[smee2012]

A rather odd question but we've just had our neighbouring dairy farmer come and slurry spread one of our paddocks (that we very recently overseeded with a herbal pony seed). Is there a minimum amount of time that I need to keep my sheep off that paddock? Also, once they are allowed back on it, will it be safe for the lambs?

I'm also wondering how much to pay our neighbour? He's said don't worry about it but it seems rude not to offer anything at all but I don't want to insult him with a paltry amount! The paddock he's done is about 1 acre in size.

[SallyintNorth]

I think you'll find that the universal currency equivalent is a bottle of Famous Grouse

Or a few jars of homemade marmalade and jams, or a nice homebaked cake, or.... you get the picture

[Slimjim]

I can't tell you about the clever stuff that you really want to know about allowing your sheep back on to the paddock, but I wouldn't worry about payment. He's probably glad to get rid of it. Dairy farms produce tons of the stuff. My neighbour struggles to dispose of it in the time he has available such that he spreads it all day and up until midnight at weekends !

[trish.farm]

Just by looking at the grass you will be able to tell whether it is ready for them to go on it.  If you have had plenty of rain and it has washed in they will be fine.  If you have a layer of slurry sat on top of the grass then it wont be very pleasant for them. 

Bottle of scotch is perfect for payment.  I keep trying to persuade people we have helped out that Grey Goose would be appreciated but we always get a bottle of scotch, which i dont drink but my other half drinks like water!!

[smee2012]

Thanks for the replies folks. I think I needed to be more specific in my concerns for the lambs. I've heard that putting them on to new lush grass (which I'm assuming that the slurry will help to generate) can cause pulpy kidney in young lambs, which obviously I don't want! My oldest lambs are one week old today and I've still got two ewes left to lamb. Due to an over eager tup who managed to do the deed without marking the ewes, the two ewes that have lambed didn't have their Heptavac jabs - as they were supposedly not due for another fortnight!

[willoughby]

Hi
I would probably give it a little while before putting your ewes and lambs on it. The problem with spreading something like slurry is it may contain parasites such as worms etc. Not sure exactly how long you want to give it but may be worth taking into account before putting lambs onto it as they may pick something up.

[shygirl]

are cow parasites a risk to sheep? I didn't think they were.

[willoughby]

I believe some can be passed between the two species. Other problems could be bacteria etc. that can be passed between the two. Especially with having the lambs there it is better to be safe as they only have protection against diseases the ewe has come across-protection has been given from her colostrum.

[SallyintNorth]

I'd also be asking what is the health status of the farm the slurry is from in terms of Johnnes disease and BVD. 

Sheep can and do get Johnnes disease, and according to our vet, muck - both spread and spreading equipment - is one of the most common routes of transmission.

Sheep also, according again to our vet, can get infectious abortion if exposed to BVD.  So I would certainly be keeping any unlambed sheep off that field unless your benefactor's herd is BVD accredited.

[devonlad]

guidance from defra is anything from a month to 2 months. it does depend on the age of the slurry as uncomposted fresher stuff can be full of all sorts of nasties as mentioned by others- can also included e coli botulism etc. slurry on grazing ground in the spring is not a great idea at all, far better to have done it in the autumn. the other potential problem is that spring application of lots of potash in muck can cause a flush in growth, and lead to magnesium deficiency, shown as grass staggers in  stock- FATAL. too late as its happened but I would be very watchful about putting stock back on there for a while - better to put muck on grazing in the autumn

[shygirl]

from a gardening way of thinking - would the slurry not burn the new grass seedlings?

[Ladygrey]

We keep the cows off the slurry grass for maybe 4 weeks, if it has been chucking it down with rain then 2-3 weeks is safe

We add an organic additive to the slurry before spreading it wich makes it break down quicker, this means animals can graze on it quicker than the defra guidlines

Slurry is worth alot more than people think, and although we are glad to get our slurry tower emptied, its not like we want to just give it away, slurry can continue to add benefits to the ground for a few weeks after applying it, so worth adds up

Also we paid a contract farmer (lives 7 mins away) to spread slurry from our tower onto our fields, after going away for the weekend and coming back to find he had been carting it back home to spread on his own fields!!!!!!  he did receive a bill later on for the slurry he put on his land as it was meant to go on ours!!!!

Spreading all of last year on crop ground we charged £30 per acre for the actual slurry but including labour, tractor hire, tanker hire and man hire it sort of comes to £60-£90 per acre, but this depends on how thick they want it, some want it on like muck and then plough it in, others want it like water and then graze it after a few weeks.

So as it was a favour and he isnt expecting money for the tractor hire etc, im sure £30-40 would do (or anything worth that)

Hope this helps

[Backinwellies]

Seems to be some confusion between slurry and FYM here.   
 Dairy slurry is liquid and provided ground is free draining will wash in fast.   Where and when they are spread is regulated in some areas to avoid pollution. 

Worms are not passed from cattle to sheep.  Other parasites/diseases can be)

[FiB]

Timely! Just this evening a neighbour came around at our request and we talked slurry.... He suggested £60 a load and 3 loads for our 5 acres. I was quite shocked and not sure if £180 was money well spent.... Given the above ( re diseases, I am now wondering wether to postpone till autumn. They are our hay fields and we didn't fertilise last year, so we wouldn't be grazing till aftermath (August?)


Ah in light  of other posts... I think farm yard manure is more likely what we will get. Still not sure if it's an ok price though....

[shygirl]

its more muck spreading country near us in scotland, but when we went down to Carlisle last year, they had been putting slurry on the fields. the smell reminded me of home (England) as its a very different smell.