Last Saturday, the sheep made the journey from the Parma alfalfa (lucerne) field, back to the Caldwell pasture. As you can see, the alfalfa was out of its winter dormancy, and was starting to grow again. Not that the sheep disagreed with that, the alfalfa is really quite yummy. However, the farmer who was letting us graze the alfalfa field, needed them off as soon as possible.
The idea was to graze and naturally fertilize the alfalfa, but we did not want to stunt its growth. It really worked well for us, because while they were on the field, it reduced our hay consumption by 25 percent.
The weather for the day was scattered rain showers. We were really lucky because we never saw rain where we were until late in the evening. We did see many storms pass through the valley all day long.
The views were spectacular.
Luckily for everybody involved, the move was complete, and the shelter was up long before the rain paid a visit.
The expectation is that we can start grazing the Caldwell pasture the second week of April. Until then we will slowly expand the containment, giving the sheep a gradual shift to the annual grasses that cover the south end of the pasture. The seeding process will continue this year.
However there is a major expansion in the near future.
Hmm… Where will we find the fencing, piping, and pasture seed we will need…
-More info to follow.-