This is the way to the milk stand.
It’s delightful.
Not that I’d know because I’m not milking again till July. You can’t make me go in there right now. You can’t! I HAVE A CALF! She can do the milking! That mud’s gonna swallow me whole!
I’m going to have to figure out something new because I can’t really lay off milking till July.
Meanwhile, because this mud is making me so miserable, here’s some mud-related fun. Because mud is fun! Yes, yes, it is! I’m attempting to adjust my perspective. Work with me here.
Whose muddy hooves are whose? I even threw some easy ones in there (that aren’t really hooves). If anybody gets them all correct, I’ll send them a box of genuine West Virginia mud! (I’m just kidding. I wouldn’t do that to you. I bet you have your own mud.)
Hooves #1:
Hooves #2:
Hooves #3:
Hooves #4:
Hooves #5:
Hooves #6:
Hooves #7:
I’ll post the answers tomorrow. (I know you need to know!)
UPDATE–ANSWERS:
1. Clover
2. Glory Bee
3. Duck
4. Poky
5. Pirate
6. Rooster
7. Beulah Petunia
Jennifer Robin says:
Well, I know which set are yours! I bet Coco looks just wonderful too, I know our Great Pyrenees does. 😕
All the snow we’ve had followed by rain has super-saturated our soil. If you’re not careful, it’ll suck the boot right off your foot!
On March 9, 2011 at 1:18 am
bonita del rey says:
How does a duck, standing that low to the ground, stay white like that? I’m assuming it’s too cold to go for a swim anywhere, so I’m stumped.
On March 9, 2011 at 2:30 am
Vicki says:
I think you need a whole lot of gravel to line your walkway and keep you out of the mud.
On March 9, 2011 at 3:22 am
Glenda says:
I would be looking for some high ground for the milking area…if you have any.
You should be set for a lot of grass this spring!
On March 9, 2011 at 4:42 am
Teri says:
Would LOVE to have some of your mud — or at least the moisture that caused it. We are very dry here in central west Texas.
On March 9, 2011 at 6:37 am
Dianna says:
YUCK!
We’ll be anxiously waiting for your answers tomorrow.
And good luck with that mud.
On March 9, 2011 at 7:00 am
brookdale says:
Great pics, Suzanne! Looking forward to the “great reveal” of the feet tomorrow.
On my Grandfather’s farm he had “mud boards” which were wide boards to put down to walk on in mud season.
And we used to get “mud vacation” from school in the spring! I guess now they call it just “spring break”.
On March 9, 2011 at 7:36 am
Flatlander says:
Oh my, I’m longing for spring big time, but if our 3 ft of snow will melt…I might be in for some mud too.
Hang in there…it will dry up….(I think)
On March 9, 2011 at 7:51 am
Kris Sherrill says:
Suzanne, are you sure that’s not pictures of my place? Looks exactly like that. But my goats and chickens are stayin’ in! That 1st pic has to be Nutmeg, 2 is GB, 3 is a very happy duck, 4 Dr. Pepper, 5 Sailor, 6 a roo, and 7 is BP. I hope we were supposed to answer here because no one else has yet. But these are my guesses.
I have a ist time heifer due any day now and she is sopping wet right now. It started raining last night and has not stopped yet. I hope she waits til this monsoon is over cuz she won’t get any help from this woos farmer right now.
On March 9, 2011 at 8:10 am
Suzanne McMinn says:
Yes, Kris, answer here! Maybe everybody’s afraid I’ll send them that box of mud…..
On March 9, 2011 at 8:15 am
langela says:
If we guess them all right can we send you a box of OUR mud? Just kidding. I don’t know your animals well enough to make any guesses.
On March 9, 2011 at 8:37 am
Monique says:
We laid a layer of rock then this fabric that they use on the roads and more large rock covered by small rock. This keeps the rock from sinking in the mud and keeps the paddocks/gate openinging mud free.
On March 9, 2011 at 8:47 am
holstein woman says:
I don’t want to guess, I am still trying to open my eyes and get some coffee down my neck so I can go milk at 6:30 and not havce to search for the udder like a new born calf. :moo:
If you want other mud Suzanne I could send you some every month from Oregon. 😆
On March 9, 2011 at 8:50 am
HeatherB says:
It’s too bad you can’t pitch a thick layer of hay in there over and over to keep the mud down. After a while, you’d have them standing in great compost! lol
On March 9, 2011 at 9:13 am
Lisa says:
You take such good pictures. I never knew muddy hooves could looks so photogenic! Keep up the good work and hope the mud dries out soon.
On March 9, 2011 at 9:18 am
Ramona says:
I wonder if some concrete pavers would work for the floor?
No thanks on the mud! We have enough of our own with the 2-5 inches of rain we got yesterday here in MS.
On March 9, 2011 at 10:06 am
Jen says:
Suzanne, do you have any scrap lumber or plywood you could use to lay a path? Even old cardboard or scrap carpet might help. It wouldn’t look great but it might help you get through the worst of it.
This much mud is no fun at all!
On March 9, 2011 at 11:10 am
Rosemeri says:
Maybe you should temporarily rename your blog “Chickens in the Muck”. I don’t envy you all that mud. Must be hard on all the critters too. I hope you dry out soon. 🙂
On March 9, 2011 at 11:15 am
Miss Becky says:
those hooves and webbed feet all belong to critters that live on your farm. so there. :yes:
On March 9, 2011 at 11:31 am
Window On The Prairie says:
I won’t guess what the hooves are because we have plenty of mud and muck of our own and I’ve been looking at a lot of sloppy cattle hooves lately and dreaming about drier weather. Large size gravel and concrete are a Godsend, but obviously we can’t pave the whole pasture, so we have lots of mud as you do. Spring is coming, hang in there.
Suzanne :cowsleep:
On March 9, 2011 at 12:09 pm
Barbee' says:
Eewwwwwww!!! Yuck!!
On March 9, 2011 at 12:54 pm
Mary Anne says:
I’d be laying down some boards most certainly. We always put boards down, and like someone said above old scrap carpet works well for the inside the barn/stalls (dryer areas–we pulled up all our carpet in the house and put down hardwood floors and saved all the carpet for times like this). Hay is cheap enough to throw it down and pitchfork it into a compost pile until later.
Muck is not good for the critters. I wouldn’t want to ever deal with hoof rot.
On March 9, 2011 at 1:07 pm
Journey11 says:
Good ‘ol WV red clay mud. 😛 I miss the sunshine… I’m ready for this muddy misery to be over too! I don’t know how I can live on a hilltop and still have a swamp for a yard. :shocked:
On March 9, 2011 at 2:30 pm
Dorothy says:
I had to ask a local company for their pallets, which I used to make a boardwalk of sorts. When all dried out, they made a great bonfire for the neighborhood kids.
On March 9, 2011 at 4:53 pm
wickedgoodshari says:
LOL at ‘hooves numbered 3 & 7!
We’ll be getting our own mud here pretty soon. Since the frost heaves have been so bad, I know the mud will be too. Best of luck with it…
On March 10, 2011 at 4:15 pm
Jerry says:
I wondered how long it was going to take you to write about the mud.https://chickensintheroad.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_yes.gif
On March 12, 2011 at 10:53 pm