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Discussion on Barn with mud floor
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Member:
Scraig
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Posted on Thursday, Dec 28, 2006 - 2:18 pm:
Hi Everyone,
I hope I'm posting this in the right place.
First of all I'm new to horses and need all the help I can get.
Last April I rescued two TBs and the little barn we have has to do until my husband builds a new one this summer. The problem is that this barn has a dirt/mud floor. The horses sink anywhere from 2-6 inches depending on where they're standing while they eat. I'm looking for used mats but in the meantime I've put down about four bags of shavings. This has made it thicker in there and it seems to me that they had an easier time walking in the barn when the mud was soupier. My thinking is that if I saturate the area with enough shavings the problem should be better, at least temporarily. I'm planning to get a pick up load of wood chips this weekend and dump them in the barn. Is my thinking correct? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
Susan
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Member:
Mrose
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Posted on Thursday, Dec 28, 2006 - 5:59 pm:
I think the wood chips will help. In the spring, maybe you can bring in some road base and sand. IMO if you put the mats down on what you have, they may just sink out of sight.
Sounds like you may have the kind of soil we have, a deep clay. You need to use the right sand mix or it will just sink into the clay and be gone. We used a rather course washed sand and it works pretty good. You need to get the ground dry and pack it really hard before adding the sand, and even then it takes a lot. But, it does help a lot. Our arena dries really quickly, as do our pens, except for one where the contractor brought in too fine a sand and that pen is just muck again. Like you, I'm dumping all the wet shavings from the stalls into the pen for now,knowing that in the spring they'll have to be dug out before more sand is brought in.
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Member:
Canter
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Posted on Thursday, Dec 28, 2006 - 7:02 pm:
The wood chips should help, if you bring in enough. At the barn where I board, each spring, they coat the entire outside of the barn, to the pasture gates with several inches of chips. It works very well to keep the footing relatively "clean" until mid fall when the chips have eroded/shifted enough to have uneven spots. Where they've become thin, it turns back into muck.
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Member:
Hwood
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Posted on Thursday, Dec 28, 2006 - 10:06 pm:
There is a packaged product called "Dry Stall" that can be poured onto/into muddy paddocks and will harden the ground. It was used extensively in California where I was in the Bay Area . . . I don't know if it is available everywhere, but you can find it at: www.drystall.com
Maybe it will help your horses get out of the mud for mealtimes.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Friday, Dec 29, 2006 - 7:00 am:
Susan the important question is why are these stalls staying so wet? The floor is dirt and the reason it turns muddy is because that dirt becomes saturated with water. Where is this water coming from? What ever is causing the water to concentrate on your stall floor needs to be corrected or all the temporary measures in the world will fail.
DrO
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Member:
Ilona
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Posted on Saturday, Dec 30, 2006 - 5:09 pm:
Susan,
On reading Dr. O's appropriate response, it re-minded me of a problem we had with a wet stall. The water source was uphill from the stall so all run off or over-spill ended up in the stall. It was simple to change. Also the 2 horses who shared the stall as a run-in used to urinate in the same spot. Worse than any torrential down-pour, some re-grading took care of that. Maybe that helps. Also check gutters or roof run-off, it can be surreptitiously evil.
Holly,
Thanx for the drystall info. I will definitely look into keeping some on hand. I did notice that the site does not declare prices which has me a little nervous.
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Member:
Paul303
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Posted on Saturday, Dec 30, 2006 - 11:16 pm:
Drystall is an excellent product. I put it down in a very troublesome area near the paddock gate where the horses congregate, and also around the water trough. That was two years ago, and both areas remain dry. One of the few products that does what it says it will! I think I paid about $8.00 or $8.99 a bag back then.
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Member:
Ilona
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Posted on Sunday, Dec 31, 2006 - 10:19 am:
Thanx Lee,
Now I'm no longer nervous, just looking forward to getting the product.
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Member:
Twhgait
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Posted on Sunday, Dec 31, 2006 - 11:42 am:
This is perfect timing for me! I'm writing the Drystall people also. Here we are, New Years Eve in Wisconsin, and we're having torrential rains all day today and some of tomorrow with 40 degree temps all week. My horses and I have been battling thrush since fall. My pastures haven't been dry since fall. **Frustration!!!!** Maybe this will help.....
