Paddock Grazing Duration | Multi-Species Rotational Grazing With Red Devon Cattle and St Croix Sheep
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- Опубликовано: 4 июн 2023
- Lots of info today as we explore quantifying how long to graze our paddocks. Also talk about our struggles with mineral supplementation for multi-species, grass-fed rotation.
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I like the longer videos. 👍
Thanks Nick!
Another informative video Jason. Great work!
13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Matthew 7:13-14
Good Words today, thank you!❤️. I’ll remind my wire cutting sheep 🐑
Hahaha! Gotta keep an eye on them, always trying to cut corners; and in this case cut through wires.
Smart move in a drought would be to cull .25-.30!
Certainly could. Hard to build a flerd up in drought, isn’t it?
Very informative video! While I am not thankful for the drought you are experiencing I am grateful for the video and information sharing that it spurred from you.
Having just gotten started with rotationally grazing sheep this video was poignant. We are running sheep, then pigs followed by chickens.
Thanks, Matt! I’m curious - If you’re willing, how has the experience been with pigs in the mix? (Never been brave enough to have them on pasture here)
We have a breeding trio of Idaho Pasture Pigs which are a pasture/grazing pig by nature. They stay on a 100x100 paddock that the sheep have been on, for the same amount of time, first. The pigs are rougher on the paddocks however the paddocks have ample time to rebound, usually 10-12 weeks. The worst wear and tear comes on the slopes when it rains due to the pigs sharp hooves.
IPP’s grow out in 8-10 months and have terrific personalities, like roll over at your feet for belly scratches😂. They are more of a homesteader pig vs a production pig however.
@@mattdewhirst4075 Sounds interesting - How’s their grain consumption and your feed bill so far? (I’m assuming less than an industrial hog)
@@birchfieldfarming They get 4lbs a day, each, with Nexgen 2090 mixed in as their mineral supplement. The forage for the rest of their meal via grass, walnuts, acorns, grubs etc. if you have some wooded areas on your farm they’d be great for clearing out the undergrowth in that.
@@mattdewhirst4075 Awesome, thanks for info!
Poultry are a great way to improve the pasture! Also, I think you're 100% correct to avoid tillage. It's a short term gain for a long term loss.
The deeper I get into this, the more it seems like the simple ways are key.
I'm a pretty big fan of the free choice minerals. Not cheap to get into it initially but as I moved the herd around a diverse terrain I saw them change their intake dramatically in different areas. Over time I hope to reduce those costs, but on anything less than excellent soil with a great polyculture, I think it's worth the money.
Thanks for sharing your experience! I’ve heard this also about free choice but wondered about practicality…Couple questions: Can it be done with sheep AND cattle together? If so, can you point us to a starting place for mineral sourcing and feasible, portable containers?
@@birchfieldfarming I have never had both cattle and sheep at the same time, but have had both separately and have been told by those who keep them together that it’s fine. The sheep select less copper.
FCE, free choice enterprises, is where I get the minerals. I passed on their feeder as freight was prohibitively expensive; still working on a good solution that I can drag by hand.
@@newedenfarm Great info, gives us a starting point, thanks!!
@@birchfieldfarming hope it helps!
FYI, Greg Judy also runs FCE free choice mineral for both sheep and cows. The sheep apparently know to select less copper.
Man I wanna join the fam!
🤠
That is a beautiful piece of land and you're managing it accordingly. All the best
Thank you
That bug spray is so awesome! Thanks for sharing. Lots of good info in this video. We are planning to create more pastures in the near future. We are getting a new ram this month so gotta get a spot ready for him.
Thanks! Hey, happy ramming!🤠🐑
Brother. Is all this math you do before the video or are you just calculating this in your head on the fly? I can't do this and I'm taking notes... Great video!
Thanks! It’s usually a mix, some on the fly, some thought out ahead. Hopefully there’s something of value you can use tho!
Your total paddock size should be easier to figure. 5 acres divided in two is 2.5 acres. So understanding the math from there is pretty straight forward. If you're on a 45 day rotational cycle, you'd end up with paddocks that are a certain size. For me on one property of approximately 5 acres it is 380 feet x 575 feet. SO I have it divided into45x 25 ft x 190 ft paddocks. That gives me 25x190= 4,750 sqft x 45days= 213,750 sqft
Thanks, Poppy! My paddock size is fixed at 1/4 acre sections. I did this b/c I don’t want to mess with moving fences all season. Set em and forget it, just adjust duration. I’ve got enough to do without adding in fence moves.