Post by Applelonia on Jul 26, 2016 13:41:57 GMT -5
I know with horses and mowing there can be issues but how long should I wait before letting a cow out on a mowed pasture?
The cows were unable to keep the pasture down when Dazzy was here and she was by far the biggest eater!! With her being gone and Applelonia spending all of her day, except for an hour or two, lounging her nine month pregnant self in her stall all day the pasture is going bad fast. Daffodil wants to go grazing but she won't go out by herself since her pasture buddy Dazzy is gone and App refuses to leave her stall.
We've gotten a lot of rain and the weeds are getting out of hand.
I took a walk around the back pasture - was rotationally grazing it and then mowing off thistle when cows had eaten it down and it was really helping. Daffodil won't go back there alone and Apple won't lug herself back there - even if she would she can't go, as the coyotes are spotted back there during the day and sit out and howl back there at night ...heaven forbid she had her calf back in the woods by herself with our coyote infestation. Neighbors have had issues with coyotes coming for their calves.
The front pasture has areas that no cow has touched yet this year - the grasses are up to my chest - nearing my head in areas and there are weeds, thistle and little trees and buckthorn sprouting up all over. Looks like an overgrown weedy mess. These are not huge areas - only about 3 1/2 to 4 acres.
The only way I have to mow it down is with our lawn tractor - and it's rocky - told the husband to prepare to get a new blade for when I'm done! The highest the mower deck will lift is 4 inches and the many rocks are well hidden in the overgrowth.
The cows were unable to keep the pasture down when Dazzy was here and she was by far the biggest eater!! With her being gone and Applelonia spending all of her day, except for an hour or two, lounging her nine month pregnant self in her stall all day the pasture is going bad fast. Daffodil wants to go grazing but she won't go out by herself since her pasture buddy Dazzy is gone and App refuses to leave her stall.
We've gotten a lot of rain and the weeds are getting out of hand.
I took a walk around the back pasture - was rotationally grazing it and then mowing off thistle when cows had eaten it down and it was really helping. Daffodil won't go back there alone and Apple won't lug herself back there - even if she would she can't go, as the coyotes are spotted back there during the day and sit out and howl back there at night ...heaven forbid she had her calf back in the woods by herself with our coyote infestation. Neighbors have had issues with coyotes coming for their calves.
The front pasture has areas that no cow has touched yet this year - the grasses are up to my chest - nearing my head in areas and there are weeds, thistle and little trees and buckthorn sprouting up all over. Looks like an overgrown weedy mess. These are not huge areas - only about 3 1/2 to 4 acres.
The only way I have to mow it down is with our lawn tractor - and it's rocky - told the husband to prepare to get a new blade for when I'm done! The highest the mower deck will lift is 4 inches and the many rocks are well hidden in the overgrowth.