Rotational Grazing on 2 Acres?

[KodeshAcres]

Hello

We are preparing 2 of our acres for our small flock of Katahdin sheep ( 3 ewes,1 ram,1 ewe lamb) that will be here on December 1st. We would like to implement rotational grazing ASAP. My question is how would you divide these 2 acres or in how many sections? Is 2 acres enough for a flock of 5? Also what type of temporary fencing would you recommend? We have good perimeter fencing around the 2 acres, and plan to move them every 3-5 days. Attaching pictures to give a better idea of what we are working with here. I am a visual person so if anyone has any pictures of their rotational grazing set up I would really appreciate it. Thank you in advance

 

[Mini Horses]

Consider electric netting for a while. Then you will see where you need/want permanent -- if ever

 

[Baymule]

Is there a shelter or barn? If not you could put up a 3 sided shelter in the center and divide the field in the sections you want.
That way, water, feed , hay and shelter would be in one spot versus moving water all the time.

Or make central location at fence closest to house for water convenience and divide from there.

I don’t have a proper barn, so I put up cow panel hoop shelters covered with a tarp. Once I get a real barn built, I’ll run water and electricity to it.

At some point, you will need to separate the ram in order to control when you want lambs being born. Also you will need to wean lambs. What breed of sheep are you getting? I raise Katahdin hair sheep and wean the rams at 2 to 2 1/2 months. The little stinkers start breeding the ewes real early! Or you can castrate them at about a week or two weeks old. Then you don’t have to wean early and you don’t have to separate ram lambs from ewe lambs.

 

[Finnie]

Is there a shelter or barn? If not you could put up a 3 sided shelter in the center and divide the field in the sections you want.
That way, water, feed , hay and shelter would be in one spot versus moving water all the time.

Or make central location at fence closest to house for water convenience and divide from there.

I don’t have a proper barn, so I put up cow panel hoop shelters covered with a tarp. Once I get a real barn built, I’ll run water and electricity to it.

At some point, you will need to separate the ram in order to control when you want lambs being born. Also you will need to wean lambs. What breed of sheep are you getting? I raise Katahdin hair sheep and wean the rams at 2 to 2 1/2 months. The little stinkers start breeding the ewes real early! Or you can castrate them at about a week or two weeks old. Then you don’t have to wean early and you don’t have to separate ram lambs from ewe lambs.

She’s buying your grand baby sheep from @Margali !

 

[Ridgetop]

We are coming into winter and the grass won't grow as fast so you will need to feed hay this winter until the grass starts to grow in the spring. If you over graze that grass now it may not recover without extensive reseeding and fertilizing. Two acres of lush grass can be divided into 2 sections and the sheep rotated back and forth until you add a third grazing pasture. (I assume that you will be fencing off more grass eventually.) The standard is to leave 4" of grass standing when moving the sheep on. The 4" height is the height to which the Barber Pole worm larvae can climb. Any grass under that height can allow the sheep to ingest the larvae and infect themselves with Barber Pole. Since @Baymule (original breeder of Margali's foundation stock) culled heavily for worm resistance, and @Margali has done the same, you should have some animals that are more resistant to Barber Pole. However, following the 4" rule on pasture and feeding hay when it gets too short will help keep your sheep parasite free. Barber Pole worms are the biggest killer in northeast Texas livestock due t the moister climate. This will be a problem for us too since we come from dry southern California, fed hay year round, and never had to worm anything.

I love that welded pipe fencing with wire BUT those fences are not high enough to keep out predators. Also not high enough to keep in Livestock Guardian Dogs if they decide to go after a predator on the outside of them. If your welded pipe fencing goes around your permeter, the cheapest and easiest way to extend the height is to use pipe clamps to attach 6' T-posts to the vertical pipes. Then string another layer of wire on them. Since that wire will not be getting any abuse fro the livestock, you can use the cheaper welded wore for the upper layer. That will extend the welded pipe fences to 7' height.

Your interior rotational grazing pasture fences can be much shorter - 42" woven sheep wire - since you are only worried about predators coming into the perimeter. Just make sure you have a gate at each end of the span - you will get afully tired of slogging across the pasture fro one end to the other to catch sheep. @Margali's sheep usually come to a bucket of grain, but once they recognize you want to give shots, trim hooves, etc. they can turn into wild and untamed sheep that don't recognize you as the bringer of goodness. Instead you become a sheep eating monster. They run back and forth, pausing just out of reach to see how close they can let you get before they gallop away laughing. Extra points to them if you grab at them and fall on your face in the field! More gates mean less work for you.

