Hmmm......to let loose with cows, or not?

[MizElz]

As a fair few of you guys will know, our landlords were incredibly nasty to us earlier in the year and have restricted our grazing to about a quarter of an acre. Ellie is immensely tubby, but now there is very little grass left in the field....we've strip grazed her as much as possible, but the whole field is now pretty much eaten down. So......

OH has suggested that, when the dairy herd have been milked and let back out into the field (Ellie's paddock is a section of their field) we should let her loose among the cows, then get her in again at about 10pm so that she doesnt get brought in for milking the next morning

Now she's been out with the cows before and everything was fine, so I have no worries about her behaving herself. At our rent review, when the subject of grazing was broached, mum and I both said to the landlord that we would soon run out of grass, and would it be ok to let her loose in the big field occasionally? He didnt seem overly thrilled with the idea, but gave a grudging 'yes'.

So......should we do it?

 

[Silverspring]

How grumpy is the landlord? If all you risk is a telling off then I'd do it

if he's grumpy enough to threaten eviction I might think twice...then do it anyway!

Only problem is, will pony not get a little too chubby on lush diary grazing?

 

[hellybelly6]

Cattle grazing is so much richer and fattening than anyother, so be careful with regards to the L word and having a chubby horse.

 

[lowbardon]

you might have to be carefull with the lush rich cattle grass, can you maybe use a grazing muzzle or maybe out in the cattle field part of the time with a muzzle and then in the small paddock with hay the rest of the time just so they dont get too fat

 

[MizElz]

[ QUOTE ]
How grumpy is the landlord? If all you risk is a telling off then I'd do it

if he's grumpy enough to threaten eviction I might think twice...then do it anyway!

Only problem is, will pony not get a little too chubby on lush diary grazing?

[/ QUOTE ]

Hehe he can be a bit grumpy, but we could always plead ignorance....and tbh it's their own doing; we've spent two years circulating Ellie around the farm with electric tape to make sure she doesnt trash/sour any one piece of ground....yet now they have decided they want it more 'permanent'

I think Elz will be ok; it will only be for 3 or 4 hours an evening, the rest of the time she'll be in her bare paddock! And to be honest, she doesnt blow up to easily; she's tubby at the moment but it drops off her when she's in for a day or two! Now if I had a cob or a pony, then our starvation paddock would be utterly perfect!

Never satisfied, are we!

 

[MizElz]

The field she'd be turned loose in is not overly lush at the moment, as the farm themselves have run out of grazing for their newly expanded herd of 300

I'm not really worried about it being too rich; she'd only be out for a couple of hours every other evening or so. Plus she's spent the last two years on dairy grass, without probs!

 

[Apalacia01]

Cow pat is stinky. Does she like rolling!?

 

[MizElz]

[ QUOTE ]
Cow pat is stinky. Does she like rolling!?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes

 

[Apalacia01]

Hehe - i don't even think about the poor beast getting overweight - I immediately worry about cr@p! - must be from having a coloured!

 

[MizElz]

Argh that reminds me of my pony days - three of my ponies were grey....and we all know what greys do, especially when you've just given them a bath!

I'm chuckling now; my old girl Pippa had permanently green hocks

 

[Apalacia01]

Forget the green - cow pat is like glue. She will no longer be bay, she will be greenish black.

My ponio has a penchant for sheep poop - similar I guess, but it leaves more of a dappled effect due to size of pellets. Nice. I would much prefer one big glooey smear.