Making A Pasture

[Baymule]

I’m raising Cornish Cross on the side pasture, moving their tractor daily. They leave behind a pad of poop. When I refill the 5 gallon water jug, I sow more giant Bermuda over the poop and water it in.

 

[Baymule]

The horse pasture is coming along. Lots of rye grass and some fescue has sprouted from the sheep waste hay we spread.

The Bahia seeds are now coming up through the hay. I can’t wait to finally sees a grassy pasture!

 

[Baymule]

The side pasture where we are tractoring the meat chickens is responding to the pads of poop. I overseed with more giant Bermuda as I move the tractor onward. It is coming up. There is a humus layer of rye grass and clover under the poop and it is retaining moisture.

I sowed a triploid variety of rye grass last fall. It has made a lot of grazing. Dumb sheep kept going back to the same patches, eating it to the ground. I grazed the ewes, ewe lambs and ram lamb/wethers in it. Since I had spread Sheep barn clean out on the pasture, there was tall lush growth they wouldn’t touch. So I brought in Joe and Pearl. Don’t be harsh in judgment on how skinny they look. Joe is 32, has Cushing and is in steady decline. Pearl has hit a plateau and no matter what I do, she stays the same. I think what she needs is grass and lots of it. The horse pasture may not be ready for hard grazing this year, but it will be for next year. Plus, come spring, I’ll close off the pipeline and sow it in Bahia. In the meantime, they both graze the yard and help even things up in the sheep pastures. It’s a work in progress. Here they are, hard at work, improving pasture.

Here is the pasture today, a couple of weeks after Joe and Pearl grazed it short. You can see the chicken tractor and trail of poop pads on the right.

The rye grass will die back in another month or so. By that time I hope the giant Bermuda I planted and coddled last year will be growing good.

 

[Beekissed]

Bay, it's really looking good! All your work is truly paying off now and you couldn't get a prettier view than those beautiful horses muzzle deep in that lush grass. Beats a noisy, smelly lawnmower any ol' day.

How are your meaties doing....or are they done now? I lose track of time lately, been so busy.

 

[Bruce]

and it is retaining moisture

 

[Baymule]

@Beekissed the meaties are still eating and pooping. I like them big, so will feed them out past the 6 week mark. I keep them 2 1/2 months and get 5-7 pound carcasses.

 

[Beekissed]

@Beekissed the meaties are still eating and pooping. I like them big, so will feed them out past the 6 week mark. I keep them 2 1/2 months and get 5-7 pound carcasses.

I do the same and have even kept some to 3 mo. I keep them until they look tired from carrying all that breast meat, then I feel sorry for them and butcher them out.

I hope you have a good yield and a great butcher day!

 

[Baymule]

The Cornish Cross chickens are gone to freezer camp. The giant Bermuda grass seed l sowed on the pads of chicken poop is beautiful!

The rye grass is still going strong, I turned the ewes out on this pasture today.

Yesterday I turned the ewes out in the horse pasture that I sowed the Bahia grass seed in the spring. The weeds, honeysuckle, green briars, oak stump sprouts and such have sprouted back out. There is LOTS of forage for the ewes out there. Hopefully they won’t do much damage to the new grass, the overgrowth will shade it out, so the girls can graze it all down.

 

[Beekissed]

Bay, all that lovely green is a testament to all your hard work. What a satisfaction you must feel to now see the sheep grazing on the benefits from it! They will provide fertilizing and trampling of it and build you more good green stuff and that's so cool!

I love the good combination of graze and browse you have in that paddock, as I've found that the hair sheep really seem to need it, especially with rich spring grass consumption.

 

[Baymule]

I put them back on it today. In 2 hours they were laying down ruminating. Ringo and 2 ewes went to pasture #2 that borders the garden. BJ was pulling run away rampant growth of ragweed and lambs quarters in the garden while I planted corn. The weeds were carefully laid in the wagon for sheep treats. When Ringo saw BJ pulling weeds, he went to the gate and stared holes in us. He quit grazing in preference to the lambs quarters. What a brat.