Weed control

Today I spent most of the day whacking and chopping weeds. Most were thistles,Canadian and Bull, but there were a few burrs, and other weeds. Then I noticed in one pasture by the road a whole bunch of knapweed (coming from the hillside ditch). Knapweed is very very hard to get rid of. It's seeds can last 7 years and spraying is not very effective. So I'm going to cut that before it goes to seed and hope it does not spread. Livestock don't like to eat it either (except when very young .) Click to "biggify" any picture.

Forages

Weeds-(Dandelions, Asters) I also have thistles, lambs quarters and other weeds. Weeds are often quite nutritious, but don't really regrow very much. Of course poisonous weeds should be avoided or removed before grazing. (I have Milkweed in one pasture and just pull it up before grazing. )
Various grasses- I'm not sure what varieties I have. I do have Quack grass and about 5 other kinds of grass. Grasses generally do well in cool weather.
Red Clover- I have a newly seeded 5 acre pasture of about 90% red clover. I have not grazed it yet this year and it is very tall- about 4 ft. (I'm also planning to frost seed some other pasture with red clover next spring.) Red clover is very nutritious, but can cause bloat if the animals are not used to it and/or it is wet. The other downside is red clover is hard to dry for hay. Red clover does well in hot dry weather. A local sheep farm flushes their ewes on about 20-30% red clover and they do not have fertility problems. (They have about 210% lambing.) Clovers have a lot of estrogen and are supposed to cause fertility problems in sheep. I do not know if I'll take the chance and feed my ewes red clover at breeding time or not.
June grass- I don't like June grass as the sheep don't eat it very much and it does not get very tall.
Birdsfoot Trefoil- sheep love it! Trefoil is like a non-bloating alfalfa. It does well in heat and has a high tannin level so helps reduce parasites. An added bonus is honey bees love it. Last year they preferred it over alfalfa (from neighboring fields) and clovers. The only down side is it can be hard to establish. When I planted it I intentionally overgrazed to kill/stunt the grasses in the pasture before planting it by no till drill. Then I let it sit all summer and fall without cutting it or grazing it. I did graze it after it froze hard (about Oct./Nov.) You do need to let it rest from Sep. until the first killing frost. This does take planning to have these pastures rest until then!

Alfalfa- I only have a small amount of alfalfa in one pasture. I have not had any trouble with bloat, but alfalfa gets steamy when mature and also can get killed easily by over grazing or just not having enough time to rest in between grazings. Of the two alfalfa is better for hay while Trefoil is better for grazing.

Intensive rotational grazing

Intensive rotational grazing is the best type of grazing in my opinion. Intensive rotational grazing means moving the animals every 12 hours to 4 or 5 days. I move my sheep every 2 days and a lot of grazing dairy cow people move the cows every 12 hours-every milking. The reasons to move the animals so often are somewhat dependent on ones schedule (I don't have time to move my sheep every 12 hours.) The pen/paddock sizes depend on how much forage there is, how many animals there are and how long you want them on that area. It takes just a few rotations to be able to figure out how much they will eat in that amount of time you want to give them.

Why bother rotating? The reasons are quite simple. All grazing animals will eat their favorite grasses/plants down to the dirt and kill them off, leaving the forages the don't like as much to get hard and mature. When you move them often they don't get that choice and the pastures are healthier and you actually can feed more animals on that amount of land. Another reason is parasites. If you are constantly moving them to a new patch of grass they are not going to be eating grass that they pooped on a week ago. You keep them off it until the grass regrows. When you put them back on that is usually that is enough time to kill off most parasites. Also if you leave a 2-3 in residue the animals will not ingest many parasites. (Parasites stay down close the the dirt where it is cool.) Also since you are always moving them the water tubs will be moved with them preventing that mud/manure build up and the sheep will be cleaner.

What kind of fencing do I use? I use electro netting as well as permanent fencing for my sheep and goats. I use a single strand of electric fence and step in posts for the heifer and steer.

