About a year ago my mother purchase an old farmhouse and 10 acres of land. Her original plan was to board horses, but that tends to be more trouble than it's worth. She also planned on running a small plant nursery, but she's so busy remodeling the house, the land has gone fallow.
Unfortunately about 4 acres of the land is just a FOREST of bamboo.
Soooo, I got permission today to run a couple of cattle for meat, probably steer, on both the back pasture and the bamboo. All togother it's probably 6 acres, 3-4 acres bamboo/forest and 2-3 of fallow farm field that's overgrown with weeds and such.
Will 2-4 head of cattle clear this land out, more/less? We hope to thin the herd to two after the pasture/forest is maneagle. What do you think? This bamboo is some nasty stuff, edible to animals, but some of it is 10-40ft tall and you have to squeeze through it. I figure if it appear the cows are having trouble knocking it down, I could always cut it down and let the animals keep it down. Bamboo is an evergreen grass and grows like it's a freak of nature. LOL I'll have to get some pictures tomorrow! It really is a sight to see. It's not an ugly plant, but highly invasive and takes up so much space, that can't be used for anything else but bamboo. :/
Will cattle run peacefully with goats and pigs? My husband and I would love to pasture raise a couple of hogs for the freezer, and hubby has always enjoyed having goats when he can. The goat idea is iffy, because we always fear for dogs and can't have a LGD at the moment(also I don't see the cattle and a Great Pyrenese really getting along. LOL. It would most likely end poorly for the dog, I'm sure).
Since I'm asking, will cattle ignore chickens and other poultry?
Unfortunately about 4 acres of the land is just a FOREST of bamboo.
Soooo, I got permission today to run a couple of cattle for meat, probably steer, on both the back pasture and the bamboo. All togother it's probably 6 acres, 3-4 acres bamboo/forest and 2-3 of fallow farm field that's overgrown with weeds and such.
Will 2-4 head of cattle clear this land out, more/less? We hope to thin the herd to two after the pasture/forest is maneagle. What do you think? This bamboo is some nasty stuff, edible to animals, but some of it is 10-40ft tall and you have to squeeze through it. I figure if it appear the cows are having trouble knocking it down, I could always cut it down and let the animals keep it down. Bamboo is an evergreen grass and grows like it's a freak of nature. LOL I'll have to get some pictures tomorrow! It really is a sight to see. It's not an ugly plant, but highly invasive and takes up so much space, that can't be used for anything else but bamboo. :/
Will cattle run peacefully with goats and pigs? My husband and I would love to pasture raise a couple of hogs for the freezer, and hubby has always enjoyed having goats when he can. The goat idea is iffy, because we always fear for dogs and can't have a LGD at the moment(also I don't see the cattle and a Great Pyrenese really getting along. LOL. It would most likely end poorly for the dog, I'm sure).
Since I'm asking, will cattle ignore chickens and other poultry?