What is “gley” exactly? According to Merriam-Webster gley means:
a sticky clay soil or soil layer formed under the surface of some waterlogged soils.
In essence I am using my pigs to seal a pond for me. Their manure and weight will tamp and coat the soil to keep the water in. It hasn’t been warm enough for them to be doing it long. We’ve had about a months worth of weather where they left the barn freely.
There was a few inches of water in the bottom of the pond that the pigs were enjoying. I wanted to fill the pond for the ducks though, and to see what the pigs would do. So a month ago I filled the pond to capacity. The pond is 14x20x3. I dug it years ago. It has a deep end and a shallow end I intended to use as a biological filter for the duck mess. It never worked out, unfortunately. The cement I had used to seal the pond cracked and it hasn’t been usable for years. We pounded out the cement when we got the pigs and now it’s their turn to work.
Or play, depends on your perspective. B.L.T. has brought a toy into the pond and he splashes around with abandon. In these pictures I’d turned a sprinkler on for them because it was SOOOO hot out, at least for Wyoming.
The pond isn’t completely sealed yet, but it has a good start. A month without intervention and it still has a fair bit of water in it. It was unexpected. I hope they are able to finish the gley soon. They are eating weight now.