With the rains, comes mud. Lots of mud. Lots of thick slimy eat-your-boots-right-off-your-feet, or slippery-as-ice kind of mud. Both goats already have hoof issues, so having to walk through and stand in that muck wasn't doing them any favors. I set up goat housing, and blocked off the front and back entrances to the deck so that we could move the goats temporarily into the back yard, where they're able to keep their feet much drier than in the farm yard.
I was absolutely thrilled the other day when Rick came out with his tractor and fork attachment - in just over 2 hours, he'd moved the entire load of wood chips out to the farm yard, and spread the chips out, completely burying the worst of the muddy areas :D
The goats are now back in the farm yard, where they prefer to be (unless they're already in the farm yard, then they clearly would prefer to be in the back yard...or if they're in the back yard, then they'd definitely rather be in the farm yard, etc), and I've allowed them to bed down in the rabbit hut each night, with a nice thick layer of clean dry hay to munch on and sleep in. Because the rabbit food dishes are inside the cages, and only the water bottles are on the outside of the cages, there's little the goats have done to cause problems with the rabbits - only one water bottle has been regularly knocked down, and even that has now stopped.
The wood chips have almost eliminated the mud issue, and significantly improved visual appeal - the chips are a nice mixed reddish brown color, giving the open farm yard area a very elegant updated look.