He Reseeds Pastures Using Cow, Sheep And Goat Manure

He Reseeds Pastures Using Cow, Sheep And Goat Manure MANURE HANDLING Miscellaneous 31-5-26 A Narcisse, Manitoba couple is doubling their forage production without the expensive equipment normally required to reseed pasture and hay fields. Instead, they make use of animal manure in an innovative way. Gary and Debbie Chikousky simply add alfalfa and trefoil screenings, purchased from a local organic seed grower, to their livestock's loose salt and minerals. The animals do the work of distributing the seed since the tough alfalfa seeds pass through their digestive systems. Their cattle, goats and sheep provide a cheap and easy vehicle for re-seeding pastures. The couple emphasizes that the seed must be untreated, otherwise it would harm or kill the livestock. Chikouskys mix one-quarter (by volume) screenings with their cows' salt and minerals, and a bit less for the sheep and goats. For fenced hayfields, they fall pasture their sheep and goats about six weeks after putting up the hay. They say that the small, sharp hooves aerate the soil, and improve growing conditions for the seed the animals unknowingly spread. In their experimentation, the Chikouskys have learned that timothy seed, with its softer seed coat, doesn't work as well in their livestock feed system because the seed gets digested. The couple also spreads composted manure on pastures that they've manually top-dressed with alfalfa, trefoil and timothy screenings, using their New Holland 512 spreader. "Our recipe is one liter of mixed alfalfa, trefoil and timothy screenings, spread on the top of each manure spreader load," Debbie explains. "We doubled production from 2005 to 2006 on one field where we used this method. In 2007, while production on other fields dropped due to low moisture, that field held its own." While the Chikouskys acknowledge that the organic screenings do contain a significant number of weed seeds, their research has found that dandelions and stinging nettles (common to their area) actually contain reasonably high levels of protein and Vitamin A. "We're also pleased that patches of foxtail are being replaced with plants that our stock can eat with good nutritional value," she says. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Gary and Debbie Chikousky, P. O. Box 22, Narcisse, Manitoba, Canada R0C 2H0 (ph 204 278-3640; gdchik@mts.net).

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