MOOving the Cows to New Grass

As I talked about in earlier posts, we are a diversified little homestead farm.  I emphasize the word little because we sit on a 5 acre parcel of land.  That's it.  2 acres comprises the 'yard' where the house sits, but I've overflowed the garden into this area along with numerous fruit trees.  The pasture encompasses 3 acres and holds 2 mature Jersey cows in milk, 1 Jersey bull and 1 Jersey heifer, 1 Nubian dairy goat in milk, 1 Nubian kid, 70 laying hens and assorted roosters, a guinea, a peahen that adopted us and two dogs.  Those are a lot of animals occupying that space.  The growth of the grass is crucial.

It is for that reason that we rotational graze.  We probably don't do it perfectly as ideally you measure the height of the grass, the brix level, and there are formulas for number and weight of animals on square footage of pasture that determine when you move them.  At this point, I don't get that technical.  I have the 3 acre pasture broken into 5 or 6 paddocks and I move them when the cows tell me.  Of course I don't speak their language, so I just observe and they tell me in non-verbal ways.

Let me squat down to ground level and give you a hen's eye view of the pasture.  This particular paddock has been grazed for about 3 or 4 days and I've just moved them into the next paddock.  You can see that the grass has been clipped down by the cows some, but it is not eaten down to ground level.  You don't want them eating that close to the ground as they are susceptible to picking up parasites there.  Furthermore, the fresh, tender growth of the grass on top is sweeter, tastes better (ask Les Miles), and is more nutritious.

Moooving the cows out of this paddock

Here is a hen's eye view of the fresh paddock that I'm moving the girls into.  Can you tell the difference?  If you were a ruminant, you'd look forward to moving into this one too!  Can you see the flag leaf of the grass that is putting out seed?  The cycle continues.

Where the green grass grows

Daisy, Rosie, Bully, and Nellie watch me.  Although they are farm animals and don't possess what I would consider to be above average smarts, they know that when I walk out there and start messing around with the fence, that fresh grass is right on the other side.  Moving them doesn't require any coaxing.

Heads down, chowing down

In the late summer, winter and early spring, I have to supplement their diets with hay.  During those times their conditioning falls off a little bit.  Rains have encouraged the growth of pasture grasses and the cows are fat.  They spend most of their time in the cool parts of the day eating and their conditioning is one I would call - FAT.  You can't see their ribs and their milk boasts a very thick layer of yellow cream.

God is Good, God is Great, Thanks for the green grass on my plate, Amen.

The chickens enjoy clipping off the tops of the grass, too!

Sally and Daisy sharing a meal

I like this next photo because it illustrates rotational grazing.  You'll notice the poly wire cutting almost diagonally across the picture.  We use this to separate the paddocks.  A jump wire connects the perimeter fencing that carries an electrical charge to the lateral poly wire and electrifies it.  The cows respect it.  The paddock on the left has been grazed as evidenced by the shorter grass on the left side.  I've just moved them into the new paddock on the right.  It is kind of humorous the way they are able to contort their necks and eat underneath the wire for a little distance without getting shocked.

Grazed (left), Ungrazed (right)

I use some nifty reels that I purchased from Gallagher that have a locking ratchet to wind up and unwind the poly wire that separates the paddocks.  I have several insulators in different set places upon which to hang the reels  There's no grass in this portion as this is my low spot.  I need to get a load or two of dirt hauled in.

The Reel Deal

Finally, here is Amy, our little fat heifer.  She's in her own paddock by herself.  If we kept her with the other mama cows, we'd probably never get any milk.  We've been weaning her for a while and it may be time to put her together, though, and test to see if the mama's would let her nurse.  As they get older and try to suck, the mamas will kick them out of the way.

Little Fat Amy

The point of rotational grazing is to not over-graze your pasture.  Keep moving the cows to fresh pasture where there is fresh growth versus leaving them in one big field to 'cherry pick' all the best grass.  A good analogy is a bowl of mixed nuts you put out at a gathering.  You can take it to the bank that people are going to pick out all the cashews first.  When the cashews are gone, then they'll nibble on the pecans and then peanuts and finally the only thing left will be Brazil nuts.  Cows pick out the best grass first and so it helps to employ portion control.

You want to limit what they have available and let them eat what they want for a set time frame and then move them to 'another bowl of mixed nuts' at a later time that has 'cashews' in it.  It is a management practice that is good for your pasture and good for your animals.