Ideas for introducing good doers to winter grazing..

[Chumsmum]

Hi All

What timescale would you recommend for moving very good doers from virtually non-existant grazing that has to be supplemented by hay to what I would consider good grazing, grass that was topped in the Autumn and hasn't really been grazed for at least a year?

I've got access to another field on my yard over the winter that would be a lot easier for me with regarding to feeding and water as next to stable block and would mean feeding less hay too as lots of grass on it but the thought of my ponies getting laminitis/colic.., I'm wondering if worth it..

Any tips?

Even though it's less than an acre and I'll have a veteran 14hh pony (that is in at night) and an 8yo 14.1 and two mini shets that live out 24/7 on it I'm still going to have to section it off (thinking track system) and introduce it very gradually. Over what period of time would you recommend and for how long each day etc until you would be happy with them on it 24/7?

It would be lovely for them to have access to a bit of grass in the winter but there just seems so much risk attached

 

[touchstone]

When I've been in the same position I've just strip grazed gradually so that they had access to the longer grass every day in small amounts until the whole lot was opened up. I still fed hay as they weren't really getting huge amounts and I wanted to keep some fibre going through their systems. It worked fine for mine but as with everything it depends on the individual!

 

[AngieandBen]

Last year I did a track system around the outside of my winter field; only trouble with this is it gets trashed quickly. This year I introduced the winter field gradually, half an hour the first day then built it up so over about 3 weeks they were on it 24/7.

Fortunately we have had snow and frosts so its killed a lot of the goodness out of it, they have even lost weight which I'm quite pleased about

Mine don't get fed and only my elder one is rugged in a rain sheet, no hay either so very economical!

 

[Chumsmum]

Thanks for tips, I'm going to do a combination of the two ideas, starting at half an hour on a restricted bit - I'm hoping the lure of the grass will stop them wanting to run around in a small area and trashing it.

I've also read about giving them some hay just before they go on it to stop the gorging so will try that..

I'm back at work next week so will be difficult giving them restricted time on it, will have to see what I can do.

I wondered about the 'goodness' of the grass too - I'm hoping it's fairly low at this time of year and may help with any weight issues?

I mentioned it in passing to my local farmer that I needed some sheep on there to eat it down but he didn't take me up on the offer lol and doubt my YO would agree anyway..

It's a lovely field with nice high hedges for shelter and much easier for me, just hope my plans work!

Thanks again for replies

 

[sueeltringham]

Whilst you're at work, you could consider using a muzzle on the 'at risk' ponies, then they would be exercised with less worry about how much grass they've eaten.

Sue