Resting fields...

[MrA]

Some general musings about ales field which is also a sort of WWYD

Ale is currently on just over an acre which he has been on since late november. Come late march/april I am thinking of resting it and either having him on a track around the outside or on another smaller patch entirely over the summer to give this area a chance to recover. I feel this size field will be too much for him over the grass growing months too. When he first moved into this field the girls said they didnt wsnt it strip grazed but i think that was just as it was winter and the ground would suffer.

Come autumn what do I do with such a well rested area. Im guessing it will be a big lammi risk at that time of year!

How best would you manage the space to keep him safe?

 

[joellie]

I have an elderly cushings pony and a good doer so I know what its like to have to be extra careful with grazing management. Mine are on 5 acres but i have it divided up in to two although I can open up the gates and then I have a track that goes around the whole lot. I open up the lot in the winter but during spring/summer and Autumn they are kept on the track. I also have my 8 girlies aka the sheep who do a good job of keeping the grass grazed and the weeds at bay. The track provides enough grazing and movement for my two boys, I am really pleased with how it went last year. The middle sections do get a bit too long as the sheep are unable to keep up with the growth but I only had to get my hubby to top it once last year. If I was you I would keep him on a track for the spring/summer and even the autumn and if needs be you can give him hay in the autumn if he hasn't alot of grass left on the track. Then come winter open the middle section up. I also bring my two in for a few hours during the day in the spring/summer months with a soaked hay net just to give them break of the grass. I think though if Ale is on one acre with a track around he will be fine, you may have to move the track in and out though to allow for some more grass as he eats it as a track around one acre will not be that big? I hope this has been of some help...I am hopeless at describing things

 

[Jane&Ziggy]

How big is your field again?

Ziggy and Mattie are on about 3.5 acres. I have a track around the outside about 4m wide. In the summer they're on the track unless Mattie gets thin, in which case he's allowed in the middle. In the winter (from end October this year) they eat the long grass in the middle and I give them a little more every few days. I started at the bottom end of the field, so it's not getting too poached because they keep moving up.

This regime has worked brilliantly to keep Ziggy slim!

 

[Jessey]

Yeah I've been doing pretty much the same as the above for the last few years, they are on track about april-november and graze the middle in the off months (I strip graze that purely because grass that long is really hard to poo pick ). I have my track so the width and area can be varied through the good months, partly to keep them with pickings of grass right through but also so I can shut areas of it off on rotation to ensure almost all of it gets some rest at some point during the growing season.

I find that I do have to be careful when switching them to a rested area, if I go too quick jess gets footy , I just can't rush it, it takes her body about 6 weeks to adjust (from track to middle or middle to track) so I started in late Sept this year which was too early and I paid for it. Back in the spring I started the switch late April and she didn't struggle