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Member:
Twhgait
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Posted on Sunday, Dec 31, 2006 - 12:04 pm:
Oh and I wanted to add...we also had problems with rain running thru our barn when it really poured...we built a grade along the side that it ran in from with trafficbond gravel. I haven't had a problem since in the barn. The paddocks remain a huge problem, but I know it's just because of all this rain and mild temps.
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Member:
Sswiley
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Posted on Sunday, Dec 31, 2006 - 5:10 pm:
Gopher holes were my reason for flooded stalls last year. They must have gone right under the wall and channeled the water into the stall.
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Member:
Scooter
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Posted on Monday, Jan 1, 2007 - 9:52 am:
Hi, I have to throw in ag lime it keeps my paddocks bone dry and also my lean-to it is great!
First pic is pasture 2nd is paddock no mud!!! I highly recommend the stuff as you can see the gate area holds up well also.
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Member:
Srfotog
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Posted on Monday, Jan 1, 2007 - 11:50 am:
What is ag lime? I am fascinated! Looks wonderful Does it have any drawbacks?
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Member:
Hpyhaulr
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Posted on Monday, Jan 1, 2007 - 12:21 pm:
Diane,
I am having some mud issues in a couple of pens and am having residual thrush issues with the horses who frequent the red pen and the round pen. Although their stalls are in great shape, we believe the pens are the offenders.I was thinking of spraying the round pen down with bleach, then lime and then get another ton of sand delivered. How much ag lime do you recommend? I want my paddock to look like yours.. Nice & dry. Please tell me you are not in Arizona or something nice & dry like that! lol
On Christmas, we had a concentrated rain (2" in 12 hrs) we had to rename the barn "A River Runs Through It" even though we have a 2' trench dug around 3 sides of the barn, the water managed to jump the ditch. We are putting in a sump pump there next week. That will take care of that!
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Member:
Scooter
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Posted on Monday, Jan 1, 2007 - 1:00 pm:
Cyndy, I live in the midwest and we just had 2in. of rain also, actually we have had close to 4 in. in the last week and a half! These pics were taken right after the first 2 in..
This holds up much better than sand, once it has been in the weather and gets wet then dry it gets like cement accept not as hard. We had a discussion last year about it. I will see if I can find it. This is it, you will have to scroll down some to get to the part about the ag lime. Dr.O. describes what it is. There are absolutely NO drawbacks to this stuff, as long as you put it down correct, and around here it is cheap!
https://www.horseadvice.com/horse/messages/3/62107.html
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Member:
Hpyhaulr
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Posted on Monday, Jan 1, 2007 - 1:57 pm:
Diane,
Thanks for the feedback! As positive as you sound about the lime, I guess I'd better stick with the sand as I need soft footing in the pens. I had no idea it would harden that much. One of our mares has an issue with her Rforeleg and needs the soft footing. Maybe when she is better, I can get the lime. I am hoping the rain will stop soon, as it is going down to the low 30's tonight (after 60's last night). Got a whole bunch of horses to dry off and I am most concerned about the pony and the minis (my baby clowns) as they have wooly behemoth coats. Some days you're the bug and some days you're the windshield.... feeling like road pizza today. I just HATE it when weather.com lies to me and messes up my planning. lol
thank you for being part of my learning curve!
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Member:
Kathleen
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Posted on Monday, Jan 1, 2007 - 2:08 pm:
We used road base. It's consistency varies from 3/4" to dust. Either we aren't making it deep enough or we need to try something else. We just paid someone a bit of money to bring in 4 dumptruck loads of base and use a bobcat to spread it over an area of about 30ft x 75ft. First rain and it is mostly mush again. Each dump truck held 10cu yds and cost $200 including delivery. Sounds like this ag lime is the way to go if it is not the same stuff. We have a lime quarry about 5 miles from our place and I'll check it out. Is is powdery without stones? Sounds like what we need.
