Need help keeping stall / shed from turning into a muddy mess

[SlickTxMaine]

While I am in Texas, and in the middle of the worst drought in almost 100 years - our steer's shed is still a muddy mess.  He has access to a large pen, but has a 10'X10' covered shed where the hay rack and fan are located.  So, needless to say he lounges in there all day long.  It has a dirt floor.  We talked about putting in a concrete floor the last two years, but this is my son's last year of showing, so not sure if we want to do that now.  Was thinking about drying it out and then laying down a rubber stall mat.  Would that work?  What have others done to avoid the mud?

 

[kfacres]

While I am in Texas, and in the middle of the worst drought in almost 100 years - our steer's shed is still a muddy mess.  He has access to a large pen, but has a 10'X10' covered shed where the hay rack and fan are located.  So, needless to say he lounges in there all day long.  It has a dirt floor.  We talked about putting in a concrete floor the last two years, but this is my son's last year of showing, so not sure if we want to do that now.  Was thinking about drying it out and then laying down a rubber stall mat.   Would that work?  What have others done to avoid the mud?

lime or gravel..

I prefer lime, as it hardens down, just as hard as concrete when wet, and is much cheaper.. use it as a floor on every shed we own.

 

[SlickTxMaine]

How much would I need/ how thick do you put it down, and where do you buy it?

 

[kfacres]

couple ton...

we put it down 4-6 inches deep, depending on how much slop is under it.

purchased at any local farm supply retailer-- FS, CPS, etc... 

it is the same stuff they spread on the farm fields for crop production.

 

[linnettejane]

we just totally "refloored" a whole barn with stuff called crush and run...i think its a lime product...it sets up like concrete when it gets wet...white and very heavy, then turns grey when wet, extremely absorbant...we pay $10 a ton, delivered to our barn (course we would order 20 ton at a time)...about a foot deep....i then put shavings on top of it...

 

[kfacres]

we just totally "refloored" a whole barn with stuff called crush and run...i think its a lime product...it sets up like concrete when it gets wet...white and very heavy, then turns grey when wet, extremely absorbant...we pay $10 a ton, delivered to our barn (course we would order 20 ton at a time)...about a foot deep....i then put shavings on top of it...

sounds like lime to me..

lime is the crushed/ ground/ shavings off of limestone rock.  It's very fine in texture, white to grey in color, and compacts like concrete. 

It is much more absorbant than dirt, which gets hard and slick, or muddy and soft...

 

[SlickTxMaine]

Well, this sounds like the way to go--- do I need to dry out the soupy mess before I put it down?

 

[kfacres]

Well, this sounds like the way to go--- do I need to dry out the soupy mess before I put it down?

no, we usually dump a semi load into a big ole mud hole (like a gate entrance), let the cows trample it in and level it out...

if it's a big hole, it'll swallow that hole semi load...

 

[SlickTxMaine]

Many thanks -- I love getting a solution to my problem so quickly!! (clapping)

 

[Anybody27]

Can this be used in a hog pen as well or would it be rooted up in large chunks?

 

[kfacres]

Can this be used in a hog pen as well or would it be rooted up in large chunks?

it will never be rooted up in large chunks, as it doesn't actually form concrete... but with the constant compaction that cattle seem to do, coupled with a little water.. it will 'seem' like concrete...  

When I was little, we had a lime pile scatered out in the driveway for our b'ball court...  flat, smooth, and hard... worked great...

For hogs, this should work much better than plain ole dirt-- unless you have some old worm out hillside clay...  

If you keep it dry, the limestone should work great, but if it gets wet (not 'wet', but SOAKED and rooted up)- it will be basically turned into mush...  I would think it would work far better than dirt though...

we always left our hogs on dirt.. and dealt with the foot of slop.

 

[chambero]

Keep the hay out of it and put in fresh coarse sand if you don't want to use shavings. 

We till in lime in our stalls every so often to neutralize urine, but lime actually reacts with water and causes a chemical reation in the process - that's why it works good in drying out stalls. But having your cattle lying in lime will burn their skin.