Uncle Ivan dropped by the house yesterday for a cuppa joe, said he'd been to the sale barn to buy a mule but they only had one and he didn't like the looks of it. It would be living here of course, as he lives in town. So I told him, if he was gonna get a mule, I was gonna buy a couple of Holstein calves.... We know where the fence charger is, and we've got posts and wire and gates and the water tank and all that stuff around here. What kind of housing will we need for the mule? Can he stay in a loafing shed like the cattle? That would be a roofed shelter with three sides enclosed, south side open. I have plans to eventaully build a barn, but it's going to be a few years down the road. (Then again, maybe it won't - sometimes when these men get an idea in their head...)

Thanks!

-- Polly (tigger@moultrie.com), May 21, 2000

Answers

Polly the loafing shed will be fine. If it gets very cold in the winter, you can build a "room" in the loafing shed out of straw bales possibly even putting a tarp ceiling over it to give the mule or the mule and calves a smaller area to keep warm in. The only problem you'll have is with individual personalities. As a general rule it will work, if you happen to get an onery mule, or a pesky calf, you'll have to have a plan B. Gerbil

-- Gerbil (ima_gerbil@hotmail.com), May 21, 2000.