The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: harry on November 20, 2018, 04:07:30 pm
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What's best to do after removing geese from grassland in a couple of weeks .Do I need lime etc will be doing geese again in spring.
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Hello, sorry you havent had reply yet :wave: :-\
Do you know what pH your soil is. If its between 6 and 7 youll be fine for regrowth etc.
How big is the paddock/field and what sort of stock density are you planning. This will affect the amount of grass needed obviously, but liming is definately worth it if thats what it needs. :thumbsup:
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Don't know the ph will get a tester .Paddock three quarters of acre. Raised 7 this year no problem .Might go for 7 to 10 next year. Wondered about foul ground worms etc is that what like is for?
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Ok cool. lime is to give the soil the right pH for the grass to grow best.
but it could be useful to keep worm numbers down if you split the paddock up and rotate the pens every couple of months or so. Flubenvet pellets are good as a worm preventive though as well, and are obviously cheaper than buying extra fencing :)
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What is your land looking like at the moment? Is it full of muddy bare patches, or just very short grass? If it looks in fairly good condition you probably don't need to do anything.
We have been rearing 12 geese on about an acre for five seasons and it seem to recover well each year. Have had no problems with worms or other parasites. :fc:
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Grass currently in good short condition, no mud well drained, benefit of a fenced off fox proof
stream running though.
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Sounds lovely! I don't think you need to do anything.
Over winter the rain will wash any droppings into the soil. That will fertilise the land and I'm sure that the grass will grow away strongly in the spring. Ours usually grows a bit too strongly and we have to put some sheep on it to keep it short before the goslings go in in June.
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Testing for PH is good advice, never hurts to give the sward the best chance of of providing as much nutrition as possible and it will change over time with lots of goose poo! Take multiple little samples across the area and mix in a bucket to get an average sample.
Grass is a crop and will need the odd overseeding every few years to keep the mix healthy. The goose poo may provide enough fertility but if you have free manure from other animals then spreading a light dressing around in spring won’t hurt.
Ultimately much easier and cheaper to keep it good than renovate damaged sward.
Not a poultry expert but my understanding is if you can leave it fallow from poultry for 6 months most parisites won’t be an issue. If that involves a bit of temporary fencing.....
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Yes thats right Sra, onwards of 4 months is usually okay. Some say 2 months but I dont think that long enough personally.
Keep the grass short and avoid any patches getting muddy over the winter to stop the geese dibbling too much in the mud.
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Geese all gone now till next year