Muddy corral problem?

[tom4018]

Got a mess in the corral and was wondering if I can do something to help it. Would it help to put some lime or small rock in the alley and around the chute area? I thought lime might be better for the rock might get carried away or hurt their feet. Any ideas?

Then again what it not muddy this year.

 

[Jake]

limestone screenings would work nicely in the alley and working areas... not a whole lot is productive in lots... too much crap and tromping to keep it decent....

 

[TheBullLady]

Rock it! We put a semi load of road rock in the pens last year, and were we glad this winter!

You have to work the cows a little slower over the rock so they don't bruise their feet, but it is WONDERFUL if you have a blackland type soil. Where the rock ends, it drops off about 18 inches into mud.

I wouldn't suggest hay... that will decompose and make a smelly mess. Just my opinion...

 

[ga. prime]

Do not, do not, do not use hay. It will compound the problem exponentialy and then some.

 

[frenchie]

Do not, do not, do not use hay. It will compound the problem exponentialy and then some.

I agree with ga prime..hay will make it worse...

 

[MULDOON]

hay does the trick... any leftover, moldy hay from your feeders.....toss it from the feeders into the muddy spots. The hay acts like an sponge that absorbs the water and mud then sticks together... Goodluck!

Don't listen to greenpasture78

 

[la4angus]

hay does the trick... any leftover, moldy hay from your feeders.....toss it from the feeders into the muddy spots. The hay acts like an sponge that absorbs the water and mud then sticks together... Goodluck!

Don't listen to greenpasture78

Yeah, greenpasture and baseballfan sure does sound like the same.

 

[Swiss Cowboy]

I would go with TheBullLady put a load or two rocks down and later when the weather gets better spread a few bags of cement over it. That makes for an affordable hard floor. :cboy:

 

[MrBilly]

We put down geotextile fabric first and then 4 inches of crusher run on top. Still gets a bit muddy from cattle bringing mud in on their hooves, but you don't sink too deep and it is easily scraped off with the front loader bucket. WE have had so much rain that it is near impossible not to have some mud .

 

[Crowderfarms]

Hard problem to cure! If you have access to creek gravel. put it down first to form a "roadbed" then get a load of crusher run. Still be ready for some mud, it's inevitable with all the rain, and like mentioned before,cows will bring it in on their hooves.

 

[dun]

If you can slope it or make a mound so that it isn;t level, flat or a hollow, that will help. Best of all would be some dry weather

dun

 

[TLCfromARK]

Do not, do not, do not use hay. It will compound the problem exponentialy and then some.

I agree with ga prime..hay will make it worse...

I agree, over time ( with as much rain as we've had this year ) the hay will make it worse. The first thing you know instead of 6 foot corral fences you've got 5 foot ones and it's still a muddy mess inside. Almost anything would work better than the hay.

;-)

 

[sidney411]

I agree, DON'T PUT DOWN HAY! It will cause a lot more problems then it will fix. Bacteria and fungus and all sorts of creepy crawlies will grow in it causing disease and sickness in the cattle. Lokk in your local classifieds paper. Around here we have guys that will deliver a 14 yard trailer of pot ash road base for $90. It would be better then hay for sure.

 

[brokenmouth]

sure when you add all that old hay make sure to add in a couple extra loads of manure and water it in. baseballfan you need to stick to baseball

the cheapest way out of that problem is to buy some rubber boots and like dun said wait for clear weather

 

[la4angus]

Never had any sick cows using this methods. Guess I am just lucky.

gp, have you ever had any cows of any kind.

gp, how many hayfields do you have and what kind of hay do you raise.

 

[la4angus]

Sir, that is NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS! I do not need to advertise myself for you! You sound like an very hostile person, have you done any relaxation exercises? Its will help reduce the stress in your body. The breathing exercises are good.....

I may be interested in buying some of your hay. Is it a real good quality hay.

 

[TUCO]

la4angus: when you find out about his hay please let me know about it. i want to buy some real good hay to. i think everbody should pay close attention to what baseballfan has to say. :lol: i always want to listen to the experts and the ranchers that make there livin from cows and hay and that dont just need tax rite offs. them ranchers in oregon know a lot about cattle.

 

[sidney411]

If you don't actually have pens or cattle then I could see where putting hay in the mud would not cause your 'not-cattle' to not get sick. But what do I know since your opinions are better then mine?

 

[la4angus]

I do not need to advertise myself for you! Its will help reduce the stress in your body. .

How about that now gp78baseball fan. We can probaly buy all of the hay that you will produce and you won't have to dump it into your muddy corrals.
What kind of hay is it, what size bales and price FOB your place in Oregon.
And yes, we would want to buy this years hay.

 

[Workinonit Farm]

I, personally, wouldn't use hay as an aid in "fixing" a mud problem. It will generally make it muckier. Definitely better off using stone or gravel of some sort. As Mr. Billy suggested, if financially/practicley feasable, use the cloth, then cover with gravel. They have done this in all the working areas/lots where I work and it made a huge difference. Still a bit of mud here and there, but not that deep muck.

Katherine