winter grazing questions

[42acres]

Planted rye for winter grazing recently, this is the first time i've tried this and have a few questions. When do i turn the cows in on it (how tall or how long)? Will it harm the cows to leave them on it versus taking them on and off daily? What are the reasons for feeding high mag minerals when grazing winter rye?

 

[IluvABbeef]

Okay, I can answer the last question. The reason you have to supplement Mg with that is to prevent against Hypomagnesemic tetany, or grass tetany.

I let the other folks on here answer the first two questions for you.

 

[bigbull338]

the rule of thumb is to turn cows in when its 4 to 6 in tall.they can graze it everyday if you want them to.an if you want to feed hi mag minerals thats ok to.

 

[TexasBred]

42, how many cows do you plan to graze on how many acres? I usually only allow the cattle to graze a couple of hours per day. They can inhale a lot of grass in that time even tho it's 85% water. Left on the pasture full time they'll have it eaten down pretty clean in no time.

 

[42acres]

I have 10 cows, a bull and a couple of calves at the moment. I planted a 7 acre field in rye.I don't plan to leave them on the grass full time, i was just wandering what the risks are in doing so. I do work some crazy hours so there may be times they may stay on the grass longer.

 

[Jogeephus]

A good rule of thumb on when to graze is to reach down and grab an handful and pull. It the roots hold but the grass breaks - its OK to graze. Of course, the taller the better.

A good way to graze is to limit graze them. The cow economist here stated you need to get at least 100 days of grazing to make it worthwhile. I assure you, leaving them on it full time you'll be lucky to get 30 days - least thats all I got when I did my speriment. You might consider alternating days assuming you can get them out of the rye patch.