dealing with mud around feeders

[fiberfarmgirl]

I am new to the forum but happy to have found you!
I have a flock of 28 sheep, mostly Shetlands and Babydolls and two llamas as guards. I currently have feeders set up outside at the pasture fenceline where I feed hay (small square bales) when the pasture is done for the season. The area gets VERY churned up and muddy until we have a hard freeze. And then again in the spring it is always an issue. I worry about the flock standing in this muck to eat. It's particularly awful right now due to all the rain we've had. I have one small barn and several three sided sheds for shelter. But it is not easy to get the hay bales to these for feeding and only the barn has a built-in feeder but it is not big enough to accommodate all the animals. Do most of you feed your hay outside? How do you keep down the mud around the feeders? Am I just worrying too much? :/

 

[PendergrassRanch]

We put down rubber mats. You can buy stall mats at any ranch supply store or use old belting from conveyors. We put down gravel then lay the mats over the gravel.

 

[fiberfarmgirl]

Thanks for the reply and the good idea! I had thought about using gravel, but not w the rubber mats on top. I think this could work for us!

 

[Alice Acres]

Also could do a little landscaping and make a sloped grade to help your drainage out.

 

[SheepGirl]

When my sheep were on a drylot, the area around their waterer was always muddy & yucky. So I laid pieces of plywood down and it got rid of the mess.

 

[secuono]

I only feed in the barn.
Are you able to move the feeders? If so, just do that, just rotate it along the fence line.
You can make a plywood floor or add more feeders and spread the feeding areas out more so there is less wear at each.

 

[Cornish Heritage]

I honestly would not worry about it too much. I was just telling our "girls" today how dirty their knees were looking as they have obviously been kneeling down to get the hay from the bottom of the hay feeder. We do have movable hay feeders as we feed the large square bales but there is still mud - really cannot prevent it. You could always throw some waste hay on the mud to help compact it a little.

BTW - WELCOME

Liz