Kathleen
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Member:
Scooter
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Posted on Monday, Jan 1, 2007 - 2:18 pm:
Yes Kathleen it is the consistency of sand. The important thing when applying is to do a layer, then pack it down..by driving on it. Apply another layer and repeat. If it is dry, wet it down first.
It holds up much better than road base from my experience, as long as you apply it right.
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Member:
Ilona
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Posted on Monday, Jan 1, 2007 - 3:18 pm:
Diane,
How many inches did you apply per layer, or did it depend upon the depth of the mud areas. Our corrals are becoming mud ponds as the snow and slush melt.
I will be calling around tomorrow for dystall and ag lime, I think I will try both as a control study with before and after pictures.
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Member:
Scooter
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Posted on Monday, Jan 1, 2007 - 4:32 pm:
Ilona, I put about 4in. per layer, there is probably a foot of it total. When I did mine it was summer, for once I thought ahead! If applying to mud I would put down a gravel base first, or dig out as much mud as you can first. I believe it will work in existing mud, but you will probably have to use a bit more. Always remember whatever you use, to put a bit of a slope so the water runs off.
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Member:
Hpyhaulr
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Posted on Monday, Jan 1, 2007 - 5:18 pm:
Holly,
I just emailed dry stall for free samples they will send to my feed store, and can't wait to try that out. Sounds like a great idea! It will be so nice to get product that actually does what it says. It sounds like a good investment for the round pen too!I am confused a bit about the hardening part. IF it is soft enough for the stall bedding, how can it harden?
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Member:
Kathleen
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Posted on Monday, Jan 1, 2007 - 5:47 pm:
Thanks Diane, I'll contact the quarry this week and see what they say. Did you have them deliver it or did you have to hire someone else to do it?
Kathleen
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Member:
Hwood
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Posted on Monday, Jan 1, 2007 - 6:12 pm:
Cyndy,
I don't know the answer to your question about softness for bedding as compared to hardening. I have never personally used it, but know of stables that used it in CA. If I had stayed at the ranch where I was, I would have tried it in some of the paddocks there, but didn't have the opportunity. If you try some, maybe you can take before and after photos, too, and let us know how soft is soft . . . or how hard is hard.
Good luck with it. I have heard folks rave about it. Maybe it is made of ag lime????
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Monday, Jan 1, 2007 - 6:50 pm:
Agriculture lime is a mixture of calcium and magnesium carbonates, essentially fairly inert minerals and not to be confused with the caustic hydrated or "stall" lime.
It will make a firm base that does not form mud easily, though I find sand rock much cheaper if available locally. But this will not solve all wetness problems. Notice another important difference in Diane's two photos above: the dry one is well slopped and draining well while the wet one is a low spot in a slope. If you put down a thick layer of lime in that low spot the lime will just disappear rather rapidly into the mud. If you build up the spot so that the water drains away from this spot from all sides, it will stay firm once a ground not prone to forming mud when wetted is added. I have fought wet spots for many decades and have learned always proper drainage first!
DrO
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Member:
Scooter
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Posted on Monday, Jan 1, 2007 - 7:30 pm:
Dr.O. a neighbor of mine used the sand rock and it didn't seem to pack well at all, their horses also dragged it in to the surrounding pasture and one mare colicked badly, and had to have surgery to remove it all. They did feed their hay on it and their grass was very short, so I suppose she was picking it up grazing also. They have removed it all since. Did they apply it wrong? or doesn't it pack well?
Slope is probably the most important, tho I have seen the lime hold up in flat spots if applied thick enough.
Hank and Sam dug that hole in my pic...for their mud baths. That will be sloped and re seeded this spring.
I had the quarry bring in the truckloads, then a friend spread it with a bobcat. I did the final packing and sloping myself.
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Member:
Ilona
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Posted on Monday, Jan 1, 2007 - 8:04 pm:
Thanx Diane,
My ground is already sloped for water drainage, I did think of that when I put up the 8 corrals (nasty historic experience made sure of that!). Still mud ponds though.
