Filed under: November 2015 | Tags: multi specie grazing, pastured pork, rotational grazing, Small Farming
The girls enjoying supper
November 5, 2015
Tonight, I moved the sows from their summer pasture to a small wooded hamlet. This small forested area is of about three and a half acres. There are hickory nuts and wild apples littering the ground in this place. My foraging mothers will have a great time searching for and eating those treats. The pasture in the photo will become home to a group of young cattle, heifers and steers. There are a couple of weeks of grazing here in this paddock for those youngsters.
As we race for winter, I am glad to still have grass available to my cattle herd. The main herd of cows are grazing a lush piece of red clover, a few cowpeas and some oats. They leak a little when they cough, but they keep right on eating and smiling 😮 Our bull will go in with the mommas tomorrow. It is a little unconventional to breed at this time of year, but so far it is working well for us. We are mostly just growing our own beef anyway…and for a few customers. So autumn and winter calves work ok for us.
Our sows will get to spend the nice winter days out in the wooded pasture. I will build them a hay fort out of big round bales to hunker down in on nasty days. Mostly they will be up under the barn’s overhang, but spending days outside in the freedom of the big woodlot, pleases them. Happy sows, happy cows and less chores for me !
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