Here is a picture of the electro netting rolled up.
Here is a picture of the electro netting in use. There are two strands up right now. When I need to move the sheep and goats I'll put a third strand up behind them and they will move on. The right hand side has been grazed. There is permanent fence on two side of this paddock.



Here is a picture of the cattle fence in use. I use a small battery fencer (the blue box.)


Here is the extra fence that is not in use. I'll use this to make the next pen and after they cattle move I'll take down the old pen's fence. I do move the cattle every day as they don't graze as nicely as sheep and goats.

One can use electric fence on a reel for sheep, but you need 4-6 strands. (I think the netting is easier, but I have not tried it.)

I'll talk about what forages I have and want in my pasture on my next post.

More on deworming

OK I did not explain very well-sorry! I'll try to now.

If all of the sheep/goats in a flock are dewormed at the same time then only "strong" or resistant worms are left. If a good portion of the flock is Not dewormed then the animals that were not dewormed will have "weak" or susceptible worms. The idea is that the worms will cross breed with each other reducing the number of "strong" worms. Therefor the drugs should continue to work according to this plan.

For more info you can go to http://www.scsrpc.org/ This web site also talks about alternative means of deworming such as copper particles and certain plants that have high levels of tannins like bird's foot trefoil. It also gives tips on how to reduce the load of worms on you pasture. For ex: if when you deworm you keep the sheep off pasture in a pen (you can feed hay) or in the barn then the manure with a high load of worms is easy to deal with (you can compost it.) This web site is loaded with information!!

Deworming

Did you know that 20% of a flock of sheep or goats has 80% of the parasites?

There is a vet that does fecal samples on her 2 flocks and found that to be so. She culls the ones with high loads of worms. This is one way to reduce the use of dewormers. She also talked about drug resistance and the need to rotate dewormers.

If you only deworm the sheep/goats that need deworming the ones that aren't dewormed will have "weak"worms that will then cross with the drug resistant worms there for reducing the population of resistant worms. For more info on deworming programs go to http://www.scsrpc.org/

Grazing or Grain vs. Grass

*Feed costs are going up and land is harder to find, but sheep and goats can graze land that is too rocky or hilly to plow for growing corn and other crops. This kind of land is usually cheaper to rent (or buy) per acre than other land.

*Sheep and goats that are grazed generally have cleaner wool/mohair than animals in feed lots.

*Grass fed meat and milk have a better Omega 3 ratio (grain fed has a high level of Omega 6) so the meat and milk (and eggs from pastured chickens) are healthier.

*Animals that are grazed last/live longer. Ex: I worked at a conventional dairy farm that kept the cows in a free stall barn and fed a lot of corn/cottonseed/silage. These cows only lasted 4-5 years and the farmer had to keep all heifer calves and even had to buy some replacement cows/heifers in. A lot of the cows limped,had udder rot, mastitis,DAs or some health problem.

The other farm I worked at was an organic, grazing dairy farm. The cows ate grass in the summer and barley/wheat mix along with minerals. In the winter they lived in an open type barn bedded with straw and ate hay/haylage and the same grain mix. The cow lasted 7-10 years. The farmer also sold 40-50% of the heifers born. The cows on the organic dairy farm did not limp, and there were very few mastitis cases. The cows over all were healthier and actually did not smell a bad!

*White sheep fed a high level of grain will get a yellow cast to their fleece that does not wash out.

Wintering Out Doors

Here is my list of reasons to winter my sheep out-doors on pasture.

*Cheaper-no bedding needed.

*Useful-barn used at lambing time can be used for storing hay,wood,feed,ect. in the winter.

*Healthier-fresh air at all times and makes a hardier animal

*Economical feeding-hay can be fed on the ground (no hay feeders) and if fed in a different place each time does not need to be cleaned up and also fertilizes the pasture.

*Better wool-wool is not as likely to felt Ex. when wet sheep go into a crowded barn they rub on each other causing felting.

*Less labor-no water necessary if there is snow.