Teaching cattle to eat weeds

[punk-a-doodle]

Thought this was pretty darn interesting:
http://nevada.rangelands.org/Prog R... Reduces Costs and Increases Profits 7-11.pdf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMOKj_WfhlM&list=UUTLRnl4QeHrvHMrHLTsVAeg&index=2&feature=plcp

 

[BryanG]

That looks very interesting. I may have to check him out some more later on.

 

[20kidsonhill]

buy some goats, then you wont have to teach your cattle to eat weeds.

 

[Beekissed]

That must be very valuable on range style pasture. I've read that using intensive grazing methods creates the same effect but not sure just how one would use intensive pasture management on range that huge, though Salatin assures it can be done as they are currently doing it in New Zealand and Australia.

 

[SmallFarmGirl]

buy some goats, then you wont have to teach your cattle to eat weeds.

*giggle*

 

[greybeard]

Most fences that will hold cattle and even horses just fine, won't hold goats. The usual fence for cattle in my part of the world is 4 or 5 strand 4 pt barbed wire, with about 12" spacing between the strands. I've seen it tried here, and in West Texas--that won't hold goats--maybe in a small setting, but not on an operation of any size. Even on a place as small as my 125 acres, the expense to go woven wire would be cost prohibitive.

 

[zzGypsy]

Most fences that will hold cattle and even horses just fine, won't hold goats. The usual fence for cattle in my part of the world is 4 or 5 strand 4 pt barbed wire, with about 12" spacing between the strands. I've seen it tried here, and in West Texas--that won't hold goats--maybe in a small setting, but not on an operation of any size. Even on a place as small as my 125 acres, the expense to go woven wire would be cost prohibitive.

folks do it here in missouri all the time - the trick is to train the goats to hotwire in a small enclosure... set up a pen with the typical 4-5 strand barbed wire, then inbetween each barbed wire run another of hotwire. put the biggest badest charger you can get on it - basically a charge that will knock them on their behinds and make their eyes water - and then run them in that pen for a couple of days.
once they're keeping a wide distance from the fence you can add one or two strands of hotwire to the barbed wire fence, and the goats will keep clear of it.

we're starting to see sequential rotational grazing used here - I'm looking a property with brambles and overgrown weedy pasture. depending on what the local make up is, we'll be running goats then sheep then cows, or sheep then goats then cows, in the areas we want to clean up. the goats and sheep will clear back the brush, weeds, brambles allowing the cattle to get into areas they wouldn't otherwise graze. we'll see what my california horses find tasty - sometimes there's stuff they'll eat that the rest won't. what that turns out to be will determine where they go in the rotation...

it'll take us a little while to get set up, but the end goal is rotation at a max of 1-3 days per area during peak growth season, with each species going on the area in sequence. everyone moves down a slot on every rotation. some of the local studies are indicating you can get 70% more meat production out of the same pasture that way.

 

[zzGypsy]

went and read everything on the site - very interesting!

backs up things I've observed, like my colorado horses which would eat adult russian thistle - and my california horses which wouldn't... apparently they just need a little training!

the local extension agent says my sheep/goats/cows will happily graze the poison hemlock too... as long as they've got plenty of other things on the menu. locally the thorn-factor seems to be why people say cows won't graze the blackberry and wild rose, but maybe they just need a few lessons. the theory was that cows can't get their big mouth between the thorns, whereas sheep and goats can get their little mouth in there. maybe that's not correct... hmmm...

 

[greybeard]

Oh Cows will eat just about anything if they get hungry or used to it. I've seen them graze on Youpon, saw palmetta, sweet gum leaves, American Holly leaves, and even Osage orange leaves (Ouch!). Never seen one eat Chinese tallow leaves or pigweed tho--no matter how little other forage or feed there was around.

 

[77Herford]

Thought this was pretty darn interesting:
http://nevada.rangelands.org/Prog R... Reduces Costs and Increases Profits 7-11.pdf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMOKj_WfhlM&list=UUTLRnl4QeHrvHMrHLTsVAeg&index=2&feature=plcp

Wow, those youtube video's are great. Never seen that tactic before will be trying that out this spring with both my Goats, Sheep and Cattle. Maybe I won't get patches of weeds in my pasture.