Grazing rotations

By dividing your pasture into smaller pastures and rotating through them, you can improve the quality and quantity of grazing available, if done right.

Before the age of Man and Agriculture and fences, wild animals roamed. The herds stayed in tight groups because of potential predators, and they were always on the move, looking for fresh grass. By mimicking nature and putting our animals in a tight group and moving them, we provide several benefits:
1. The grass has time to recover. Animals love fresh re-growth. They will eat the fresh stuff before the stale stuff. Right now our days are long, and grass can grow just about half inch a day, sometimes more. By moving our animals regularly, we avoid grazing the same plant again, while it is recovering from the first graze.
2. We avoid potential parasite problems - especially with the sheep and goats. For parasites to survive they need to hatch out on grass and be consumed by the host species. By keeping our animals moving, we leave the parasites behind, reducing infestation.
3. by grazing a tight herd, whatever doesn't get eaten, gets trampled into the ground. The trampled grass decomposes and feeds the microbes in the soil, providing organic matter for healthier soil. Healthy soil can grow more grass. The trampled stuff also acts like a mulch, keeping moisture in.
4. moving to fresh ground is instinctual, and the animals love it.
5. Its fun! :)

There are more in-depth benefits, but basically we want our pasture to be fully recovered before it is grazed again.

I use Gallagher Smartfence system to divide pastures. Right now I am grazing an area that lacks a permanent perimeter fence. The Smartfence is electrified, and once the animals learn to respect it, it works really well.

Can you tell where the electric fence was? 

Because this area hasn't been grazed in many years, I used a really small paddock and let the animals take most of the grass (not leaving much litter) to stimulate the grass to grow. Although it looks bare, it was only grazed for a day, so no overgrazing. It is also now littered with goat and horse droppings and urine, which is excellent fertilizer.

Another example, grass was grazed for a day on the right.

This is a picture of a paddock that was grazed and is recovering. 

You can still see the line down the middle where the fence was. 

animals enjoying fresh grass

Coming out through an alley to fresh grass.

The Smartfence. There is cropland to the left of the fence, and the goats are cleaning up a stony hill where I want to put up a perimeter fence. It's easier to fence if the grass is short and you can see potential obstacles!

A peaceful early evening graze.

Cattle day

A couple days back I spent the afternoon helping Larry at his branding.

Branding is a way to identify cattle, as they may lose their ear tags but a brand is basically forever. Some countries ban branding, but in Canada it is still very much part of production, with brand inspectors frequenting auction barns to double check that the cows/calves being sold, really belong to that producer.

So there are many different ways to brand, depending on how much help you have. A tip-table is suitable if you have just 2 people, or just a few calves. A calf gets chased down an alley, into the headgate that is mounted on a tip-table. The calf is then tipped onto its side where it is now at table height and easy for people to put eartags in, vaccinate, castrate if it is a bull calf, and brand.

The next way would be, if the calves are small enough, to sort them off from their moms in the corral, and then wrestle them to the ground. You need a few more helpers for this: one person grabs a back leg, the other person grabs the flank and flips the calf. The 2 wrestlers then sit on the ground - one at the hind end holding the back leg, one on the neck/shoulder holding a front leg off the ground. A third person then is needed to vaccinate, tag and brand - or if you have more people, one to brand, one to vaccinate and one to tag. This can be tiring and handlers come away a little bit bruised, with the occasional sprain or broken bone from being kicked by calves.

But we were lucky enough to have skilled ropers and lots of help, so the traditional roping the calves branding is what we had.

I helped with the roundup to get the cattle into the branding pen. We had 7 riders, and the cows are used to being moved, as we rotational graze them. Only problem was, the cows had been going North in their rotation, so that's where they expected to go. We had to turn them south and they were a bit confused by it, but ready to move. The roundup was fast paced and my horse Macy loved it!
We got the cows and calves in, and then got set up:
Propane burners set with branding irons to heat up.
Vaccinations drawn into syringes, ready to administer. Tags got numbered and tag pliers loaded.
squirt bottles filled with antiseptic for castration.
Coolers set out on the tailgate with water and drinks for the crew.

We used a couple of 'snares' to catch the calf:
The roper would go into the herd, and rope the back legs of a calf and drag it towards our staging area. One person would be ready with the snare, which is a Y shaped yoke that would fit behind the calf's ears and line up behind his jaw bone. The snare is attached to an old inner tube (for stretch) that is attached to a stake in the ground. As soon as the calf is in reach, the snare is placed over the head and the roper drags until the rope is tight and the calf immobilized. We had a big crew so after the calf is secure, it went as follows:
One person would be castrating if it was a male. One person on the branding irons, one person vaccinating, 2 people on tags - the personal tag and the government radio ID tag. We had 2 ropers going with 2 snares and things were busy for just under 2 hours to do about 80 calves.

calf being dragged, Doug (red shirt) ready with the snare

Branding irons in the foreground

Cow watching calf being dragged

A perfect day for a branding

my horse Macy watching the show after roundup

All in all, it was a fun day spent outside with friends, fellow horsemen and stockmen. The evening rounded off with a campfire and supper for us, the cows and calves released and enjoying some fresh grass.

