lespedeza

[treeclimber233]

I have an area of lespedeza (not sure that is spelled correctly) that is about knee high. My goats cant get to it unless they are tied there. If they are used to a large amount of clover daily will it hurt them to eat a lot of lespedeza or do they need to be gradually accustomed to it?

 

[Southern by choice]

No it will not. It is great. Our goats tend to go for it as "needed". It will not necessarily kill the barberpole but does cause the parasite to have a "covering" over it. That "covering", for lack of a better term, prevents the parasite from sucking and reproducing. That is why you will see low egg counts on goats/sheep who eat it.

 

[treeclimber233]

Well I don't need to worry about my goat gorging on it. She decided she would rather eat other stuff and pulled her rope loose and wandered back to where I normally tie her. Silly goat. She would rather eat ankle high stuff than knee deep stuff.

 

[treeclimber233]

The guy I bought some hay from last fall/winter said his spring cutting has a lot of lespedeza in it. But after the first cutting there was none in it? Is this only a spring type of plant? And why is it that some people have trouble getting it to grow? Does it need certain growing conditions?