Multi-Species Grazing

[brokenhill]

Anyone grazing cattle and sheep together in a more intensive management system? What do you see as the pros and cons of the system?
Just looking for input.
Thanks.

[per]

No experience but like you I am very interested. I was leaning toward goats so I don't feel as bad when the wolves are snacking on them. It looks like they would chew some problem species.

[Smithy]

I graze them cows first and then sheep. It works really well for weed control as once the cows knock the high stuff down the sheep really get all the broad leaf stuff cleaned up. As long as you don't overgraze it works great.

[PureCountry]

If I could afford a few extra hot wires I'd be buying sheep right now to graze in our system. It's only been the last 5 years that we've rebuilt enough perimeter fence and set up electric to graze cattle intensively with single wires. For sheep I'd want to have 2 more hotwires below the cow wire.

Sure hard to think about it and not act on it, when you know there's money to be made in sheep right now.

[grassfarmer]

I think I'd want something better for perimeter fencing with sheep. We used a little electric fencing with sheep in the old country and some of them are just too smart for it. When it gets to this time of year, with a heavy fleece some of them learn that if they run through an electric fence fast enough they didn't get much of a shock. Don't ask me how they learn but I remember one year we had about 20 lambs that were unstoppable with 3 strand electric - just went through it like rockets then stopped immediately on the other side and started grazing. Don't underestimate the intelligence of a sheep!

[smcgrath76]

Ditto on the unsheared sheep. They seem
to know exactly when they have enough
wool built up to charge electric fence
with immunity.
A big fencer, a couple of lower wires
and a training session immediately post-
shearing...
We have quite a bit of page wire left
from our sheep days. Our cows have no
respect for page wire, but stop dead for
a 1 wire electric.
We have talked about multi-species
(goats/sheep) but we want to have a
market scoped out first. The
overgrazing caution with sheep is very
real. With their split lip they can
graze right to the dirt. You have to
really monitor them...