Saturday, December 3, 2022

ruts

A morning sky, November.

In November we had a lot of rain. The little yard in front of the big barn and all the direct paths between the paddocks became muddy. Every footstep, human or caprine, became a pocket to catch more water.

Then the freeze began. Hundreds of little muddy pockets became high-edged frozen craters; uncomfortable walking for anyone, booted or hooved. At least once each day, glancing out the window at the herd, I thought a goat was lame. Then I remembered the craters. The goats weren't lame, but they were walking the way a human might walk through a room full of lego.

Fortunately we also had some lovely days in November, cold and clear. Here is Campion, Azalea's brother, enjoying the Winter sun on his spine. And beard.


Campion's mama, Lily of the Valley, ditto:


Now we are back to warm weather, buckets of rain, and deep mud, and I've been dropping boards here and there to make little walkways. Most of my extensive collection of salvaged lumber has already been re-used in dozens of projects, so new(!) lumber has been sacrificed to provide footing in a couple of very wet spots. Moving a couple of gates to reroute "traffic" could help, but there isn't a lot of leeway in my fencing arrangement. A vet once described my tiny paddocks as "like a jigsaw" which is both humorous and accurate.

Anyway, dealing with the mud takes some time every day, and hooves need to be checked and trimmed more often than usual. Absolutely no one enjoys this, and it's hard on my back, but it's one of those things that Must Be Done, and is never finished. With 56 hooves on the place, I'm pretty pleased if I can just keep up with the constant rotation. A spreadsheet that automatically calculates the time since the last hoof trim for each goat has proven very helpful indeed.

How are things with you? Is it early Winter or early Summer? Is it mucky or parched? What are you doing to take any rough edges off life these days?


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14 comments:

  1. I love to see goats. They seem happy to be in pictures, too. The underfoot situation is an endless challenge.

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    1. I always tell the goats when they have made an appearance online, and when they have comments. I told Campion about your comment while I was trimming his front hooves this morning :)

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  2. Yes, goats hate having their feet checked and hoofs trimmed! Our winter rains just seem to be starting. Welcome after a dry October, but harder to do much outdoors. I have a huge pile of mending to keep me occupied.

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    1. I need to up my darning game. Got a basket full of handknit socks needing attention, and my previous attempts at darning have been...unimpressive.

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  3. Mud and ruts - not fun and even worse when they freeze. Even more dangerous is when the ruts are covered with either a skiff of snow or fallen leaves and you don't realize they're there until you step in them. Do be careful!
    Going into winter here in southern Ontario - we've had a couple snowfalls but they didn't stick around. Wind and rain for the past couple of days led to some power outages but thankfully not us.

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    1. We've had a few flakes now and then, but not even a skiff so far. Strange days.

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  4. Gah - bad enough when there there's 14 (or 28) nails to clip. I'd hate to deal with that many hooves!

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    1. I'm going to have to find out how many toes a cavy has!

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  5. Oh my, do I remember the days of such mud. Don't miss it either. We are dealing with a little more mud than usual due to the bad drainage job done on granddaughter's new road to her cabin site. Will have to get that straightened out in the spring.

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    1. I sure hope the drainage gets done properly in the Spring - as I guess we both know from experience, it's one of those things that can only get worse if it isn't done right.

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  6. Love seeing photos of your goats
    Mud is slippier than I remember. Maybe brcause it's cold out sometimes.

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    1. There's a lot of clay in the soil here, and it is SO slippery!

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  7. Early winter out here. Lots of rutted trails in our foothills, because people insist on hiking and biking them when they (the trails) are muddy, which is a Very Bad Idea. At this time of the year, we get our hiking done before noon, when the ground is still frozen. You don't have that option. Be careful on that muddy/icy footing!

    Chris from Boise

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    1. I do try to get the morning chores done while the ground is frozen, but the weather has been so crazy here - it was 54F on Wednesday! - that it isn't always frozen even before dawn. Taking it day by day.

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