>I look at economics, specifically rate of gain and cost of grain,
>revenue per acre, profit per head.
Exactly, if fescue grows well, is readily available and can produce
in your area, isn't it cheaper to teach the herd to eat it than try
to fight what grows well?
Our sheep experiment was by necessity, but the results, eating a
formerly disliked feed, has lasted now over several years and the
lambs are now the adult ewes and so the whole flock is now eating
fescue fairly well.
At 8:05 PM -0600 2/28/08, Dave Gneiser wrote:
>Forcing cattle to eat vs. providing what they will readily eat?
I would consider it a forced training session, didn't take our sheep
too long to learn to eat fescue, I can go check my records but my
recollection is that everyone was eating it well within 30 days. A
fairly short time given how lasting the results have been.
back again actually my grazing notes from that year said that by 14
days of the "eat the sticks" system all sheep were eating everything
fairly well upon entry to a new paddock, including the fescue.
--
Eugenie (Oogie) McGuire - oogiem@desertweyr.com
Desert Weyr - CMK Arabian Horses, Black Welsh Mountain Sheep and Pilgrim Geese
http://www.desertweyr.com/
Paonia, CO USA