Folow @Baymule's advice about spacing the shelter in the center of the rotational grazing pastures so it can be utilized from either side. If you are planning to add more pastures, place it in the center where all the pasture will meet. Temporary shelters will work using her hoop house method. Check her pstings to see what they look out and how she builds them.

On our 6 acres in southern California we have 5' welded pipe exterior fences with no climb. We are on steep hillsides in and out of a deep arroyo. The ground sloughed off inside the front fence and shortened it to 3'. We used that method to extend the fence height to 7'. Coyotes can still dig in or jump over the 7' fences from the upper slopes, but our dogs kill them. Not too many take that chance. LOL
Steep terrain into gully
Pipe fences with attached T-posts and additional wire.

Our Texas property Texas is flat and we put up 6'3" deer fencing around the 15 acres where we graze the sheep with the dogs. Lots of 16' gates as advised by @farmerjan and @Baymule in more locations than one would think necessary. Very happy for their advice! The extra high fencing was mainly to keep the LGDs in since we live on a highway. They don't normally leave the flock, but if they are chasing a predator we didn't want to take a chance. We also fenced in the rear and side yard with a gate into the barnyard, pastures, and garden. The dogs can come up to the house at night if we open the gate and Rika, who is 12 now, has retired herself and prefers to be in the yard. LOL We pen the ewes in a dry lot attached to the barn. The rams have their own pen and shelter. We feed 5' hay rolls as needed in the pastures and DS1 has them on protein tubs for the winter as well. We will feed hay all winter until about March or April when it warms up and the grass really grows. We buy our hay in the summer when the prices drop and the crop is plentiful.

Welcome to the world of sheep and BYH!

 

[secuono]

Rotation for worm prevention or just more equal grazing of land?
Worms, they shouldn't come back to the same spot for 60-90 days. If you're moving every 3 days, that's 20 zones for 60 days and 30 for 90 days. 12 for 5 days, 60 days total or 18 for 5 days and 90 days total.
Cut the big pasture in half, then 6 strips on each side would be easy enough. More will be more complicated and shrink. While grass grows well, it'll be fine.
I'd put tposts in all of the corners of your chosen plan, then it'll be easier to not overlap.
Electric fence should work for hair sheep. May even be able to do a few hot wires only, which would be cheaper and easier to move vs netting.

 

[KodeshAcres]

Consider electric netting for a while. Then you will see where you need/want permanent -- if ever

Thank you, I think this is going to be the best option for us to start with.

 

[KodeshAcres]

Rotation for worm prevention or just more equal grazing of land?
Worms, they shouldn't come back to the same spot for 60-90 days. If you're moving every 3 days, that's 20 zones for 60 days and 30 for 90 days. 12 for 5 days, 60 days total or 18 for 5 days and 90 days total.
Cut the big pasture in half, then 6 strips on each side would be easy enough. More will be more complicated and shrink. While grass grows well, it'll be fine.
I'd put tposts in all of the corners of your chosen plan, then it'll be easier to not overlap.
Electric fence should work for hair sheep. May even be able to do a few hot wires only, which would be cheaper and easier to move vs netting.

I'd say for both reasons. That's good information to know and the tpost idea makes sense. I appreciate your input.

 

[KodeshAcres]

We are coming into winter and the grass won't grow as fast so you will need to feed hay this winter until the grass starts to grow in the spring. If you over graze that grass now it may not recover without extensive reseeding and fertilizing. Two acres of lush grass can be divided into 2 sections and the sheep rotated back and forth until you add a third grazing pasture. (I assume that you will be fencing off more grass eventually.) The standard is to leave 4" of grass standing when moving the sheep on. The 4" height is the height to which the Barber Pole worm larvae can climb. Any grass under that height can allow the sheep to ingest the larvae and infect themselves with Barber Pole. Since @Baymule (original breeder of Margali's foundation stock) culled heavily for worm resistance, and @Margali has done the same, you should have some animals that are more resistant to Barber Pole. However, following the 4" rule on pasture and feeding hay when it gets too short will help keep your sheep parasite free. Barber Pole worms are the biggest killer in northeast Texas livestock due t the moister climate. This will be a problem for us too since we come from dry southern California, fed hay year round, and never had to worm anything.

I love that welded pipe fencing with wire BUT those fences are not high enough to keep out predators. Also not high enough to keep in Livestock Guardian Dogs if they decide to go after a predator on the outside of them. If your welded pipe fencing goes around your permeter, the cheapest and easiest way to extend the height is to use pipe clamps to attach 6' T-posts to the vertical pipes. Then string another layer of wire on them. Since that wire will not be getting any abuse fro the livestock, you can use the cheaper welded wore for the upper layer. That will extend the welded pipe fences to 7' height.

