advice needed

tismesoitis

have 40 spring calved sucklers out strip grazing 8 acres of ground we have sprayed off for reseeding. They'l be finished there and will need to be moved sunday morning. Land is very heavy and is citting up under these but i'm not too concerned because as i say we'll be ploughing this field anyway.Problem is we don't want to cut up the next field and we're considering just giving the cows and calves about 2 hours grazing morning and again in the evening and leave them in the cubicle shed for the rest of the time(with no fodder). Is this a runner? or is anyone doing similar? or would i need to leave out a little longer? appreciate any feedback!!

mf240

give them a strip of the next field every morning.

Then in the evening give them a bit of meal in the sprayed field and leave them there till next day.

tim04750

Break them up into smaller groups if possible.

freedominacup

tismesoitis wrote: »

have 40 spring calved sucklers out strip grazing 8 acres of ground we have sprayed off for reseeding. They'l be finished there and will need to be moved sunday morning. Land is very heavy and is citting up under these but i'm not too concerned because as i say we'll be ploughing this field anyway.Problem is we don't want to cut up the next field and we're considering just giving the cows and calves about 2 hours grazing morning and again in the evening and leave them in the cubicle shed for the rest of the time(with no fodder). Is this a runner? or is anyone doing similar? or would i need to leave out a little longer? appreciate any feedback!!

How much grass have you ahead of them? If you allocate such small amounts they will really cut it up. In normal covers I would think 40 sucklers and followers would need close to 1 acre per day. 50 dairy cows on a small amount of concentrate would need approx 1 acre per day in normal covers at this time of year. Back fencing will reduce the amount of damage to the ground and ensure that regrowths aren't hit ensuring you have grass next time round. One of the mistakes I see beef farmers making with strip grazing is the rationing is too severe at the start and the field gradually gets too strong leading to a lot of waste and poor performance.

tismesoitis

yeh freedom we were goin to give them roughly 1acre strips each day but decided with a little advice from a neighbour to let them have the run of the field and bring them in to the shed at night. at least calves will have a dry night and we can give them a little meal in the creep area. any thoughts on this?

blue5000

Just wondering are the calves more prone to pneumonia by going in and out of the shed in this weather. I reckon it might be better to leave them out altogether?

tismesoitis

All vaccinated but i think i might give the vet a bell and quiz him on it. Things are bad enough without an outbreak ot that kinda sh it!!!

freedominacup

tismesoitis wrote: »

yeh freedom we were goin to give them roughly 1acre strips each day but decided with a little advice from a neighbour to let them have the run of the field and bring them in to the shed at night. at least calves will have a dry night and we can give them a little meal in the creep area. any thoughts on this?

Yeah don't do it. I have calves out since 10th March with no cow giving them support and guidance. No losses, no sickness despite everything that could be thrown at them being thrown at them other than drifting snow. How big is the field? If it's anymore than 3 acres then you are making a mistake. If you mant to manage your stock and not the other way around then manage their grazing for starters. Allocate them 1-2 days grass depending on grazing conditions the poorer the conditions the less you allocate at one time. Back fence to prevent them poaching and hitting regrowths on already grazed areas. You'll need 3 reels and enough stakes to cross the field 3 times. You just move the back fence each time. The other two will already be up. A one man job should only take 10 mins.

ootbitb

freedominacup wrote: »

Yeah don't do it. I have calves out since 10th March with no cow giving them support and guidance. No losses, no sickness despite everything that could be thrown at them being thrown at them other than drifting snow. How big is the field? If it's anymore than 3 acres then you are making a mistake. If you mant to manage your stock and not the other way around then manage their grazing for starters. Allocate them 1-2 days grass depending on grazing conditions the poorer the conditions the less you allocate at one time. Back fence to prevent them poaching and hitting regrowths on already grazed areas. You'll need 3 reels and enough stakes to cross the field 3 times. You just move the back fence each time. The other two will already be up. A one man job should only take 10 mins.

sounds ideal but how do you manage water supply?

freedominacup

ootbitb wrote: »

sounds ideal but how do you manage water supply?

With pipes and water troughs:rolleyes:

ootbitb

freedominacup wrote: »

With pipes and water troughs:rolleyes:

Ok,stupid question.

Was thinking something more versatile ie mobile.

freedominacup

ootbitb wrote: »

Ok,stupid question.

Was thinking something more versatile ie mobile.

Why 40 cows and calves 2 acres every 2 days. 1 trough servicing 8 acres. Fences don't have to run at 90 degress to any ditch/fence diagonals are allowed. So on a 24 day rotation which would be long for this time of year you need 3/4 troughs. What mobile solution could you possibly dream up that would be significantly cheaper in the long run when the cost of the time spent pr**king around with some random mobile solution is taken into account.

just do it

freedominacup wrote: »

With pipes and water troughs:rolleyes:

But no longer then a 10 minute job. Permanent extra water points have a significant cost.

just do it

tismesoitis wrote: »

have 40 spring calved sucklers out strip grazing 8 acres of ground we have sprayed off for reseeding. They'l be finished there and will need to be moved sunday morning. Land is very heavy and is citting up under these but i'm not too concerned because as i say we'll be ploughing this field anyway.Problem is we don't want to cut up the next field and we're considering just giving the cows and calves about 2 hours grazing morning and again in the evening and leave them in the cubicle shed for the rest of the time(with no fodder). Is this a runner? or is anyone doing similar? or would i need to leave out a little longer? appreciate any feedback!!

Doing similar. Put in a roadway and paddocks over last 2 years and they have been a God-send since last summer. Currently out by day and in at night. They get 1.5kg/hd dairy nuts when they come in, no problem coaxing them in when they know that is waiting for them. No silage or straw at the moment. I'd have them out twice daily for 3hrs if I was around but cant. From reading the journal 3 hours seems to be the ideal amount of time if you're going this route. 3hrs x2 gives a dairy cow 90% of what she gets with 24hrs grazing with a lot less walking.

I'm giving the calves 1kg nuts in the creep and they're happy out. Since I started giving the calves nuts the cows are under a lot less pressure. Now that my breeding season is drawing to a close the cows will be getting a bit less. At this stage some of the calves are nearly 5 months old so I'll probably keep up meal feeding till sale time. Last years weanlings had very poor weigh gain due to the weather so don't want a repeat of that. I know it's costly, but f*** it, given the conditions what can you do??

freedominacup

just do it wrote: »

But no longer then a 10 minute job. Permanent extra water points have a significant cost.

Depends on how you look at it. I would regard it as in investment in my farm which enhances it's value and increases it's production capacity.

just do it

freedominacup wrote: »

Depends on how you look at it. I would regard it as in investment in my farm which enhances it's value and increases it's production capacity.

Agree with your point and I've done it in my place. But the OP is about a temporary solution to get over this disastrous period of weather. As a time hungry part time farmer I try my best to eliminate work load. It took me thirty minutes to do the bare minimum this morning and I didn't even get to see all stock at that!