Letting sheep out on Kale?

gwi1890

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
North wales
Strip grazing ideally you will waste less of it, I think your supposed to let a run off on to grass , but I’m personally not a fan as i the winter they poach more walking back and forth from the run off, just fence a small area to being with they’l walk around alot for the first day or so then they are off from there on.
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
As above really, I have 6ac of Kale, can I just let the ewes and lambs in on the lot or should I strip graze it?
read somewhere that they may get problems, bit of a shock to the rumen?

introduce them gradually, with access to grass if you can, otherwise they will get a check for a couple of weeks until their rumens get accustomed to digesting the new food.

Utilisation will be much better if you strip/block graze it, so that they waste less and get to eat leaves & stems together.

Are you talking about this year’s ewes & lambs, March/April born presumably? If so then it would make more sense to wean them first, as the ewes will be taking valuable fodder to get fat. They’ll not be giving a meaningful amount of milk now anyway, and less still if they get a ration change.
 

Derrick Hughes

Member
Location
Ceredigion
Never grazed Kale with sheep but Rape Turnips and Swede just opened the gate and let them in , some had a grass run back . They will peck at the grass in the rows for a bit as they won't eat it straight off
 

Bury the Trash

Member
Mixed Farmer
strip fence and small bit to start and let them get used to it they might not be too keen to start with either


and one of the hazards can be. ....

Nitrates/Nitrites
Plants absorb nitrates from the soil and generally convert them rapidly to other nitrogenous compounds. Nitrates accumulate in the soil during periods of drought and are taken up by plants in large amounts when the drought ends. Overcast conditions favour plant storage of nitrates, while in bright sunlight, nitrates are converted to amino acids and proteins. Brassica crops may accumulate particularly high concentrations of nitrates.

2 Feeding lambs rape and kale nitrate


Fig 2 Roots and stems usually contain more nitrate than leaves
The main importance of nitrates is as a source of nitrites, which are formed in the rumen after ingestion of the nitrate. Nitrite poisoning is an uncommon cause of death in store lambs, but when the problem occurs, lamb losses can be high.

Absorbed nitrites combine with haemoglobin in the blood to form methaemoglobin, which is incapable of transporting oxygen. The clinical signs associated with nitrite poisoning include gasping and rapid respiration, a rapid heart rate, muscle tremors and weakness. In severe cases membranes appear brown-coloured, and eventually cyanotic in appearance due to the high blood methaemoglobin content. Death can occur within a few hours of eating nitrate-rich plants, although it is more usual for a few days to elapse before signs appear. Abortion is sometimes seen as a sequel to severe nitrate poisoning.

Your vet can advise you about the diagnosis and management of nitrate/nitrite poisoning in your flock.
 
Ok scary stuff, I knew I had read some disaster cases somewhere,
I was thinking of just doing a tiny strip of a couple of meters, but even that there would be a lot of fodder consumed quickly if they get going on it
I'm sure Neilo knows his onions, folk must grow it for sheep, although Turips are all I see around here.
I might send in half a dozen of the smaller lambs and see how they do before I let the quality in.
 

Bury the Trash

Member
Mixed Farmer
Ok scary stuff, I knew I had read some disaster cases somewhere,
I was thinking of just doing a tiny strip of a couple of meters, but even that there would be a lot of fodder consumed quickly if they get going on it
I'm sure Neilo knows his onions, folk must grow it for sheep, although Turips are all I see around here.
I might send in half a dozen of the smaller lambs and see how they do before I let the quality in.
yes its good sheep keep....
dont let that scare you , its just to be aware (y)
 

Derrick Hughes

Member
Location
Ceredigion
Ok scary stuff, I knew I had read some disaster cases somewhere,
I was thinking of just doing a tiny strip of a couple of meters, but even that there would be a lot of fodder consumed quickly if they get going on it
I'm sure Neilo knows his onions, folk must grow it for sheep, although Turips are all I see around here.
I might send in half a dozen of the smaller lambs and see how they do before I let the quality in.
If you believe everything you read you would have been jed long ago . I used to fatten 3000 lambs never had a problem .
 

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

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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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