Dogs with jobs are in heaven

There's a storm brewing on the prairies. I watch the clouds billow and the wind ruffle the tall grass as I roll up  my electric fence and reset it for the goats to have fresh grass, my mind wanders to an old dog I had left behind on a different continent 4 years ago. My friend Kim had messaged me to tell me that old Sade was not well and been to the vet and back home, and back to the vet again.
Sade is the first Belgian Shepherd I owned. It came about after I watched an episode of a program called "Dogs with Jobs". That particular episode featured the Belgian Shepherd and more particular, the Malinois variety. These dogs were used in the Belgian Special police force, and they were just amazing! At the time, I was looking for a personal protection dog (living in South Africa kinda necessitates some things, especially on the personal security part because of rampant crime) and the Belgian Malinois looked to be just what I needed. Not too big, athletic, not overly hairy (hot summers). So I started my search to find one. I located a breeder close to where I lived, who was from Belgium and had imported all her original breeding stock. I visited the farm (and got nipped by an enthusiastic Malinois) and Agnes explained the breed to me, and I picked up my puppy. Sade was bred to be a protection dog, and that is what she loved. After puppy socialization, we started 'manwork' classes at about 6 months with a dog trainer from the police dog school. Oh how she loved that! Finally, a chance to sink her teeth into someone (wearing a protective suit, but still!)

It occured to me, as I was rolling up fence on the prairies, that Sade had lived her whole life in heaven. She was bred for protection, and she got to do just that. Every day. She could patrol the yard and bark at strangers every day. She could ride in the vehicle with me and look intimidating. Yet she is a gentle soul with other animals, people she knows, kids... She is 13 years old now, and I know that the inevitable will happen one day. But I will not wonder if all dogs go to heaven. Sade has been in heaven all her life.

Sade at 13 years young, loving life!

I hope to provide that opportunity for my current dog, Spice. Bred for herding, I would like to offer her a life lived in heaven every day.

Of Fauns and Things

I am very fortunate to live where I live. There is a big slough next to my pasture, inhabited by lots of ducks and water birds. I love listening to them in the early evening. The deer wander through our little town, and I was lucky enough to snap a photo of this little faun right next to railway avenue.

I have loads of birds in my yard thanks to all the trees, and I plan to build lots of different style nest boxes for them, as well as a bat house for the bats. Occasional skunk or raccoon travel through.
The first new growth of Spring excites me, as does the turning of the leaves in the Fall and the first flake of snow come Winter.

But there are so many people living in cities that never get to experience this, or feel connected to Nature. I believe this is what is getting our human race into such big trouble. We have forgotten we are PART of nature, that we are all part of the Whole. Nature isn't something 'out there'. It is within us, we ARE nature. Once the entire human race get that paradigm, there will be a collective shift away from our current direction of 'growth'. We will understand what we are doing is harmful.

But how do you get people to connect with nature? How to make them FEEL this planet that sustains them, and really, really appreciate it for the absolute marvel and wonder it is? How do we create awareness?

We are currently part of a help exchange program, called Helpx. Farms advertise who and what they are, and what kind of work they need help with. Volunteer helpers from all around the world then decide if they would like to come visit your farm. In exchange for room and board, they work 5 hours a day, 5 days a week. Or something along that line. We enjoy sharing our knowledge (or lack of it sometimes!) with international visitors. We talk about Holistic Management, show them the grass and its great when you see that 'a-ha!' moment, when  they connect. We would like to expand on that, and have more room to host more people. A communal dining hall and kitchen, a nice outdoor seating area with fire pit for evening conversations. If every person we awaken, could touch someone else, and so on, the awareness will grow.

Right now I am so busy with my own things, but I would love to encourage roof top gardening in city centers, community gardens and food awareness.
If anyone wanted to come and visit and see what we are about, they are more than welcome.

Finding Balance

I love work. Especially when I am working on stuff I am passionate about! This may seem strange to people stuck in a job that they do not like, but when you are doing something you truly love, it doesn't feel like work.
When you are stuck in a job you do not enjoy, it seems that then you need distractions to 'get away from it all'. City folks need a boat and a camper or a cabin to get away to the lake to rejuvenate. My rejuvenation comes from spending time working with my animals, and working in my yard. But - one still needs balance.
The problem with ranching and working part-time is that there is always more work than time to do it in. Especially when like me, you are just starting up. There are fences to build, shelters to repair and build, corrals and pens to build, cleanup to be done, new animals that need to be tagged and vaccinated, the yard needs work, the vegetable garden needs work, the house needs work, and then there are the day-to-day mundane tasks like laundry, dishes, cleaning.... and pretty soon, there is no time for relaxing.

So every once in a while its time to ignore the pile of dishes and the grass that needs cutting, and go do something else. I went to a 2 day herding clinic with my dog Spice at Dog Tale Ranch. It took a bit of organization to get away for 2 days - someone needs to milk the milking goat 2x a day and care for her, animals and water system needs checking 1x a day, eggs need to be collected from the laying hens, and the dogs and cats need feeding. Its hard for both me and Larry to go away at the same time, so often I would stay home so he could attend a conference, and visa versa. In this case Larry opted to stay home and take care of things for me.

Training a herding dog is one of my goals. I searched long and hard to find a Belgian Shepherd with herding breeding. I wanted to Belgian because I love the breed, so along came Spice, or Elevation Spice it Up.
I had a great time camping with my dog, learning about pressure and release on dogs - which is a familiar concept to me with horses. One of the terms used in herding is 'finding balance' - where the dog learns to be opposite the handler, with the sheep between them. My dog is extremely talented and her instinct told her immediately where balance was. She found balance easily. Dogs live in the moment - if they feel like taking a nap, they do so. If they are thirsty, they have a drink. If they feel like playing, they do so.
We need to learn to live in the moment a bit more. Sometimes it is hard - things still need to get done, and we have such a short summer season to get it done in. It is easy for me to get lost in the work, but finding the balance between work and play - is something I have to work on.

Spice on the way to herding - are we there yet?

Spice camping

I look forward to having a few more fun days and going to Sheep Camp at Dog Tale Ranch in August.