Should I be rotating grazing
I have four Dexters on my 3 acre field at the moment. they arn't poaching the ground at all and have a field shelter to sleep/shelter in. I feed them half a bale of hay in the morning and small amounts of rolled barley and sugar beet plus barley straw in the evening. My question is should I be fencing them in the top acre for the winter and saving the bottom two for the summer or am i ok letting them roam the same piece of land all year round? they are regularly wormed and in good health. All advice would be welcome as this is our first year with Dexters. ???
Isabel Long
Somerset
Somerset
-
Duncan MacIntyre
- Posts: 2372
- Joined: Tue Mar 30, 2004 12:38 am
- Location: Isle of Bute, Scotland, UK
Hello Issy,
it is always a bit of a balancing act managing cattle on a small area. It depends so much on soil, drainage and rainfall in any particular year. I would think if you restrict them to a small area you are very liable to damage it as far as grass recovery in spring goes, whereas if you are in a comparatively dry area with well drained soil and you allow them access to the whole lot you will get much less damage.
You do not really have enough room to use the rotation as a meaningful way of reducing worm or fluke burdens, you should make sure that you rotate wormer types on a yearly basis or otherwise as your own vet may suggest - not always easy when it is tempting to buy more than you need for such a small herd. Adult cows should need very little in the way of roundworm treatment, but if fluke is present all ages need treated.
My own herd have to spend the winter inside to protect ground - we have very mild winters but wet and the grass would never recover if we were to keep them outside.
Duncan
it is always a bit of a balancing act managing cattle on a small area. It depends so much on soil, drainage and rainfall in any particular year. I would think if you restrict them to a small area you are very liable to damage it as far as grass recovery in spring goes, whereas if you are in a comparatively dry area with well drained soil and you allow them access to the whole lot you will get much less damage.
You do not really have enough room to use the rotation as a meaningful way of reducing worm or fluke burdens, you should make sure that you rotate wormer types on a yearly basis or otherwise as your own vet may suggest - not always easy when it is tempting to buy more than you need for such a small herd. Adult cows should need very little in the way of roundworm treatment, but if fluke is present all ages need treated.
My own herd have to spend the winter inside to protect ground - we have very mild winters but wet and the grass would never recover if we were to keep them outside.
Duncan
Duncan MacIntyre
Burnside Dexters 00316
Burnside
Ascog
Isle of Bute
Burnside Dexters 00316
Burnside
Ascog
Isle of Bute
How about using electric fences? One in front of the cows and one behind the cows. We use them alot in NZ for strip grazing. You can buy portable battery powered units that have rechargable bateries. By strip grazing, you can move your cows across your paddocks, without the need for permanent fences. A moveable container of water is the other thing you'll need. But it could be possible for 4 cows.
Inger
NZ
NZ
Providing your Dexters are not causing damage to your fields (ie cutting up the grass, making muddy areas etc) I'd leave them in the whole lot over winter but then keep them in one smaller area from early spring and shut the rest down if you want to get a cut of hay off it. You'll need to play it by ear, if the ground is too wet and being ruined you really need to think about housing them. Good luck.
Hello Issy,
Wishing you luck with your Dexters, may they give you many years of pleasure. On such a small area, I would be very hesitant about electrified strip grazing. My experience is that the cattle spend their time trying to eat under it, and it punishes the ground badly, particularly in winter when poaching is more likely. I had much more success in fencing in blocks. With only 3 acres I don’t think this would really work either. My inclination would be to go along with Duncan, and let them run the lot. If they have access to a shed they should not damage the ground to any extent, but they hate being cooped up inside, all the time.
Wishing you luck with your Dexters, may they give you many years of pleasure. On such a small area, I would be very hesitant about electrified strip grazing. My experience is that the cattle spend their time trying to eat under it, and it punishes the ground badly, particularly in winter when poaching is more likely. I had much more success in fencing in blocks. With only 3 acres I don’t think this would really work either. My inclination would be to go along with Duncan, and let them run the lot. If they have access to a shed they should not damage the ground to any extent, but they hate being cooped up inside, all the time.