Tomorrow is big clean-up day with my ATV and trailer (UGH) to prepare for my ag-lime/drystall experiment. I know for sure I will sleep well tomorrow night.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Tuesday, Jan 2, 2007 - 6:45 am:
I don't know what they used Diane or how they put it in but my farm has almost half a mile of sanDrOck driveway, sanDrOck as the base in the stalls, and sanDrOck in the run-in sheds and as long as water does not stream across the top of it to wash it away, it compacts creating a water impervious surface that does not get muddy underneath. It will not stand up to water flowing over the surface however I don't know anything that will. Locally, ag-lime would be much more expensive to use for such a purpose, so I guess you use what is available locally.
DrO
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Member:
Scooter
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Posted on Tuesday, Jan 2, 2007 - 7:19 am:
Thanks Dr.O. I was thinking of the wrong stuff, I am sure that's what they called it, but it was powdery and didn't seem to pack. I'd never heard of sand rock, up to that point. I googled it last night and couldn't find a pic of it, or even a description....never hurts to keep your options open. Ag lime is very cheap here, when I got mine a couple years ago it was $2 a ton. I used 10 ton, but with the trucking and spreading, my paddock which is 48' x 60' cost about $200.
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Member:
Jmarie
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Posted on Tuesday, Jan 2, 2007 - 11:52 am:
Kathleen, I think you and I use the same stuff. Here it's called "shoulder stone", and I absolutely love it! It's cheap and works like a charm. My whole barn was backfilled with it when it was built, so it's under all the stalls and makes up the ramps to the front and rear doors. I never have mud or drainage problems. Every few years I get a 30-yd load and use it to build up low spots in the barnyard and pasture, like around the troughs and under the bale feeder, where the horses churn the dirt into muck. It packs hard enough to drive on (the ramp to the front door of the barn goes up almost 4 feet from the driveway) but isn't rock-hard. It does wash away, however, in places where water often runs, like where I dump the water buckets.
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Member:
Scraig
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Posted on Tuesday, Jan 2, 2007 - 1:40 pm:
Hi Everyone,
Over the weekend we brought in two yards of hog fuel and it made little difference. But my husband's truck got stuck in the pasture and we had a muddy good time pulling it out. Oh well, we needed to reseed the pasture anyway.
I've written down all the products mentioned in these posting and will start investigating them. In the meantime I've requested a sample from Dry Stall. Sounds like a miracle product. Thanks for all the help. It's reassuring to know that I'm not alone.
Susan
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Member:
Kathleen
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Posted on Tuesday, Jan 2, 2007 - 1:53 pm:
What do you have to pay for your shoulder stone? We paid $218 for 10 cu yds (including $40 delivery). That gets pretty expensive. I think our problem is that we are not using enough. Need to keep putting layers and packing and then more layers and packing. I just paid this guy $1000 for a week of work with the bobcat and he sloped the stalls and the area around them, but the first good rain and the horses are squishing up mud.
Kathleen
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Member:
Hpyhaulr
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Posted on Tuesday, Jan 2, 2007 - 5:18 pm:
Hog Fuel??? what is this???
Shoulder stone??? what is this???
Dead snakes in the hay? Good GOd!!!
cast horses? Dear Lord, not on my watch!
Pus,blood and gooey mites....
Everytime I feel an AHA moment coming on, it is replaced with 5 more questions!!!
I want to go screaming into the barn and apologize to every one of them for my chronic stupidity.
The more time I spend on this website, the more I am impressed with my horses' patience with me... the dummy. My poor kids have been lucky and now I appreciate how good they have been. Thank you all for participating in my ever increasing arc aka learning curve. Now dear Village,teach me some more....it does take a village, you know....
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Member:
Mcbizz
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Posted on Tuesday, Jan 2, 2007 - 5:42 pm:
Cyndy, that was hilarious! Made my day...
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Member:
Mrose
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Posted on Tuesday, Jan 2, 2007 - 6:46 pm:
Cyndy...don't feel too badly. I've had horses my entire life (63 yrs.) Been a breeder since the mid 80's, and STILL don't know it all...and never will! There's always someone that's had a different experience, solved an uncommon problem, solved a common problem an uncommon way, etc. etc. Whether you have one horse or one hundred horses, it's an ongoing learning experience.
