DD turnips into permanent pasture without glyphosate

steveR

Member
Mixed Farmer
The same applies.

Mind, I don’t keep loopy sheep that take a run up and vault the fence.

And yours aren't even lardy :)
its not their hurdling ability that is the problem but their intelligence , ie pushing through the larger gap between that there is with less wires with the top and bottom of their neck instead a nice wet nose being presented :sneaky:
Well, more than enough intelligence to outwit the likes of Derek anyway.;)

Oh I 'vehad a few nose pokers over the years too....
 
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Andyt880

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Co. Down
I have 3 acres of aspin turnip/redstart to graze now with ewes. They will be lambing from 27th of March on so I would like it to keep them until 12/14th of March (5weeks approx). How many ewes should I expect a crop like this to carry. I will be strip grazing. How much hard feed should I be starting to give them and how soon? Any other tips? Never grazed ewes on forage crop before

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Andyt880

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Co. Down
I would be cautious about growing your lambs too big before they are born. My instinct would be to strictly limit intake before lambing and let them go afterwards when they are milking.
So let them graze each strip bare before giving them any more? Maybe offer a bit of hay to fill them up and limit intake a bit?
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
So let them graze each strip bare before giving them any more? Maybe offer a bit of hay to fill them up and limit intake a bit?

Yes, I've always made them graze each strip completely bare before moving on. Otherwise it would be like putting them on ad-lib feed hoppers.

They'll not take any hay even if you put it out, unless they are kept hungry. I never put bales out, unless I need to eek out a poor crop, as it just makes an area for them to congregate and get muddy. The crop is a lot better feed value than anything you can get in a bale.
 

Andyt880

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Co. Down
Yes, I've always made them graze each strip completely bare before moving on. Otherwise it would be like putting them on ad-lib feed hoppers.

They'll not take any hay even if you put it out, unless they are kept hungry. I never put bales out, unless I need to eek out a poor crop, as it just makes an area for them to congregate and get muddy. The crop is a lot better feed value than anything you can get in a bale
Do you you feed any concentrates/ whole grains in the run up to lambing if grazing a crop like that? Would mineral levels be an issue a forage crop?
 

Jerry

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Devon
Do you you feed any concentrates/ whole grains in the run up to lambing if grazing a crop like that? Would mineral levels be an issue a forage crop?

No hard feed here to ewes on a crop like that, but they have access to mineral licks and are all bolused with a Mayo 4 in 1 bolus
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
Do you you feed any concentrates/ whole grains in the run up to lambing if grazing a crop like that? Would mineral levels be an issue a forage crop?

If you are going to bring them indoors for lambing, presumably on concentrates and bales, then it would be worth giving them a bit before housing to transition the rumen, otherwise it will be a drastic diet change at the worst possible time. If lambing outdoors on grass, I'd not look at a cake bag.
That looks like a fantastic crop to me, which will provide every bit as much nutrition as any concentrate, so you would just be replacing it, not supplementing. Unless it suddenly turns very cold, that crop will start to grow soon (if it hasn't already), so you'll not be short. By March it'll often will be growing so fast that you'll struggle to keep on top of it IME.

Loose minerals in a bucket sat in a tyre will provide anything that you'll not be giving in a cake bag. (y)
 

Andyt880

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Co. Down
No hard feed here to ewes on a crop like that, but they have access to mineral licks and are all bolused with a Mayo 4 in 1 bolus
I was thinking I should probably bolus them at this stage. Do you just use a general mineral bucket rather than a feed type bucket like a red crystalix?
 

Andyt880

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Co. Down
If you are going to bring them indoors for lambing, presumably on concentrates and bales, then it would be worth giving them a bit before housing to transition the rumen, otherwise it will be a drastic diet change at the worst possible time. If lambing outdoors on grass, I'd not look at a cake bag.
That looks like a fantastic crop to me, which will provide every bit as much nutrition as any concentrate, so you would just be replacing it, not supplementing. Unless it suddenly turns very cold, that crop will start to grow soon (if it hasn't already), so you'll not be short. By March it'll often will be growing so fast that you'll struggle to keep on top of it IME.

Loose minerals in a bucket sat in a tyre will provide anything that you'll not be giving in a cake bag. (y)
Ok thanks for the info. I got the field scratched with a Howard roto tiller and sowed with a cutler type seeder. Fired a bit of fertiliser on after 3 weeks or so when I seen it had established and shut the gate.
 

Andyt880

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Co. Down
No hard feed here to ewes on a crop like that, but they have access to mineral licks and are all bolused with a Mayo 4 in 1 bolus

If you are going to bring them indoors for lambing, presumably on concentrates and bales, then it would be worth giving them a bit before housing to transition the rumen, otherwise it will be a drastic diet change at the worst possible time. If lambing outdoors on grass, I'd not look at a cake bag.
That looks like a fantastic crop to me, which will provide every bit as much nutrition as any concentrate, so you would just be replacing it, not supplementing. Unless it suddenly turns very cold, that crop will start to grow soon (if it hasn't already), so you'll not be short. By March it'll often will be growing so fast that you'll struggle to keep on top of it IME.

Loose minerals in a bucket sat in a tyre will provide anything that you'll not be giving in a cake bag. (y)
Any idea on numbers I should be putting to it? I have a batch of 41 doubles that I was thinking of putting to it to see how it goes
 

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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