How long to leave grass?

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zangels

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We have just had our haylage made and was wondering how long do I need to leave the grass to put the horses back on? Also there is a few piles of dry grass left behind by the tractor, if I rake it up how long would I need to leave this before feeding it to the horses?
I was thinking of spreading some of the muck heap onto the patches that look a bit sorry, would this need leaving for longer then for the horses to go back on?
I've also so another grass question for those who rotate/strip graze, how long do ou leave each section to rest and then how long do you let it be grazed for during march to sept time?
 
Couldn't say re the haylage, but I have 3 acres split into 6 paddocks - I tend to graze one until it's short but not so short that it will struggle to recover, then move into the next. We have a horse and two ponies at the moment so I guess half an acre per paddock between 3 they don't tend to have more than a week on each one
 
How long to leave grass - I usually work on how it looks - when it looks greener again then they go on, having started to rake in corners of my field which will be baled tomorrow - it'll only be a day or two as there's lots of grass underneath. I have had to leave it up to 2 weeks to bounce back when it's been dry all spring.

Grass left - it needs to be really dry, you're effectively making hay. So a few days to dry, if the piles are deep, then as long as it's dry - fine to be fed straight away.
 
Thank you for the replies , it was baled for haylage yesterday evening so should be like hay today then or tomorrow? I thought I may need to leave it like you do with hay when baled. Our grass is the same with quite alot of grass left on.
Any on know about spreading the muck heap?
 
I wouldn't use the muck from the muck heap unless it was at least a year old and then, you may have got rid of the worms in the muck but you will have weed seeds, so I wouldn't bother. If the areas are bare, spread a little grass seed with a little fertiliser.
 
It's really a bit late and a bit hot for sowing grass seeds. Best time for that is April-June and September-October.

Go down to your local farming store and ask if you can speak to someone there regarding pasture management.
 
The muck heap is a year old one so hopefully it will help. I have no idea where there is a farm store near to me, I have googled it a few times to find out fertaliser prices etc but come up with nothing. The farmer who has done the haylage sees to only do and know about cattle or grass grown only for cutting so not much help with horse pasture. I will keep reading up to see what I can find out.
 
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