I have often thought that if we carried guns like the cowboys use to there would often be an impromptu freezer fullI think a rifle is needed!
Just not sure I'd have any sheep left!
Hmmmm, maybe not such a bad idea.
I have often thought that if we carried guns like the cowboys use to there would often be an impromptu freezer fullI think a rifle is needed!
Just not sure I'd have any sheep left!
Hmmmm, maybe not such a bad idea.
Interested in the answer to this too. This thread is great to be involved in, but has rambled far and wide from what the title suggests. Be good to bring it back on topic?Been reading back through this topic, and trying to get my head around grazing plans. I have just budgeted where I expect to be - based on current rotation speed for the next rotation. But this seems very basic and there is reference to DM feed required etc, and I am just not sure how to go about improving my info on it. I don't really measure much at the moment. Sort of by eye I work out, and the sheep tell me when they need a new paddock. I am basically giving 100 ewes + 140 lambs about 0.7 acres.day average. So sometimes a 0.7 acre paddock, and sometimes a 2.x acre one that they are in for 3 days. It depends a bit on infrastructure, and slightly governed by lack of wire at the minute.
How far forward do you try and plan it? I have two fields I am hoping to cut hay this month, and then they will join the rotation, which will increase paddock numbers. However, I will have to split ram lambs from ewes & ewe lambs, so will also be running two mobs (presently just one).
As it stands my current rest period is 38 days. This is based on 15 paddocks, which are grazed between 1 and 3 days. I can subdivide them (and probably will) to make them all into daily paddocks. But for now seeking advice on how to fill in grazing plan/chart. I have done a map of farm and drawn on paddock numbers/shapes, which felt like progress but beyond that just not sure what I'm doing...
I am also running 100 ewes & 140 lambs. I am also having trouble with respect for electric. I'm thinking of getting some electric sheep netting which I will attach to my fibre glass posts as the ground is too hard for pushing in the ones that come with the netting. My grass is shorter than I would like so I am wondering how to get my poor starved all natural yorkshire fog, cocksfoot etc some nutrition because I assume that inorganic fertilizer won't do alot apart from making more acidity.Been reading back through this topic, and trying to get my head around grazing plans. I have just budgeted where I expect to be - based on current rotation speed for the next rotation. But this seems very basic and there is reference to DM feed required etc, and I am just not sure how to go about improving my info on it. I don't really measure much at the moment. Sort of by eye I work out, and the sheep tell me when they need a new paddock. I am basically giving 100 ewes + 140 lambs about 0.7 acres.day average. So sometimes a 0.7 acre paddock, and sometimes a 2.x acre one that they are in for 3 days. It depends a bit on infrastructure, and slightly governed by lack of wire at the minute.
How far forward do you try and plan it? I have two fields I am hoping to cut hay this month, and then they will join the rotation, which will increase paddock numbers. However, I will have to split ram lambs from ewes & ewe lambs, so will also be running two mobs (presently just one).
As it stands my current rest period is 38 days. This is based on 15 paddocks, which are grazed between 1 and 3 days. I can subdivide them (and probably will) to make them all into daily paddocks. But for now seeking advice on how to fill in grazing plan/chart. I have done a map of farm and drawn on paddock numbers/shapes, which felt like progress but beyond that just not sure what I'm doing...
How similarly do your different paddocks and soils grow, as this alone can have a big bearing.Been reading back through this topic, and trying to get my head around grazing plans. I have just budgeted where I expect to be - based on current rotation speed for the next rotation. But this seems very basic and there is reference to DM feed required etc, and I am just not sure how to go about improving my info on it. I don't really measure much at the moment. Sort of by eye I work out, and the sheep tell me when they need a new paddock. I am basically giving 100 ewes + 140 lambs about 0.7 acres.day average. So sometimes a 0.7 acre paddock, and sometimes a 2.x acre one that they are in for 3 days. It depends a bit on infrastructure, and slightly governed by lack of wire at the minute.
How far forward do you try and plan it? I have two fields I am hoping to cut hay this month, and then they will join the rotation, which will increase paddock numbers. However, I will have to split ram lambs from ewes & ewe lambs, so will also be running two mobs (presently just one).
As it stands my current rest period is 38 days. This is based on 15 paddocks, which are grazed between 1 and 3 days. I can subdivide them (and probably will) to make them all into daily paddocks. But for now seeking advice on how to fill in grazing plan/chart. I have done a map of farm and drawn on paddock numbers/shapes, which felt like progress but beyond that just not sure what I'm doing...
Are they seeing it alright?I am also running 100 ewes & 140 lambs. I am also having trouble with respect for electric. I'm thinking of getting some electric sheep netting which I will attach to my fibre glass posts as the ground is too hard for pushing in the ones that come with the netting. My grass is shorter than I would like so I am wondering how to get my poor starved all natural yorkshire fog, cocksfoot etc some nutrition because I assume that inorganic fertilizer won't do alot apart from making more acidity.
I'm thinking of setting up a moveable water supply fed by an IBC water butt, which I will dig in for refilling and let gravity take the water to lower parts. So the ball cock needs to be for low pressure fill. Is anyone else doing this? Has anyone made their own drinker with a ball cock?
