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.