[danconfessed]

Been to top up the hay feeder and my sheep's field is looking more water logged than ever.  Where im standing is worse as its where i feed them and they congregate.  Should I be bringing them in or are they ok with the wet.  They have shelter to get out of the wind and rain

Dan

[ScotsGirl]

If they have a grassy bit they might be fine. Just watch their feet as increased risk of scald and foot problems. I had several limpers last year.

[Foobar]

I've seen worse!
Try moving your hay feeder around the field regularly (i.e  shift it 5 foot or so every day), so that they don't poach a particular spot so badly.

[twizzel]

I would leave them out but keep an eye for foot problems, rest the paddock in the spring and harrow/roll and leave to recover.

[Marlboro]

I joke that mine need snorkels to find any grass, we move the cratch every day and the field now has odd stripes of mud and dropped hay. They are prone to foot problems I carry the blue spray and get them at the cratch, if not better in two days they come up to the top field for more attention, luckily most of mine follow if I have a bit of cake in my hand.
They are in two batches based on date of lambing and twins/triplets nearer the house, they will come up at the end of the month so fingers crossed about the feet. I put a row of lime at the entrance to their barn so they self treat a bit.

[Marches Farmer]

I'm thinking of inventing the sheep Wellington boot!  Can you get them in a barn or on concrete at night, just to give their feet a chance to dry out a bit?

[danconfessed]

Unfortunately not that easily.  Getting them in would require lots of hands on deck as I won't be able to drive the trailer out there.

If they come in it will be for a few weeks minimum.

Had another downpour over night and all day today so im thinking of investing in sheep flippers

Fingers crossed for a dry warm spring so the grass can grow like mad

[Foobar]

If u have any old carpet or anything like that you could put it around the feeder.

[SteveHants]

Its looking to be mostly dry next week - It can't come soon enough....

[JulieWall]

You have had a wet time of it down there lately, that's for sure
 I find their feet much easier to trim after a few days of rain, a bit like cutting your own nails after a bath. I would do as Scotsgirl suggested and feed them in a different spot each day. The area all around the gates and in front of our field shelter gets very muddy each winter as they come in and out for the hay racks. One year I pushed loads of stones into the soft mud to make it firmer to walk on and it has been so much better every year since. The grass in that area comes back thicker and stronger each summer so it must do it good somehow, perhaps getting a good seeding and fertilising as the ewes trek stuff back and forth?

[jaykay]

I don't move hayracks, as the grass here won't recover til May and all moving them does is trash more field. Spilled hay, carpet if available, makes the area immediately next to it bearable.

As for the rest of the fields - mine make me want to cry right now!

[SallyintNorth]

I don't move hayracks, as the grass here won't recover til May and all moving them does is trash more field. Spilled hay, carpet if available, makes the area immediately next to it bearable.

As for the rest of the fields - mine make me want to cry right now!

this

  to us all in the same boat!  (or wet enough to feel we're in a boat anyway  )

[Bramblecot]

Usually I move the hay/feed racks regularly.  But, as jaykay say, it is now trashing too much of the fields.  So pallets, mats and old straw are the order of the day .  But today it is  , so I'm off outside

[Marches Farmer]

The previous owner of our farm put down a thick layer of shaly, flat stones about 5-7cm long, in the sheep handling area.  This works brilliantly - they're too big to get stuck between the clees and drain down very quickly.

[danconfessed]

OK so I bit the bullet the weekend and brought the girls in.  The ground was at a point where they was doing some potentially long lasting damage.   

It was no easy job as we had to put a foal halter on each one and walk them across a very uneven field and up through the farm.  on top of this my girls are not hand tame and lets just say they wasn't very happy about being moved.  It took hours but now they are tucked up inside the barn, drying out and warming up