dig drainage trenches to get the worst of the standing water moving off the place. Then we put pallets covered in wood and industrial width (over 3 ft wide) sand paper from the local particle board factory (free-they have to change out every few shifts). The pallets are like leap frog lily pads that the goatios and babies can use to move across the bad mud to the drier pasture area. In addition, the sand paper is black and absorbs heat. They like to bed down on them in the sunshine. Finally, the sandpaper helps keep their feet naturally sanded down a bit.


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## LynninTX (Oct 25, 2007)

good ideas....

I see we are likely to - 
need to keep moving most yards...
consider cement in a location or two...
set up something with wood...

dh has been wanting to dig trenches... I hate them. I worry about goats breaking a leg... or ME breaking one. I am not real graceful and have trouble sometimes on very uneven ground... both those make me *hesitate* to do trenches or rocks...


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## buckrun (Mar 7, 2008)

Drainage trenches has made the difference for us. We have trenched in several layers down the hill to run the water first quickly down the hill and then to the actual creek that takes it all. Hastening departure of the water does not let it soak in and loosen the soil like waiting for it to drain nautrally. Our barn is on a hill and amazing downpours come off the huge roof area. Getting it gone quick is what helped us not have a bog. Once your animals traffic in an area- particularly when it is wet- they pack the soil and there is reduced drainage through to lower soil levels. You really do need to consider trenches and make them really obvious- and the turf will cover them in summer and stabilize so you will have swales rather than ditches. We used a blade on the back of the tractor and it was lots of hours of work but boy has it helped so much. Another option is the French Drain. Dig a huge trench- fill with sharp rock so it does not pack and then cover with a shallow layer of soil. This lets the water run into the rock drain and away from your space without actually having open trenches. Good Luck- this has been the worst year ever for mud. How much you want to bet we go right into drought once it quits raining!
Lee


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## LynninTX (Oct 25, 2007)

Local lady told us to expect 3 more months with lots of rain... we'll see.

And we'll see what we can do on trenching...

no tractor here... we are all hand work... good thing I have all these workers... err dc.


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## Twillingate Farm (Oct 26, 2007)

We New Englanders have been victims of weather change for the past three or four years too. An incredible amount of rain during both spring and summer on top of abundant snow melt created problems in our herd. Hoof problems, Cocci and mites became the scourge of spring.

Last spring, I decided that this may be a long term weather pattern that requires adaptation in a proactive fashion rather than continued reactive therapy. I cleared away the top soil immediately outside the barn for about 2500 square feet and filled it in with ledge pack which consists of 3/4" stone and ground stone dust. This compacts down to become like cement and is not slimy or soft when wet. Then we built a 20' x 20' roof only type structure over the immediate barn access area. It's sort of like an equipment shed with no walls and it allows the sun to warm and dry the soil beneath but now snow or rain. There's swales around the perimeter which bring any runoff into drains that take it out of the pasture.

So far this year I've noticed an remarkable improvement in hoof health as they stay dry unless the girls want to go for a walk out into the snow covered pasture. For the most part though, I find them lounging under the roof just soaking up any winter sunshine that comes along. It has also kept the stalls much dryer and cleaner since they spend almost the entire day outside.

I'll have to wait until spring to determine if the mites and cocci problems disappear too, but all indications are that this was certainly an improvement if not a total cure. I do cocci preventative treatment with Corrid anyway so perhaps I'll have an uneventful spring... for a change!


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