Turning out on grass again after winter

J

Jellymoon

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Just before everyone jumps on me, they are not stabled, they have a large all weather turnout area, walk in barn, and ad lib hay!

But my fields are very wet and prone to flooding, so I have kept them off the grass completely this winter.

Nice day today and tempted to turn out but fields still waterlogged.

I guess it’s all weather dependent but am thinking of reseeding some muddy patches mid-March and then starting to let them out for short periods from end March/early April.

Good plan? I kind of don’t want too much grass, if you know what I mean, so I don’t want to leave it too long. But also, don’t want them to just instantly turn it into a bog and negate the whole point of keeping them off it all winter.

Just dying to get them out, and although they seem happy and settled, it’s not the same as proper foraging is it.
 
Mine go onto their summer field early April. Last year they went over there to stop the grass taking over too much, but then had to come back nearer the yard for a few weeks when we had another particularly wet spell. I didn't want them churning the summer field up to then have to live with it for the rest of the summer. Essentially I'm saying it doesn't have to be all or nothing - you sound like you're in a great position to mix and match as suits the weather/ground.
 
Hallo2012 said:
you need to give them a few hours and build it up over weeks anyway to let their gut adjust
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Yes I start with an hour a day, and I do hand graze all winter so its not from nothing, build up to an 8hr day over 2 weeks or so dependent on how lush it is, but not overnight for a while
 
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