And, just to make it even more interesting there's people on this board from all over and you run into local dialect/words for things. (Who the heck has ever heard of "shoulder stone?") Just look how intelligent you'll sound when you talk to the quarry guy about rock!
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Member:
Sully
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Posted on Wednesday, Jan 3, 2007 - 12:09 am:
I just purchased 4 bags of Stall Dry today @ $15.00 a bag. Think I will be checking into all your ideas for a cheaper solution. I don't think I can solve a very big problem using Stall Dry at that price!
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Member:
Sully
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Posted on Wednesday, Jan 3, 2007 - 12:28 am:
Was just reading back through and if Cyndy's question was about Stall Dry, then I can answer. I have used it in stalls in the past. I used it on top of mats that were over cement. Not much drainage there!! I covered the floor with the stall dry (1 inch)and then added bedding over that. Worked well if I used enough and it did make a big difference with any urine smell. Hard on the pocket book tho! The only place it turned rock hard was in the seams between the mats that I only cleaned out once a month. Nancy
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Wednesday, Jan 3, 2007 - 7:01 am:
2 dollars a ton for agricultural lime (!?), I cannot buy 100 lbs here for that price and am starting to wonder if we are talking about the same thing here. Is this the same stuff you would spread on a field to sweeten (alkalize) the soil?
Shoulder stone: used for the shoulders of roads?
I guess the lesson here is that you have to check out what is being used successfully locally as dialect, cost, and availability make it very difficult to discuss useful alternatives from different areas.
Though I know I am beginning to sound a bit repetitive here, if you do not get adequate drainage away from the building on all sides you can put concrete down and it will just flood in on top of it. While with excellent drainage it does not matter what you put down.
DrO
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Member:
Kathleen
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Posted on Wednesday, Jan 3, 2007 - 7:22 am:
DrO,
It appears that I just paid over $1000 for less than adequate drainage!! Bummer. Guess I'll do it myself this time.
Kathleen
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Member:
Scooter
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Posted on Wednesday, Jan 3, 2007 - 7:42 am:
Dr.O. I asked my husband and he said yes, it is the stuff you spread on fields. He just priced it for our hay fields and it is $2 a ton. He said the trucking and spreading is what cost so much.
I looked in my records and my paddock bill was $145. I got mine from the quarry which is about a mile from here, so the trucking wasn't bad.
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Member:
Ajudson1
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Posted on Wednesday, Jan 3, 2007 - 7:45 am:
We've got mud and more mud here too. (Upper MI) A guy was hired to come and scrape the winter feeding area in November, and he never showed up. So I have another problem: when it freezes, the mud/manure gets rough like a plowed field. I am sacrificing a small area of the pasture so they can walk without breaking a leg when it's froze, or getting rotten feet when it's so wet. Of course with all the rain we are having, soon the pasture area will be as muddy as the other part. Can't seem to win this year, sigh.
The feeding area slopes 3/4 of way down towards the barn, then it is higher again going to the barn. There is a natural stream bed there some years when it melts rapidly. Unfortunately with all the run off from the barn in a such short periods of time, I've lost the base next to the barn doors too. And we have a 4' over hang which we thought would prevent that!
I've always hated winter, but I've actually been hoping for cold and snow now. With a good snow pack, my little herd could live in their winter feeding area, or even run on all the pastures.
I've asked around here for fill that would pack down like you are all discussing and no one as of yet has a clue what we would use. Our road for example, gets very, very soft because gravel is scarce here, or maybe it's because they county is to cheap to put any on? It's a clay/sandy mess, full of pot holes. I don't have muddy horses, I have muddy vehicles though for the photo gallery.
O well, next we'll be writing about the horrible heat and how dry it is, lol!
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Member:
Savage
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Posted on Wednesday, Jan 3, 2007 - 9:15 am:
I have used "Dry Stall" and "stall Dry" and like them both. The "Dry Stall" does firm up the ground but it doesn't make it like cement. Before the winter I would start putting it in the stall, I would start with about 10 bags (in a 24x24 pen)then add to it over a couple of months so when it started to rain I had about 15 or so bags in there. I love this stuff.
