[Marshlady]

Our pigs are off on holiday (the one so good that they don't come back) next month. Their pen is now bare. What do people use to re-seed - just standard issue grass or is there something better? I plan to get more next spring. 

[Rosemary]

We used grazing rye a coulpe of years ago and it did well. It grew o about 4ft by the time the pigs went it - we knew they were there because we could see the grass moving but we couldn't see the pigs much. They soon ate it down though.

I'm sure there are better things though so I'll be watching this with interest as we will have our pens to reseed soon too.

[MrRee]

Resistance is Fertile sent me a pm last year sometime with regards to reseeding,this is what they sent.


Regarding understorey we sow this mix behind the pigs:

5% common bentgrass
5 % crested dogstail
10% smaller catstail
15% sheeps fescue
20% red fescue
5 % wild white clover
10% late flowering red clover
4 % alsike clover
4% birdsfoot trefoil
10% sainfoin
8% common vetch
4% yellow trefoil

At the same time we sow a mix of

30% mustard
30% kale
40% Stubble radish

and a good splash of

wild garlic
cowslip
lady’s bedstraw
lesser knapweed
ox-eye daisy
meadow buttercup
meadowsweet
ragged robin
ribwort plantain
self heal
yellow rattle

we also stick in jerusalem artichokes and comfrey whenever we have any spare as they seem to keep coming back all the stronger when theyve been ploughed in by the pigs.

This may seem a hassle, but its all cheap seed, the woods look great and are full of insects and birds and most of all it avoids us having to buy in any food for the pigs as it keeps the fodder coming and biodiversity up. As time goes on less seed is required to re-establish.

[Marshlady]

Thanks - it sounds as if you are seeding a considerably larger area than my relatively small pig pen. I've just found some 'UK wild flora' seed mix in the cupboard - will probably try that.

[Hilarysmum]

Add clover to the mix

[Higgins11]

white or red clover??

[Hilarysmum]

I have no idea, whoever told me this forgot this vital detail.  Could you do both just in case?

[Ginny B]

I have been told by our local "pig man" that before we reseed our paddock with anything that we will need to throw down lime as the soil now will very acidic ... is this true ?
cheers
Ginny

[Higgins11]

can't hurt............makes sense

[Hilarysmum]

Higgins 11 have been looking around the fields, white seems to be the preferred clover for cows. 

[Higgins11]

i read one time in a book that pigs perfered one or the other (university tested) but i can't find the book again.

i think it was white too

[Hilarysmum]

ooooo this is going to be so embarrassing if it turns out to be red clover 

[MiriMaran]

I naiivly thought that the field would re-grow due to the natural spread of grass seed!  Is this not the case?

[Hilarysmum]

Ours does.  Sadly this year the pigs have been overwhelmed and we have more grass in August than we did in April.

[Higgins11]

found the article. They do like white clover


http://www.stockmangrassfarmer.net/cgi-bin/page.cgi?id=748