On the Holiday called Christmas it rained. It was not cold, just rained and rained and rained.
The mud has reached epic proportions and Him Indoors is not able to help with chores at all now.
His walking stick sinks straight down into the mud. And I am afraid of a fall.
So – well – there you are – sickness and health, etc
Here is a link to me helping Jude make his bed.
Cold is coming so I am deepening their beds.
This looks funny! A chicken on top of FreeBee.
This is even funnier – two chickens standing on FreeBee. They peck at the pig. Grooming him.
But it is not that funny really. They are doing this to Wai as well. And where they peck he bleeds. I am not sure how to deal with this, other than to keep smothering him in creams and oils to help him heal. His skin cracks all the time especially when it gets cold – and these barn chickens are wild. I can’t lock them away. And I will not cage Wai even if that would help.
I cannot cover him completely with a robe even if we could use a cover. Any kind of coat just rubs the skin right off. Not to mention the mud he would collect.
I am still working on the problem.
Keeping him covered in zinc seems to work – though straw sticks to it. I think the zinc puts the chickens off.
When he has a deep bed he gets right under the straw so a deep bed covered in a blanket will protect him.
What a horrible problem.
I shut the big doors last night to keep the barn dry. It gets quite cosy in there as long as there is no wind. And we have had very little wind this year. And only a little sun these last few weeks.
Maybe that will change when the cold comes.
And now I must away to begin morning chores!
Love Celi
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The Kitchen's Garden 
39 responses to “Mud Reigns Supreme”
My problems are slightly different, but I do empathize with the troubles of keeping all warm and dry enough. We’ve had lots of rain and mud, too, leaky roofs, and rot at ground level. But the insects love it. They are the happiest critters around.
It must be warm there for the insects. Rot at the ground does sounds like a problem. We have it too. I am sure many of the fence posts are only standing out of habit.
It hasn’t gptten cold enough to curb all the mosquitoes, but I’m seeing fewer ants. Huge flies, too, on sunny days.
Hopefully you get a break from the mosquitoes soon – they are exhausting!
it’s like managing a big crazy family )
Yes! Exactly like managing a big crazy family! Morning Beth!
Oh my Cecilia!
Indeed, Dorothy.
Eek! You certainly do have a muddy mess on the Farmy! We did get some rain down here too, and it was needed. Not so much for a muddy mess though! Colder here as well, but sunshine today, which is always wonderful! Happy Boxing Day!!!
I am desperate for some sunshine. I might zoom across to see my son in California in a few weeks to get my quota of sun!
Fabulous idea!!! Soak some sun up for me too!!!!!!! 🙂
Right? Hoping to get one trip in before John’s hip replacement.
Poor Wai, life just doesn’t go his way. I guess thick zinc is the way to go and if the weather does get colder l imagine he will spend more time in his deep bed where he is out of harm’s way. Poor John and poor you, for different reasons. I hope you now have less catering and hosting to do as we come close to the end of “this holiday called Christmas”. I like that description! Today my partner has gone to a football match and l am claiming a couple of ours of down time, ah bliss.
A couple of hours of me time sounds just perfect! And Yes! Now that the Holiday called Christmas is over we can relax again for a bit. I am certainly not doing anything for the Holiday Called Roman New Years! I have decided to call it Roman New Years since Julius Ceasar created the calendar we work on. The Holiday called Chinese New Years sounds like fun though!
The only thing I can think of that might help Wai’s skin is colloidal silver ointment – unfortunately it’s expensive and you don’t get much for the money and it would take quite a bit to cover him. Chemical burns (if I remember correctly) are horrible to get healed. Poor little piggy. It’s muddy here along the Tippecanoe river too, lots of rain. I can just see the river from the middle of the street looking east and down the hill.
I hope everyone had a happy Christmas and that the New Year will bring all good things.
I just checked him and he is deep in his straw. If I lay the blanket on top of the straw he manages to get under the lot. Then Tima lies on top like a dog on the end of your bed.
Make sure your boots are strapped on tight. Not good to leave one behind in a large mud pit without falling in yourself. Is the farm always like this in rain, or have you lost vegetation cover over the years? Maybe this is not new, but we are just now able to see wider views and so really get the big picture of the farmyard. I always had in my mind that the outbuildings were much closer in, less open space thus less murky ground, but perhaps that was just my imagination.
It always turns to mud. Usually the mud comes in the spring. But it being winter the vegetation has gone – yes – then we had an unusual warm snap plus lots of rain. As it gets colder it will become more manageable. But as far as I can see in the forecast it is still above freezing every day. The nights are cold though so hopefully that will help firm things up a bit.
Poor Wai. I am glad he has a warm bed and a friendly Tima to keep him company. Sun shining. Temps in the mid 20 s as we sat beside the pool for lunch. But this too will pass as will the days of deep mud. Happy 2024 to you all. Can you give Wai a gentle pat for me.
I will certainly give the old grump a pat from you!!
It is sooooo good to have Thanksgiving and Christmas done and dusted! I love the week between Christmas and New Years—-it always feels like “time out of time”. No pressure to get anything much done, usually cold and unpleasant outside so nice to be cozy and warm inside, reading a book and maybe doing a little bit of organizing (always a needed activity) and you feel you’re are getting ready for a brand new start.
Hope your mud firms up soon and you can get around without a lot of mess to slog through and clean off your boots before coming in. Those longer days are moving in and spring will be here one of these days.
It is a nice time. I had already forgotten about new years coming up!! 😂
Mud .. yuk! And pesky chickens. Gosh I sure do hope you can get that sorted
Chooks are not the sweetest animals. 🤭
Hmm they have their moments don’t they
We don’t have mug but we’ve had rain, and horrible fog. Driving home from our Christmas celebration last night was dicey with very poor visibility. Almost worse than a snowstorm. Let’s hope for some normal winter weather soon!
Yes!! The fog feels spooky!!
Tima is missing a tick (trick) while FreeBee gets groomed. Not so good for Wai though. I imagine that zinc puts the bugs and chicken off Wai, a little bit…
You need that new treatment for making new skin. They use fish skin! It supposedly works very well but I’ll bet it’s frightfully expensive. Poor piggy.
It has been a long time. But it feels to me that his son is deteriorating as he gets older.
Poor Wai. He has really struggled, hasn’t he? I confess: I hate mud. Love rubber boots though. But the threats of sinking and falling are horrible. Please take care! x