ksalvagno
Alpaca Master
Your county extension office could really help you out. They can tell you what are good grasses to grow.
Seeding pasture for goats
- Thread starter ChickenPotPie
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jodief100
True BYH Addict
CM, That particular seminar was closer to your place than mine! It was at the KSU research farm in Frankfurt. KSU has free programs on the third Thursday of every month and they include lunch. Sheep and goats are October and March.cmjust0 said:I should probably start attending some of these seminars and conferences everybody else seems to attend. Seems like I'm always hearing someone say "Oh, I was up at XYZ university at a conference on supplementing marshmallow creme to pregnant does ..." or whatever. Like, "You shoulda been there, man!"
Well...perhaps you shudda told me about it!
jodief100 said:
It is not online yet. I will email Dr. Andries and see what he can send me. He mentioned he was still doing the research so maybe he hasn't published yet.cmjust0 said:Do, plz.
jodief100
True BYH Addict
Ok, I heard back from Dr. Andries. It is Sorghum-Sudan grass that can cause toxicity after a frost or during drought stress.
This is what he sent about Sericea Lespedeza:
Sericea Lespedeza is a warm season legume that grows very well in low quality soils. It has some problems becoming established with competition from grasses and other plant in our area and is considered a noxious weed in other states so it can be a problem for some people. The plant contains chemicals called condensed tannins that have been shown to reduce fecal egg counts and can possibly work as a natural dewormer. However it is not known exactly how it works and egg counts come back up rapidly once animals move off lespedeza during the grazing season. It is thought that the chemical halts development of larva in the animal and the adult are removed or die off and once they are back on a different forage the larva complete development and start producing eggs. It is not 100% known at this time how it works. It is recommended as a better quality warm season forage that can have a beneficial effect on parasite control. There is no concern about toxicity with this plan, however grazing a stand that is not pure may not have the desired effect on parasites but will benefit production as it is higher quality than most of our forages during the summer.
There have been a lot of studies on Sericea lespedeza for parasite control and one was here in Kentucky. Many of the projects used cut and carry practices for feeding, in Kentucky the fields were grazed and were not a pure stand. We saw no benefit from grazing the lespedeza. Other studies have shown a benefit. We believe that the issue was the stand and some grazing management issues here that caused us to see no difference. One farm had a very poor stand and the other had a long ally that the animals grazed a lot going to and from the Lespedeza and water and supplement. We think that caused the problems.
They are doing some additional research on other forages. None of it is complete but I have a long summary of what they have so far. They are studying soybeans, pearl millet, Sorghum-Sudan grass, fescue with red clover and cereal rye for nursing does. They are looking at stocking rates and forage height as well.
I can forward what I have to anyone who wants it. Just PM me.
This is what he sent about Sericea Lespedeza:
Sericea Lespedeza is a warm season legume that grows very well in low quality soils. It has some problems becoming established with competition from grasses and other plant in our area and is considered a noxious weed in other states so it can be a problem for some people. The plant contains chemicals called condensed tannins that have been shown to reduce fecal egg counts and can possibly work as a natural dewormer. However it is not known exactly how it works and egg counts come back up rapidly once animals move off lespedeza during the grazing season. It is thought that the chemical halts development of larva in the animal and the adult are removed or die off and once they are back on a different forage the larva complete development and start producing eggs. It is not 100% known at this time how it works. It is recommended as a better quality warm season forage that can have a beneficial effect on parasite control. There is no concern about toxicity with this plan, however grazing a stand that is not pure may not have the desired effect on parasites but will benefit production as it is higher quality than most of our forages during the summer.
There have been a lot of studies on Sericea lespedeza for parasite control and one was here in Kentucky. Many of the projects used cut and carry practices for feeding, in Kentucky the fields were grazed and were not a pure stand. We saw no benefit from grazing the lespedeza. Other studies have shown a benefit. We believe that the issue was the stand and some grazing management issues here that caused us to see no difference. One farm had a very poor stand and the other had a long ally that the animals grazed a lot going to and from the Lespedeza and water and supplement. We think that caused the problems.
They are doing some additional research on other forages. None of it is complete but I have a long summary of what they have so far. They are studying soybeans, pearl millet, Sorghum-Sudan grass, fescue with red clover and cereal rye for nursing does. They are looking at stocking rates and forage height as well.
I can forward what I have to anyone who wants it. Just PM me.
If the length of time between the high/low/high of FEC's between graze/lespedeza/graze could be explained by the life cycle of a barberpole worm -- which it kinda sounds like, based on the idea that tannins might halt the development of larvae, allow adults to die off naturally, then rise again as the larvae mature once the goat comes off the lespedeza -- then it could also be the fact that goats "grazing" lespedeza are grazing something *other than grass.*
Barberpole worms, afterall, are *grass* worms. I doubt a barberpole would have much luck shimmying its way up a stalk of lespedeza, ya know?
Makes me wonder if they'd see the same drastically positive results of goats turned out onto any other kind of browse..
(That, btw, it just the kind of question that would probably get me ostracized from these types of seminars. )
Barberpole worms, afterall, are *grass* worms. I doubt a barberpole would have much luck shimmying its way up a stalk of lespedeza, ya know?
Makes me wonder if they'd see the same drastically positive results of goats turned out onto any other kind of browse..
(That, btw, it just the kind of question that would probably get me ostracized from these types of seminars.
)
