new farm help (converting lawn to pasture)

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Be happy for me just bought a new farm. I'm as excited as a little kid at christmas. Anyway it has about 10 acres that are basically a fescue lawn. The former owner converted a corn field to fescue and takes care of it with a lawn mower looks like a beautiful park with a lake fountain rolling hills etc however i will not be able to spend 40 hours a week as a grounds keeper so. 1. Is fescue ok for sheep to graze its now 90% fescue i have heard it can get a fungus that hurts horses. 2. What would be best to mix in with the fescue? 3. Do llamas graze like sheep or browse like goats when i stayed in new zealand their city parks are mowed by sheep and all look beautiful. 4. Can Tilapia survive in a 1 1/2 acre 25 foot deep pond with indiana winters. 5. Anyone have experience with Muscovy ducks Thanks jkg

4.

-- jason k godsey (jasonkgodsey@hotmail.com), September 23, 2001

Answers

Response to new farm help

Where are you in Indiana? I'm near South Bend. I believe that the only problem with horses and fescue is that it causes spontaneous abortion in pregnant mares. It is used a lot in pastures for other species. DebF

-- Deb Foster (DFoster987@aol.com), September 23, 2001.

Response to new farm help

I am not sure how the grass is for sheep but llamas are browsers like goats. They will eat trees and tall stuff. I don't think the fescue would hurt the sheep but to be sure you could overseed it with orchard grass and clover.

-- Patricia Ramsey (woolspin@aol.com), September 23, 2001.

Response to new farm help

Jason, get on one of the Yahoo groups about livestock and ask your question about fescue, or, better yet, contact your local Agricultural Extension Agent. (Usually connected to the state university system.) They should be able to help with your question about the tilapia, as well. In order to keep your grass looking like a lawn by grazing, you will need to run more than one species (for instance, cows like tall grasses where sheep prefer short grasses, so they complement one another) and you will need to practice rotational grazing. Otherwise the animals will overgraze what they like and leave the less palatable forage to overgrow. End result is a scruffy looking pasture. The ag agent should have information on this, too.

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), September 23, 2001.

Response to new farm help

Here in Florida we have massive tilipia die off's in the canals whenever we have real cold spells-you could probably overwinter some, in heated barrels in a garage, but I'de be real leery of prolonged temperatures under 50 degrees.

-- Mitzi Giles (Egiles2@prodigy.net), September 23, 2001.

Response to new farm help

Many people make money farming lawns. Get it growing, then sell it as sod to people wanting to establish laws fast, cut it up, roll it up, truck it to the customer's site. Even if you didn't want to do that as a business, you ought to be able to sell all that lawn one-time to someone who does; then establish a useful pasture where it used to be.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), September 23, 2001.


Response to new farm help

there are maney problems with fescue. 1-the sack that contains the baby will be tougher to break out of,you must be there to assist. It causes abortions and week foals. If a cow gets the fungus, she loses condition and may never breed again, as with sheep and goats.You must feed a suppliment to your stock year round to protect them somewhat. WE inter-planted ours pasture and hay fields with orchard grass, timothy and red clover. what did you need to know about muscovey's? I am no expert but will try to help. Lexi

-- Lexi Green (whitestone11@hotmail.com), September 23, 2001.

Response to new farm help

There is a current thread on graze-L about fescue as a feed. Look into their archives. It is a very interesting series of contributions. We move sheep and goats together in electronet fencing on a battery charger. They clear lots of brushy land and also make really good lawn mowers (with fertilizer attachments). I'd frost seed with clover, orchard grass, etc. Good luck.

-- Shannon (heamour@berkshire.net), September 24, 2001.

Hi Jason, congratulations on the new farm, don't you just love it? I too think there is just too much lawn on our farm also, looks good but is wasting good land so I am changing all that slowly to pasture. I am next to a Llama farm with 26 animals and they keep a 10 acre field of grass mowed down just beautifully, only thing left standing are a few patches of some sort of weed. They do browse on trees and bushes also. Good luck with your new place. Maureen in Alaska

-- Maureen Stevenson (maureen@mtaonline.net), September 30, 2001.

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