Mud in corral is almost deep enough to drown!

[Bobg]

Since its been nice and very little rain this last week of my vacation I thought I would put up a steel gate that I build for the corral. I knew it was muddy, but after putting the gate up I decided to put some straw in the three calves. They like to hang around the corral because it puts them close to the cows. I had my knee high boots on and it almost went over the top. Good thing they can get out in the pasture where it's dry. In 6 months I'll be complaining about the dust.

Bobg

 

[J]

what type of soil are you talking about. Sand, blackgumbo, rocky???

You can try mixing some hydrated lime in with it. That will drawout some moisture and make it hard again. Portland cement will work too. Alot of it depends on the soil.

 

[Dave]

I hate to tell you this Bob but it is in the sixties and raining pretty hard here today so you know there is no relieve in sight for you. This morning the ten day forcast had rain every day and the lowest forcast tempature was in the 40's here so even though it is colder over the hill I don't think that is cold enough to turn to snow for you. Every time the rain is getting to you remember how dry it was last summer and the school house fire. The rain wont seem so bad.
Dave

 

[Saltydawg]

Hehe I know the feeling.

I live south of Buffalo New York and in December we got over 6 ft of snowfall.

Now for the last week its been 40 degrees and raining. All that friggin snow melted and the rain keeps coming.

Walking in mud up to my eyeballs lol.

 

[norriscathy]

Mines black gumbo. It sucks to. I have the same issue. Only mine is at the entrance to the back fields they are muddy where the cows walk through the creek so much. Im putting in a culvert this summer with gravel over it. As for the front near the barn Im sure there isnt much I can do really.

We used to have nothing but black gumbo! One winter is was so cold and wet that for a solid week I could only check cows from the kitchen window. Kept noticing a nice 500 # steer standing by the gate. Went out to check on things a few days later and found that the sucker was dead! He'd been dead for a week but was stuck so deep in the black mud he didn't fall over! Really, love these East Texas sandy hills. (just wish it would rain once in awhile!)

 

[TXBobcat]

One winter is was so cold and wet that for a solid week I could only check cows from the kitchen window. Kept noticing a nice 500 # steer standing by the gate. Went out to check on things a few days later and found that the sucker was dead! He'd been dead for a week.......

Guess I've never seen it that cold in Texas! :shock:

As far as mud goes, we haven't got any, none, zilch! All we have is dried-up, burned-up pastures that are going to turn to complete dust if we don't get some rain soon. Haven't had to get the mud boots out even one time this whole winter!

 

[dun]

Last January it rained 15 inches and we had to move the cows out of the pastures and dry lot them and feed hay. Hauled in loads of dirct every couple of days to sop up the mud/water.
Haven;t had any rain now in a long while and it's dry and the grass is breaking ofdf as they walk on it. It's just like last may, june, july and august except it's cold instead of hot

dun

 

[John Galt]

Mud boots? I believe I've only had to put a jacket on one time this winter! Looking at record highs again this weekend. 84 degrees on Monday.

 

[Bobg]

Ouor soil type is silt loam, but the corral is on an area that the previous owner dozed to put the barn in. So, it's down to pretty heavy soil. Calves have been spending the day out in the pasture the last couple of days. If I had known the mud was that deep I would have figured a way to feed them else where. Since their spending the days in the pasture they'll be alright.

The "Schoolhouse Fire" will not be forgotten in this area for a while. Someone I work with lives in that area and when the fire got to within 5 miles we started moving things out of his house. The fire never did reach it, but he was ready. The previous summer we were gone and when we came home they had a wheat stubble fire that burned 5000 acres and came to within 100 yards of my house/barn. Luckily I had a neighbor who was thinking and disced a firebreak around my place and that's where it stopped.

Bobg

 

[Dave]

Yesterday they set a record for rainfall in Seattle. It wasn't the record for rain on any day but it was the most rain that had ever fallen on a January 5th. I didn't hear what the total was but it had to be a bunch because it has rained over here before.
My corral and feed area is almost all concrete slab. The cows have a small field they can go out to but not may are leaving the slab. The soil at the barn is a very gravelly sandy loam that drains very well but the mud is still over a foot deep when you leave the slab.
Dave

 

[farmer4620]

We have sands in the subsoil but where i have my fat calves is finer soils on top and its so stinking muddy its worse than march out there ive had the loader out scraping it back and haulin in sand from the gravel pit but the sand just gets stomped in and the calves just work up more mud in a day or 2 never thought id want for it to freeze up so bad

 

[Susie David]

Feel for ya Bob....had to blade the pens to keep the ponding down...afraid we'd float a bred heifer.
One good thing...that pasture that we got in before winter is greening up nicely, hope we don't get a hard freeze.
Dmc

 

[Mahoney Pursley Ranch]

So dry here the cracks in the ground are deep and wide enough to fall in.