Rainy Week

I never thought I would ever buy anything but good old rubber boots to wear while working on the farm, but the first time I slipped into a pair of Muck brand boots I realized that my feet were so much more comfortable AND warm for the first time ever. This is the style that I wear throughout the spring, summer and fall in the woods, around the barns and in the fields. The the winter time, I prefer the Chore line of Muck boots with more insulation and more aggressive sole to walk those slick surfaces. Click on the link to see more info, by clicking to the affiliate you can shop any item they sell and I get credit for directing people their way. You do not have to purchase any item I promote. I may make a small commission without a cost to you. Thank you

With up to a week of rainy days ahead we have been busy preparing for mud. The area just outside my show barn has a nasty habit of collecting the rain water and puddling it right in front of where the cows walk into the barn. During heavy rain events the puddle overflows and sends water sluicing through the loafing area of the barn. I try to beat the puddle to the punch and trench across the doorway so the water (and liquefied muck) to slide downhill toward the field rather than through the barn. The cows with their big hooves take little time to mess up my trench so it has to be re-shoved every time a new storm system rolls in.

Sometimes I get the timing correct, other times I do not and the barn cleaning is much more detailed than the trenching.  I have tried putting in a 6 inch drainpipe and covering it with rock so the goo can have a path away from the barn, but the sludge gets bogged down and then dries inside the pipe thereby blocking the path for water and more soluble fluids to run.

The bull pen barn has a different water issue. When building this barn we were trying to keep the water from puddling at the entrance like my show barn and put up gutters along both sides of the building. The downspouts clear the water from the area and sends the water out into the swamp that is already wet anyway. It was a great idea until we found that the 120 foot tall fir trees that grow around the areas of the bull pen love to throw their needles to the wind where they fall into and clog the gutters.

The barn walls were built 20 feet tall so the hay stacker would be able to tip a stack of hay into place without hitting the trusses. It makes for a very high gutter area. To clean them it takes a minimum of two people, a front loading tractor, a secured 12 foot ladder, a lot of patience and nearly a full afternoon. This was the first time we had cleaned the gutters and we are now convinced that this may not have been the best idea to solve our puddling problems.