As for cleaning during the rains I would go in and pick up the poop then with an up and down motion with my metal pitch fork I would walk back and forth through the pen to break up any mud chunks and in doing so the "Dry Stall" would mix with it and help it to dry out faster, it is also a good way to keep on top of ruts and holes.
I think they recommend for a 24x24 stall you start out with about 20 to 25 bags of the stuff. If your pen gets really muddy then this might be the ticket for you.
I used the "Stall Dry" to put on the pee spots to help keep the odor and flies down. Through out the year I would add Dry Stall to wet spots to help in keeping things as dry and clean as possible.
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Member:
Jmarie
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Posted on Wednesday, Jan 3, 2007 - 9:31 am:
Kathleen, sorry to take so long. I had to check my records. The last time I ordered shoulder stone was 2003 and I paid less than $150 for a 30 cu yd load (that's a full tandem-axle dump truck), delivered. I got three loads that year. I'm not sure what that amounts to in tons, but it's about half the price of stone dust, which I also bought that year so it's a fair comparison.
Dr. O, shoulder stone is exactly what you described as sanDrOck. It's a gravel/sand/dirt mix. I don't know whether it's used on the road shoulders. Could be. It's much finer than QP but more gravelly than stone dust.
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Member:
Dres
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Posted on Wednesday, Jan 3, 2007 - 10:20 am:
Thought I would chime in here too..Our lower pastures are in a flood zone, and when the rains come and stay we make sacrifice paddocks on the higher grounds.. Every year we add several tons of 'road base' which is 3/4 inch rock mixed with sand.. It is used under the roads before cementing.. We have to add every year.. It works great and my horses stay dry while everything else is sucking mud / flood.. Now by the barn..I have added sand to my arena so many times that the arena is now higher then the barn.. the first year this happened all the run off rushed thru the barn isles.. YUCK.. That spring we put in French drains along the arena and the barn.. now we only get a little of water in the barn IF the rain comes down faster then the drains can handle..
The problem with dry stall is that once its saturated , it is muck like all the rest.. or that is what I had found..
good luck..
On the first day God created horses, on the second day he painted them with spots..
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Member:
Frances
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Posted on Wednesday, Jan 3, 2007 - 10:46 am:
What are French drains, Ann?
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Member:
Dres
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Posted on Wednesday, Jan 3, 2007 - 12:34 pm:
https://www.gardenadvice.co.uk/howto/garden-build/frenchdrain/
its a perforated drain pipe bedded in pea gravel with road fabric wrapped around it..
On the first day God created horses, on the second day he painted them with spots..
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Member:
Annes
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Posted on Wednesday, Jan 3, 2007 - 12:50 pm:
I have used Stall Dry and Dry Stall and the two products are very different. The Stall Dry is very fine, powdery, almost dust-like. It works on wet spots in a stall but not for muddy areas outdoors. Dry Stall is coarse, heavier (similar to 1/4" gravel) and is great in stalls and outdoors. It works into the soil to prevent muddy areas. I have used about 100 bags over the last couple years inside and outside my barn and it was a miracle product for me. I am in NW TN and it is impossible to find here. A small feed company ordered it for me but now can't seem to get it anymore so I am currently trying to find a source again.
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Member:
Ilona
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Posted on Wednesday, Jan 3, 2007 - 1:05 pm:
I did a French Drain approximation on another property and it worked very well. I trenched around the arena a one foot deep by one foot wide 'moat'. I filled the 'moat' with gravel so that it was flush with the surrounding ground. The arena was graded so that it had a 2%-3% slope to one side. On that side I trenched the moat on one end extending and going progessively slightly deeper away from the arena to a natural spillway.. The rain water would drain into the 'drain' and away from the arena altogether. I came up with this myself and was later told that it fell into the 'French Drain' family of drains (who knew!).
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Member:
Hpyhaulr
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Posted on Wednesday, Jan 3, 2007 - 2:40 pm:
OK... tackle one at a time....
Carolyn, No extra charge to keep you crackin up at my pathetic attempts to deserve my "kids". 
Sara, bless you for your generous perspective. And yet, I think I can say without danger of retraction there will be no discussions with a quarry guy. GU!
