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Author Topic: Muddy paddock - advice appreciated!  (Read 3443 times)

laurelrus

  • Joined Apr 2014
  • Quainton,Buckinghamshire
  • Hobby farmer
Muddy paddock - advice appreciated!
« on: November 21, 2017, 01:01:02 pm »
I posted this on the horse section but I think it's a general issue so I hope it's okay to ask here as well.


The paddock where we keep our two Shetland ponies is becoming terribly muddy especially by the gates and around their stable.
There were some paving slabs there from when our pygmy goats lived there but the Shetlands seemed to find that slippery so we took them away. We put hardcore down but it's disappeared into the mud really fast.
Clearly we have to think of an alternative, and quickly, as the mud is so bad I'm finding it hard not to slip over/lose a boot and it's only mid-November!
Could we use rubber matting that we use in the stables to put on the muddiest areas? I'm worried about the ponies feet which are really caked with mud, plus slipping injuries, and would really appreciate advice.
thanks very much

2 pygmy goats, 3 Ouessant sheep, 19 chickens, 2 donkeys, 2 Shetland ponies and 2 dogs

Still playing with tractors

  • Joined Jul 2012
  • Cumbernauld
  • You can never have enough HP
Re: Muddy paddock - advice appreciated!
« Reply #1 on: November 21, 2017, 02:30:43 pm »
Easy steps to happiness!

1. strip off topsoil
2. lay drains to outfall, min 800mm down
3. lay a geotextile membrane over area and down and up drainage channels
4. Backfill with compacted stone in 100-200mm layers or road planeings, do not use mixed grade type 1, as this will end up mushy. 6F2 or crushed brick will also free drain. Your stone layer should be level with the surrounding ground, but needs to be min 300mm thick for footfall or animals, thicker again if for vehicles

if you need any other help, just PM me :excited:

stufe35

  • Joined Jan 2013
Re: Muddy paddock - advice appreciated!
« Reply #2 on: November 21, 2017, 02:41:33 pm »
A few options/suggestions from me based on past experience:-

Keep the ponies inside when the field is too wet and feed them hay.

Their is nothing for them to eat in terms of grass at this time of year.  If you churn the fields up in the winter, there will be nothing for them to eat in the summer either and you will end up feeding hay then as well.

Let them out on days when its dry or when its frosty. (when damage to the field will be minimised)

No matter what you do outside your stable in wet weather it will get churned up and muddy eventually if animals are free to roam on it.  Unless you concrete an area which you can brush off.

Another option..have sacrificial area of paddock fenced off, and lead them to that each morning and back to the stable at night, minimising paddling up around the stable and saving most of the field so it will be in good condition come the spring.
« Last Edit: November 21, 2017, 03:01:48 pm by stufe35 »

laurelrus

  • Joined Apr 2014
  • Quainton,Buckinghamshire
  • Hobby farmer
Re: Muddy paddock - advice appreciated!
« Reply #3 on: November 21, 2017, 02:53:16 pm »
Thanks very much stufe35 and Still playing with tractors!

Really helpful, practical advice, much appreciated
2 pygmy goats, 3 Ouessant sheep, 19 chickens, 2 donkeys, 2 Shetland ponies and 2 dogs

bj_cardiff

  • Joined Feb 2017
  • Carmarthenshire
Re: Muddy paddock - advice appreciated!
« Reply #4 on: November 21, 2017, 04:15:40 pm »
I think it depends on how much you want to spend. I wish I could do all my gateways like SPWT describes, but its just too expensive.

A cheap option is to section off areas of the field with electric and keep them away from the field gate, so the only time the go through it is with supervision - rather than stand in it all the time. With electric you can move the 'electric gateway' every time that gets too muddy. Keep them off the field when there's standing water.


Marches Farmer

  • Joined Dec 2012
  • Herefordshire
Re: Muddy paddock - advice appreciated!
« Reply #5 on: November 28, 2017, 11:44:13 am »
Good advice above.  Do they tend to patrol the fenceline?  Electric can help create a "new" fenceline although it'll be churned up in turn over time.  If the ground gets poached all that'll come through in the Spring will be fast-growing weeds like docks, thistles and nettles and inside three years you'll have no grass at all.

laurelrus

  • Joined Apr 2014
  • Quainton,Buckinghamshire
  • Hobby farmer
Re: Muddy paddock - advice appreciated!
« Reply #6 on: November 28, 2017, 12:30:31 pm »
Marches Farmer - they do tend to hang around in a few specific areas so these are the worst places. After just five months with them their paddock is decimated whereas the donkeys in the next identical size paddock have been grazing on theirs for a couple of years but it's still in fair condition.
Our rookie mistake was fencing a paddock and putting the stable inside it, without thinking ahead to needing to move the ponies but them still having access to their stable. In hindsight....!
2 pygmy goats, 3 Ouessant sheep, 19 chickens, 2 donkeys, 2 Shetland ponies and 2 dogs

sabrina

  • Joined Nov 2008
Re: Muddy paddock - advice appreciated!
« Reply #7 on: December 09, 2017, 08:07:23 pm »
My ponies come off the hill in the winter and use the paddock down by the stable building. Its not a big paddock and soon ends up a right mess with 3 Shetlands charging about. As they are in at night and get plenty of hay i always just look at it a turn out for a good roll and some playtime. it does recover during the  summer months which always surprises me. OH did put in extra drainage to try and help. he also put hardcore at the gateway but that was washed away when we were flooded.

laurelrus

  • Joined Apr 2014
  • Quainton,Buckinghamshire
  • Hobby farmer
Re: Muddy paddock - advice appreciated!
« Reply #8 on: December 10, 2017, 10:12:12 am »
Thanks Sabrina. I'll be really pleased if the paddock recovers but if not we'll move the ponies and re-seed it!
2 pygmy goats, 3 Ouessant sheep, 19 chickens, 2 donkeys, 2 Shetland ponies and 2 dogs

 

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