Rotating Paddock Grazing

farmers101

If you have 30 cattle approx 500kg, 4 rotating paddocks, 7days per paddock. How many acres would you want per paddock? Giving an average growth etc, as I know it's like "how long is a string".😂

Thanks

blue5000

Are you going to be using N?

Miname

farmers101 wrote: »

If you have 30 cattle approx 500kg, 4 rotating paddocks, 7days per paddock. How many acres would you want per paddock? Giving an average growth etc, as I know it's like "how long is a string".😂

Thanks

At a rough guess without calculations I'd say 4 acres for paddocks topping up between rotations.

Cavanjack

Yeah maybe 4-5 acres if your using plenty of bagged stuff

blue5000

Last few years I grazed roughly 15 1.5 yr old bulls on 2 x 4 acre paddocks with clover, no N. But they were block grazed so they got a fresh block of grass every day, and back fenced as well so they were not walking back over what they grazed. If grass got too strong it was baled and wrapped in front of them. In autumn they got another 3 acre paddock in the rotation, so they had 11 acres altogether. The rotation was roughly 28 days, 21 when a bit of silage was taken out. Clover needs the 28 day rotation.
If you are setting it up, you need to be flexible, with lots of water troughs.

Muckit

God blue that is savage going. The power of good land!! Would be a fan of the clover myself but haven't enough of it yet!

Your tip with the blue barrel a good one for the cash strapped farmer!!

farmers101

Muckit wrote: »

God blue that is savage going. The power of good land!! Would be a fan of the clover myself but haven't enough of it yet!

Your tip with the blue barrel a good one for the cash strapped farmer!!

What is the tip with the blue barrel?

Muckit

farmers101 wrote: »

What is the tip with the blue barrel?

Using a half barrel as a drinking trough.

Flat side to the bottom. Drill hole 3" approx off bottom and put a modified ball cock with brass washers in. Use a rubber washer on inside. Screw off the ball and cut off half the arm. Attach the ball to a string and to end if new arm.

The trough is fed with water from the bottom. The ball will float on top of water and pull on string to close off valve. Valve at bottom of trough so won't be damaged by stock.

I said

Muckit wrote: »

Using a half barrel as a drinking trough.

Flat side to the bottom. Drill hole 3" approx off bottom and put a modified ball cock with brass washers in. Use a rubber washer on inside. Screw off the ball and cut off half the arm. Attach the ball to a string and to end if new arm.

The trough is fed with water from the bottom. The ball will float on top of water and pull on string to close off valve. Valve at bottom of trough so won't be damaged by stock.

Any chance of a picture please

blue5000

I said wrote: »

Any chance of a picture please

Search through my old posts, maybe 3 years ago.

I said

blue5000 wrote: »

Search through my old posts, maybe 3 years ago.

Could be a while so

joeyboy12345

Lads i put in more paddocks this year myself by sub dividing bigger paddocks into 2. My idea was to have 1 drinker supply 4 paddocks by simply pulling it from 1 side of the dividing fence to the other. Let the cattle out last week and have found moving the drinker 4times leaves it leaking from where the pipe meets the ballcock. One idea i had was to put a straight join on the ballcock instead of the elbow join i have at the moment,i think it would put less presure on the pipe when moving the drinker. Any other ideas or advice for me?

blue5000

joeyboy12345 wrote: »

Lads i put in more paddocks this year myself by sub dividing bigger paddocks into 2. My idea was to have 1 drinker supply 4 paddocks by simply pulling it from 1 side of the dividing fence to the other. Let the cattle out last week and have found moving the drinker 4times leaves it leaking from where the pipe meets the ballcock. One idea i had was to put a straight join on the ballcock instead of the elbow join i have at the moment,i think it would put less presure on the pipe when moving the drinker. Any other ideas or advice for me?

Jfc trough? Don't move it at all. Can you put a gate handle at the trough in such a way that you move the wire either side of the trough?

ABlur

See page 50 of this weeks Farmers Journal for trough setup in a paddock.

joeyboy12345

blue5000 wrote:

Jfc trough? Don't move it at all. Can you put a gate handle at the trough in such a way that you move the wire either side of the trough?

Home made drinkers with half barrels and a floating ballcock

Markcheese

blue5000 wrote:

Last few years I grazed roughly 15 1.5 yr old bulls on 2 x 4 acre paddocks with clover, no N. But they were block grazed so they got a fresh block of grass every day, and back fenced as well so they were not walking back over what they grazed. If grass got too strong it was baled and wrapped in front of them. In autumn they got another 3 acre paddock in the rotation, so they had 11 acres altogether. The rotation was roughly 28 days, 21 when a bit of silage was taken out. Clover needs the 28 day rotation. If you are setting it up, you need to be flexible, with lots of water troughs.

And if you can let the clover flower in mid summer it'll stand to it ( last longer in the sward), easiest way to do that is. Close and take bales off different bits in turn ..

croot

joeyboy12345 wrote: »

Home made drinkers with half barrels and a floating ballcock

I have the same type of drinkers set up but I have one either side of the wire but they are connected together and a T connection in the middle feeding them. I don't move them at all.