How do you deal with mud?

[Wisteria Farms]

I know this is the no. 1 pain in the @ss but seriously..I need some suggestions...I have a gate where they just sink...whats the best thing to use? Large rock covered by lyme? RR-ties covered by rock & lyme?

Also have a loafing shed where water is an issue... should I concrete the area? Just curious what works for you all in your mud-prone areas...I went out to feed this a.m. and opened the gate so they could get in (storms coming) and SANK TO MY KNEES...husband's going to kill me but I'm seriously thinking about concrete...

 

[Jogeephus]

I've done this and it works really well and its cheap - well free. Talk to a tree surgeon who has a chipper. He should be more than happy to dump the chips on your property at no charge since this will save him the tipping fee at the dump. With front end loader just pile the chips in these problem areas. It won't hurt anyone's feet like gravel. It will eventually decompose or get carried away but it should last you a good year or so.

 

[bigbull338]

i would use white rock to fill the hole at the gate an barn door.or whatever gravel or rock you can get in your local area.now mind you rock isnt cheap but its cheaper than concrete.

 

[dun]

Improve the drainage and deal with the mud

 

[hrbelgians]

I've done this and it works really well and its cheap - well free. Talk to a tree surgeon who has a chipper. He should be more than happy to dump the chips on your property at no charge since this will save him the tipping fee at the dump. With front end loader just pile the chips in these problem areas. It won't hurt anyone's feet like gravel. It will eventually decompose or get carried away but it should last you a good year or so.

:nod: :nod: Yep works very well!!

 

[Wisteria Farms]

Just deal with it is what i do. Who cares about a little mud and cow poop? If ya cant handle mud and cow poop ya shouldnt be a cattle farmer.

Hey Twisted...?
I can handle mud and cow poop...but I don't like to see my cows sinking to their brisket!!!

To the rest of you, thanks...I'll see if I can't find a tree guy and try that out..

 

[Jogeephus]

The only problem I have had with doing it this way is I got one load that had some big firewood sized sticks in it that didn't go through the chipper and I had to pull these out by hand. Since then I explain what I'm doing with it and ask for the clean stuff if they have it and have had little if any problem since.

 

[Wisteria Farms]

These guys consider this surplus waste? I would think some would try selling it for mulch...I'll do some calling tomorrow anyway...so I'm just wanting a couple truckloads of their "shredded trees" right?

 

[rc690]

I have a couple of areas I might try that with. :?:

 

[1982vett]

Mud?..... :? What is mud?... :???: Vaguely remember having some mushy spots several years ago but it's been so long, I don't remember mud.. . :lol: :lol:

5 or 6 years ago it almost became a problem, but then it was summer. End of problem. I know it's not a fair comparison. We don't have to pen up our cattle for them to survive our winters. They are always out on pasture so they are not concentrated on a few acres. :nod:

 

[regolith]

"post peelings" - the shredded trees, I've seen used for indoor cattle and calf housing. It's an interesting material, seems to work well.

We got a few good months out of them on a wet patch near the entrance to the milking shed, then they composted, needed to be scraped away and replaced. As a short-term measure it worked really well.

Aside from drainage (as often a matter of where gates and tracks are sited as anything else) and filling in the worst parts with decent rubble or rock fines - organic materials are useful as an interim measure or for low-use areas, I've found - the rest is management.

I'm rotationally-grazing autumn-saved grass right through the NZ winter. We see plenty of mud. It's debateable whether any of our methods of countering it are of any use to you.
In the toolbox: on/off grazing and standing the cows on a hard surface during rain, keep them moving (reducing hoof damage in any one area), use every gateway available, run them back onto the pasture over long grass (the grass bears the weight so less soil damage), restricted square grazing areas, not disturbing them during the wet when they're on the soil, use sacrifice areas to feed hay or stand the cows off pasture (I'm not a fan of this - people who do it follow by ploughing and planting turnips on that area in spring).

Concrete is useful but...
The big bonus is that it's easy draining. The equally large drawback is that cattle used to pasture won't lie down on concrete till they're exhausted, and get exhausted standing on it very quickly. I'd like a concrete stand-off pad with thick rubber matting or wood chips for winter. And a water trough. And a roof. All plumbed in to the dairy effluent system.
Anyone can dream.

 

[kenojoe]

I use the black "road fabric" with 4" of # 2 or 4 gravel covered with 2" of dense grade. Its been down for 5 years and cattle don't faze it.

 

[Jogeephus]

These guys consider this surplus waste? I would think some would try selling it for mulch...I'll do some calling tomorrow anyway...so I'm just wanting a couple truckloads of their "shredded trees" right?

The guys I got it from were cutting the powerline ROW and they were a contract crew from out of town. They just pass through and for them to be given a place to dump the "waste" was a savings to them. What they ground was mostly limbs and leaves so it is not as clean as you might buy for your flower beds but there is nothing wrong with it.

If you know anyone with the power company talk to them and they can probably tell you when the ROW crew is coming through your area or where they might be working. I just saw them working and stopped and asked the foreman. He was happy to help.

 

[midwestbullfarm]

using your tractor and loader scrape the mud out of the hole, then alternate layers of mud replaced in the hole with a layer of ag-lime. only put about 3-4" back at a time and it will never be a problem again. in northeast arkansas where i lived this was always a problem, and the old timers know just how to deal with it. :wave: hope this helps
CJ

 

[Wisteria Farms]

using your tractor and loader scrape the mud out of the hole, then alternate layers of mud replaced in the hole with a layer of ag-lime. only put about 3-4" back at a time and it will never be a problem again. in northeast arkansas where i lived this was always a problem, and the old timers know just how to deal with it. :wave: hope this helps
CJ

We've got ag-lime in front of the shed now (and it is noticably not as muddy) but coming through that one gate is just horrible!! We've got to do something right there for sure...

 

[hillsdown]

We have tons of drainage here as well Wisteria and mud is still a problem this time of year.Especially today after our April snow storm of 15cm's yesterday of snow that has now all melted...The worst is the gate going into the pasture by the house. I went to open it today and didn't realize how deep the mud was until it sludged into my rubber boots..

I think I am going to get a few loads of pit run and see if that does the trick, filling it with gravel every year is doing nothing..

Good luck and hopefully the frost will come out of the ground soon and things will dry up a bit.. :wave:

Concrete is a good alternative but expensive,,I thought about paving everything in the yard until I priced it out.. :help:

 

[msscamp]

We've got ag-lime in front of the shed now (and it is noticably not as muddy) but coming through that one gate is just horrible!! We've got to do something right there for sure...

Just a little something to keep in mind - while Ag Lime is good for dealing with moisture, it tends to hard on the animals feet.

 

[Aaron]

I have never been able to solve the mud problem. All I know is.....the faster you get the water away, the faster the ground dries.

That said, I am going to get about a half mile of backhoe ditch work done around the barnyard this summer in anticipation for next spring. :cowboy:

 

[dyates]

I use the black "road fabric" with 4" of # 2 or 4 gravel covered with 2" of dense grade. Its been down for 5 years and cattle don't faze it.

:nod:
Old carpet works just as well as the fabric. We just happened to be pulling carpet out of the house, so I laid it in the holes and dumped rock on top of it. Works great.

 

[dun]

I guess that's one disadvantage to having more then 2-3 inches of stuff over the solid rock.