I have no major stall problem, (although eau d'urine can sometimes be an issue). We have a sheDrOw and sometimes we have whitecaps in the aisleway, but have resolved that (I think) with a ditch around 3 sides of the barn and a well placed sump pump. Facing 3 days of rain, will let you know on Monday how well it worked. Following Dr. O's logic... Prevention is easier and cheaper than the cure. The pens are another issue entirely...
But $15 a bag???? not in this lifetime....reading about some of your mud issues are making me feel a WHOLE lot better about mine. bless y'all for that!
SOLUTION?: y'all come on down... South Carolina... summer can be a bit of a challenge, but winter isn't here yet we are still riding every day, and Spring starts the end of February. I might have to break ice in the troughs 5-6 times a year! Of course we only get one license plate....BUT...we spend NYE with the top down on our way to Myrtle Beach to watch the dolphins play (flippers, not football). Early December ride on the beach (AHA benefit ride)  AND I NEVER HAVE TO OWN A SNOW SHOVEL AGAIN!!!
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Member:
Mrose
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Posted on Wednesday, Jan 3, 2007 - 4:17 pm:
Cyndy, I hear you!! I love snow and don't mind the cold, BUT I HATE MUD! And, the older I get the more I love to look at snow and the less I like to deal with it except for a frosty walk around the yard. One good thing about where I live, I can trailer for an hour and ride in 50+ degree temps. Not as good as just going out your door, but still not too bad.
I'm thinking parts of AZ are looking really good for "one day."
A big problem we have in spring is flooding caused by gopher and "chisler" tunnels which go from a normally dry ditch into our fields. Come spring, the ditch runs with fast water, and guess where a lot of it runs! Someone else mentioned gophers; other than good cats, how do you deal with them?
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Member:
Zarr
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Posted on Wednesday, Jan 3, 2007 - 5:55 pm:
Sara, you take used litter box contents and dump them down gopher holes !! Farmers Al. idea not mine. So if cats don't get gophers their litter boxes can !! Cindy
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Member:
Mrose
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Posted on Wednesday, Jan 3, 2007 - 8:13 pm:
wow! Cindy, a place to dump used cat litter and get rid of gophers! I can't wait for Spring so I can try it. Thanks!
Cyndy, I highly recommend Sweet PDZ for any smelly stalls. I love the stuff and you don't have to use much of it; at least I don't though I do have rubber mats down.
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Member:
Frances
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Posted on Thursday, Jan 4, 2007 - 12:45 pm:
Thanks for the link Ann. Very interesting.
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New Member:
kimberli
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Posted on Tuesday, Jan 30, 2007 - 8:20 pm:
Dry Stall is a naturally occuring volcanic material mined in the mojave mountains of California. Due to its porosity, it has the ability to act like a sponge and soak up five times its weight in water and or urine. Dry Stall will eventually work down into the soil giving your native terrain better drainage and better aeration. Its not like sand that eventually ends up in China, Dry Stall is permanent and will stay in the top few inches of the soil. The more you can layer it, the better it gets. You will see chunks of clay be broke up. As far as cost, for a product that last forever, 15.00 a bag is really not a big deal. I just bought some bandages the other day and paid 11.00. I bought 2 small cans of capers that cost 8.00. When you think about 40 pounds that doesnt go to waste, it has the ability to dry itself out and its ready to absorb again in the next rains?
I use Dry Stall not only where their is mud, but I bed in it as well. Just makes life easier. No haul away except for the manure. No wet spots to deal with.
Hope this answers some of your questions.
In the mean time, keep those stalls high and dry in Dry Stall!
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Member:
jmarie
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Posted on Wednesday, Jan 31, 2007 - 10:35 am:
Kimberli, when you say "I bed in it as well", how, exactly, do you use it? Do you layer it over the whole floor under the bedding, or just on the wet spots? I'm thinking this stuff would be great for my major urine-producers (like mother, like son  ).
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New Member:
kimberli
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Posted on Friday, Feb 2, 2007 - 11:33 am:
I use it alone as a bedding. However, you can use it under your bedding as well as in designated pee spots.
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