Plan rotational grazing
Moving animals through paddocks lets grass recover, spreads manure, and breaks parasite cycles. It gets more feed from the same land.
How
- Decide paddock count. NRCS shows that with 4 paddocks animals stay about 7 to 13 days in each; with 8 paddocks about 3 to 6 days.
- Give rest periods of 20 to 30 days in fast growth and 40 days or more in slow growth (NRCS). University of Wisconsin gives 14 to 21 days in cool weather and 35 to 50 days in warm weather for cool-season grasses.
- Graze when tall grasses reach about 10 in (25 cm) and move animals at about 4 in (10 cm); for short grasses like ryegrass, about 6 in (15 cm) in and 2 in (5 cm) out (UW Extension).
- Keep water within 800 ft (about 245 m) of animals in every paddock, using portable troughs or a pipe line (NRCS).
- Set aside a small, well-drained holding yard for wet weather so paddocks are not churned to mud.
Sources
- Rotational Grazing: Small Scale Solution for your Farm. USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), accessed 2026-11
- Managing Sheep and Goats on Pasture. University of Wisconsin Extension, accessed 2026-11
- Healthy Farms, Healthy Watershed Fact Sheet 3: Best management practices for small acreage livestock farms. Northern Rhode Island Conservation District, accessed 2026-11