I'm sorry but I must comment on 'they hate being cooped up inside'. Although I'm sure all cows would prefer to be out grazing green sun-kissed meadows I do think that come the rain, sleet, muddy areas round feed rings and other winter horrors my cows, at least, have a definite preference for their barn. A top up of fresh straw bedding every day and fresh haylage in front of them all the time. And water bowls which do not freeze (usually). Maybe I'm raising a group of wimps??:p
Inclined to agree with you Sylvia. Have just brought mine in - they have moved out of a wet field (previously covered in snow, as was most of North Devon), and are enjoying the life of Riley in our barn. Every morning, I pop my head in and the dogs are mystified by ten black lumps nestled in the straw chewing the cud. They have access to plenty of hay (soon to be silage), and as you point out - unfrozen water. I would not think any single one of mine is missing tramping through deep mud to reach the feeder all day every day!!
Whoops, I think there is a misunderstanding here, I am speaking from my own experience. With my cows in cubicles, I thought it preferable to let them out, while I did the tractor work cleaning out, rather than crowd them up in one quarter, and work round them. To begin with, I left them out for several hours, now, as soon as the tractor comes out, they are given the opportunity to come back in, they need to spend a fair amount of time inside, since they are on self feed silage, and need access to the stack for enough hours to enable them all to spend enough time eating. Also, I don’t want them to paunch the only reasonably dry field near at home, that they can have access to.
What has been a perpetual surprise to me, is the way, on the worst of mornings, when it is pouring with rain, they rush madly out as soon as the door is opened in the morning. If the morning is really bad they may be peeping round the corner, an hour later, asking if it is time to come back in yet, but if it is fine they often spend time sitting or nibbling outside, most of the day. The younger ones especially, may come back singly, for a bite of silage without risk of being bullied; they have the choice. This is what I was suggesting for Issy, I don’t believe Dexters really wish to be penned in a small space no matter how well cared-for and comfortable they are. They are an active breed, and appreciate an opportunity to do their ‘pin-ups’.
What has been a perpetual surprise to me, is the way, on the worst of mornings, when it is pouring with rain, they rush madly out as soon as the door is opened in the morning. If the morning is really bad they may be peeping round the corner, an hour later, asking if it is time to come back in yet, but if it is fine they often spend time sitting or nibbling outside, most of the day. The younger ones especially, may come back singly, for a bite of silage without risk of being bullied; they have the choice. This is what I was suggesting for Issy, I don’t believe Dexters really wish to be penned in a small space no matter how well cared-for and comfortable they are. They are an active breed, and appreciate an opportunity to do their ‘pin-ups’.
-
oliver1921
- Posts: 142
- Joined: Mon Feb 28, 2005 3:36 pm
My Dexters definately prefer to be outside whatever the weather - if i try to keep them in they are not as content and certainly lose condition faster - during the winter period i keep them in fields that are bordered with mature woodland and have erected field shelters (purely a roof) with a pile of tree branches on the side of the prevailing wind. This seems to keep them happy but try to get them to stay in - no chance!
-
Kathy Millar
- Posts: 725
- Joined: Wed May 19, 2004 4:53 pm
- Location: Vancouver Island, BC, Canada
Unfortunately I too would have mud bathes if the cows were allowed in the pastures at this time of year. They are "cooped" up (2 adults, yearling and 2 calves) in a partly mucky barnyard about 70' square with a well-bedded (sawdust) barn to go into (about 12' by 18' including manger). However, I can't help thinking about them as horses and feel they need exercise so once or twice a week they are let out into a 2 acre paddock where they roar around and around for a few minutes, bouncing and kicking, then settle down. This is one of my biggest moments of entertainment on the farm!
One day I let them out into an odd-shaped paddock with a hill and a portable chicken coop (egg mobile!) and they must have run around the entire paddock half a dozen times. They even split into separate groups and ran in different directions. This is one of the reasons I tend to shy away from small intensely-managed electrically-fenced paddocks. These babies just gotta run! :laugh:
Kathy
One day I let them out into an odd-shaped paddock with a hill and a portable chicken coop (egg mobile!) and they must have run around the entire paddock half a dozen times. They even split into separate groups and ran in different directions. This is one of the reasons I tend to shy away from small intensely-managed electrically-fenced paddocks. These babies just gotta run! :laugh:
Kathy
Kathy
Home Farm, Vancouver Island, Canada
Home Farm, Vancouver Island, Canada