Waiting For the Pasture to Come In

It is always at this time of year that we wait for the pasture grass to really start coming in strong.  Right now with the cows, goats, and chickens on the pasture, it seems that just as soon as the tender grass begins to grow, one of the farm critters munch it down to ground level.  I've begun to install the temporary electric fencing to partition the pasture into paddocks to better manage the rotation of the animals through the land, but it is only 100% effective on the cows, about 30% effective on the goats, and 0% on the chickens.

While we wait, we rotated the cows twice through the yard and they quickly obliterated the clover.  Trouble is, they have a penchant for eating the leaves off the citrus and blueberries and shrubs, so I have to be real careful and cognizant of where and how I place the fencing.

We're also still supplementing with stockpiles of hay - both square bales and round bales.  The cows and goats like to spend some time around the round bales - as do the chickens.

I always use this analogy, but cows treat a round bale of hay like I do a cinnamon roll.  I like to eat the center first.  That's where all the cinnamon and sweetness is concentrated.  For some reason, the cows do the same.  You can see in the photo below, they've completely eaten the center out and you can see through and through the bale.  Chickens love this hole as it is a perfect hiding place to set and lay eggs.  I have to remind my egg collector (Benjamin) to check for eggs there.

There is yet another thing we do while we wait for the bahai/bermuda grass in the pasture to grow with vigor.  There is a spot of land directly south of our land behind our pasture fence .  It isn't ours, but the owners never mow it.  The tall grass is a habitat for mosquitoes, rats, snakes, possums and other such unwelcome quests.  Chinese tallow trees, privet, China ball trees, and briars threaten to overtake the land each year. 

We call this the sacrifice pasture.  Several times a year, we put up the electric fence and allow the cows to eat as much of the grasses down as they wish.

It is a smorgasbord or all you can eat buffet line for cows.  They roam around and "cherry-pick" the weeds/grasses that they like the best.  Once all the best stuff is eaten, they start grazing on their second favorite items. 

They'll eat and eat and eat.  I keep my eyes on them, though, because there is nothing other than a thin, electrically charged line to keep the cows from roaming onto the road.  After a while, they'll let me know they are done by sitting down.

I just let the three cows out that are in milk.  No sense in letting the 3 bull calves out.  We'll keep doing what we're doing with the hay and sacrifice pasture.  We'll exhaust our stockpile of hay in about a month, but that's okay.  Pretty soon, with rain and sunshine, the cows won't be able to keep up with the grass in the little pasture.  I'll rotate them daily through the different paddocks.