Your interior rotational grazing pasture fences can be much shorter - 42" woven sheep wire - since you are only worried about predators coming into the perimeter. Just make sure you have a gate at each end of the span - you will get afully tired of slogging across the pasture fro one end to the other to catch sheep. @Margali's sheep usually come to a bucket of grain, but once they recognize you want to give shots, trim hooves, etc. they can turn into wild and untamed sheep that don't recognize you as the bringer of goodness. Instead you become a sheep eating monster. They run back and forth, pausing just out of reach to see how close they can let you get before they gallop away laughing. Extra points to them if you grab at them and fall on your face in the field! More gates mean less work for you.

Folow @Baymule's advice about spacing the shelter in the center of the rotational grazing pastures so it can be utilized from either side. If you are planning to add more pastures, place it in the center where all the pasture will meet. Temporary shelters will work using her hoop house method. Check her pstings to see what they look out and how she builds them.

On our 6 acres in southern California we have 5' welded pipe exterior fences with no climb. We are on steep hillsides in and out of a deep arroyo. The ground sloughed off inside the front fence and shortened it to 3'. We used that method to extend the fence height to 7'. Coyotes can still dig in or jump over the 7' fences from the upper slopes, but our dogs kill them. Not too many take that chance. LOL
View attachment 112966 Steep terrain into gully View attachment 112967
Pipe fences with attached T-posts and additional wire.

Our Texas property Texas is flat and we put up 6'3" deer fencing around the 15 acres where we graze the sheep with the dogs. View attachment 112969 Lots of 16' gates as advised by @farmerjan and @Baymule in more locations than one would think necessary. Very happy for their advice! The extra high fencing was mainly to keep the LGDs in since we live on a highway. They don't normally leave the flock, but if they are chasing a predator we didn't want to take a chance. We also fenced in the rear and side yard with a gate into the barnyard, pastures, and garden. The dogs can come up to the house at night if we open the gate and Rika, who is 12 now, has retired herself and prefers to be in the yard. LOL We pen the ewes in a dry lot attached to the barn. The rams have their own pen and shelter. We feed 5' hay rolls as needed in the pastures and DS1 has them on protein tubs for the winter as well. We will feed hay all winter until about March or April when it warms up and the grass really grows. We buy our hay in the summer when the prices drop and the crop is plentiful.

Welcome to the world of sheep and BYH!

We plan on providing hay through the winter so 2 acres is not enough to have more than 2 sections for 5 sheep to graze on? I have heard of the 4"rule and the awful parasites here in East Texas

As far as the perimeter fencing is concerned, we are pretty confident in what's already set up there. Reason being, before we moved to this property the previous owners had an agreement with the back neighbors to let their sheep graze these same 2 acres, they had free range to the entire 2 acres at all times. When we moved into the property we also allowed for their sheep to graze back there since we were not ready to bring our own animals onto the property. In the Spring their flock pretty much tripled in size! They do not have a barn or a guard dog and they do not put their sheep up overnight and they haven't lost any animals to predators. Their sheep no longer graze our pasture since we were letting the land rest for months to eventually bring our own animals. I do believe that having the electric fencing will be an extra layer of protection, but the main reason for us looking into electric fencing is because we don't want them to have full access to the back.

I am learning A LOT and still have much to learn.... a bit overwhelming at times, but I do appreciate all the info I can get from experienced folks.

 

[KodeshAcres]

Is there a shelter or barn? If not you could put up a 3 sided shelter in the center and divide the field in the sections you want.
That way, water, feed , hay and shelter would be in one spot versus moving water all the time.

Or make central location at fence closest to house for water convenience and divide from there.

I don’t have a proper barn, so I put up cow panel hoop shelters covered with a tarp. Once I get a real barn built, I’ll run water and electricity to it.

At some point, you will need to separate the ram in order to control when you want lambs being born. Also you will need to wean lambs. What breed of sheep are you getting? I raise Katahdin hair sheep and wean the rams at 2 to 2 1/2 months. The little stinkers start breeding the ewes real early! Or you can castrate them at about a week or two weeks old. Then you don’t have to wean early and you don’t have to separate ram lambs from ewe lambs.

No barn at the moment, we do plan on building a 3 side shelter though. We will be using our well to provide water, which is in the back pasture. I've seen people build those cow panel shelters!!!
We are getting Katahdin sheep from @Margali as @Finnie mentioned