Been reading back through this topic, and trying to get my head around grazing plans. I have just budgeted where I expect to be - based on current rotation speed for the next rotation. But this seems very basic and there is reference to DM feed required etc, and I am just not sure how to go about improving my info on it. I don't really measure much at the moment. Sort of by eye I work out, and the sheep tell me when they need a new paddock. I am basically giving 100 ewes + 140 lambs about 0.7 acres.day average. So sometimes a 0.7 acre paddock, and sometimes a 2.x acre one that they are in for 3 days. It depends a bit on infrastructure, and slightly governed by lack of wire at the minute.
How far forward do you try and plan it? I have two fields I am hoping to cut hay this month, and then they will join the rotation, which will increase paddock numbers. However, I will have to split ram lambs from ewes & ewe lambs, so will also be running two mobs (presently just one).
As it stands my current rest period is 38 days. This is based on 15 paddocks, which are grazed between 1 and 3 days. I can subdivide them (and probably will) to make them all into daily paddocks. But for now seeking advice on how to fill in grazing plan/chart. I have done a map of farm and drawn on paddock numbers/shapes, which felt like progress but beyond that just not sure what I'm doing...
Thanks, dug out the earbuds and had a listen, very good.
Are they seeing it alright?
I guess if they are making a calculated attempt to run through it, then that's a yes, but first off I would use a tape for the middle strand in your fence. Tape is much more visible, and it moves in a breeze which is quite offputting to sheep... especially if you have a twist in it.
I have some old faded orange poly and it is hard enough to see in daylight, so the odd one would stumble through it and get a belt for a start, especially these hoggs who had never seen an electric fence!
However repeat offenders need to leave, however good a sheep is; if they don't fit your system, conform to mob rule, then you're farting against thunder. They will simply lead the mob unto temptation.
Regular shifting, on foot, soon helps to emphasise the importance to them of remaining "in the mob" as opposed to outside it, doing their own thing.
Any fencers here get put on the lane for a day or two, watching their mates eating through a netting fence soon seems to get through their thick heads to wait for me!
I use 3 wires now, because I have the electric fence switched off and keep them on the trot, so to speak.
"Brute force" shouldn't really be necessary, IMO of course.
I use netting all the time and it is relatively quick and easy to set it up and then take it down again. It is important to put the fence up properly maintaining as much tightness as possible. This cannot be done if you remove the netting from the stakes. The tension you create when putting the fence up is essential for its integrity- both safety wise for theanimals and for the energiser output.Thank you for your advice. I do have lots of white tape hanging around. I learned to use plain wire for the horses years ago because it keeps them in better, but I also use a more visible top wire with them.
I have fenced the horses in 1/4 acre paddocks now moving them daily. There's not enough grass so I have hay ready to give them. For the moment it is an exercise in spreading their fertilizer more evenly around the field. I am testing to see if this is better for the land than having a smaller set place and giving hay there constantly. This will rest the other areas but won't fertilise it. Their tendancy to "go" in one place has resulted in the starving areas. I originally started with sheep to eat the rough areas the horses created then got hooked.
Still trying to get my head around the water supply and making the shape and size of the paddocks better for that. The pipe is cheap, but the connectors are a killer.
I need to set up video surveillance to find the big offenders, although I'm pretty sure it's the lambs who blast through it. I did sell my big Suffolk ram for repeated offences. I'm looking at getting a couple of lines of electric netting. I'll keep the fibreglass stakes in the ground and attach and detach the netting as they move around. This should be quite efficient time wise if I run!
No worries there, just remember my advice is worth no more than you paid for it and we'll get along just fineThank you for your advice. I do have lots of white tape hanging around. I learned to use plain wire for the horses years ago because it keeps them in better, but I also use a more visible top wire with them.
I have fenced the horses in 1/4 acre paddocks now moving them daily. There's not enough grass so I have hay ready to give them. For the moment it is an exercise in spreading their fertilizer more evenly around the field. I am testing to see if this is better for the land than having a smaller set place and giving hay there constantly. This will rest the other areas but won't fertilise it. Their tendancy to "go" in one place has resulted in the starving areas. I originally started with sheep to eat the rough areas the horses created then got hooked.
Still trying to get my head around the water supply and making the shape and size of the paddocks better for that. The pipe is cheap, but the connectors are a killer.
I need to set up video surveillance to find the big offenders, although I'm pretty sure it's the lambs who blast through it. I did sell my big Suffolk ram for repeated offences. I'm looking at getting a couple of lines of electric netting. I'll keep the fibreglass stakes in the ground and attach and detach the netting as they move around. This should be quite efficient time wise if I run!
That’s brilliant .better than the batt latch IMO.https://m.facebook.com/story.php?st...¬if_t=feedback_reaction_generic&__tn__=R-R
Nifty gadget. What are you like with making electric timer circuits @holwellcourtfarm ?
Small electric winch, limit switches, and a timer that can be preset 4, 8, 12, 16, 24 hours
The point is not about having some inputs. We all have to buy in a few things but they are buying in all their formulated chicken feed! It isn't just wheat coming from a local farmer. Then they are buying in all their compost for their crops (30t/ha year). And they have been buying in huge quantities of peat, even using it as bedding! So yes they are building soil, but to the extreme detriment of elsewhere. I'm sorry, but this is industrial farming on grass, which means it looks pretty.
And yes if they grew their feed it wouldn't be profitable as the hardest part of regenerative ag is growing crops which is why so many regenerative ag. farms are essentially pasture based.
I think their business model is good. They deserve the money they make. I belive in small farms and I have dozens of friends who own profitable farms smaller than 50Ha.
I just think its a bit cheeky when you publish a book entitled regenerative agriculture when your pretty far from it yourself.