The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: crobertson on September 18, 2016, 02:37:02 pm
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We've had sheep since last year and have been moving them regularly from paddock to paddock as and when needed to reduce the amount of grass for us to cut and obviously for them to be moving to better grass. However I feel I need to make it more structured and figure us out a rough grazing plan so to speak so could really use some help !
How often do you guys rotate pasture ? How often do you leave it to rest ? From what I've read the worm larvae take 3 weeks to get to the infective stage on grass so should we be moving every two weeks ? Our ewes never have dirty bums etc so I don't think they have any issues but will be doing a worm count pre tupping.
We only have 6 shearling ewes (hoping to get 2 more) and can split our paddocks using the electric fencing. We have around 1 acre paddock, a 1 and half acre paddock (can split in half) a 3/4 acre paddock and a side bit (approx 0.5 acre) by the apple trees which normally lasts them 2-3 weeks.
Any help would be much appreciated !
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Fit healthy ewes can cope with worms ,after lambing they can contaminate pasture which can affect the young lambs . Worms can survive for a long time 4-5 mths and some can survive over the winter depending on temperature , wet 0r dry and length of grass eg In very short grass with very high temp they desiccate fairly quickly but in warm wet long grass they will survive for month's
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If the sheep had a low or zero worm burden when you got them and your ground hadn't had sheep on it for over a year you may well have a negligible worm burden. Keep a really close eye on grass growth in each area over the Winter. You may well find some areas get muddier, some (maybe overlaying rock or with poor quality subsoil) will stop growing before others. You can then formulate a plan allowing wet areas to be grazed off before the sheep start poaching the ground and leaving good grass growth area to grow on into Autumn to give you more grazing over the Winter months.