Fertilizing Stocked Pasture

[Deacon Dog]

Do sheep need to be kept off fertilized pasture? If so, for how long?

 

I asked around locally about this and got answers ranging from fertilizer can't hurt livestock (from cattle folks) to keep stock off a fertilized pasture for 4-6 weeks (from club lamb folks).

 

Seems like Robin posted a question a while back about low-level nitrogen poisoning, but I can't find it.

[Shoofly]

Hey Tony -

 

It might just be coincidence, but i've had weird stuff happen with twice after fertilizing, both times with one sheep (different ones each time). I think this time around it was calcuim deficiency or ketosis though.

[muddy bob]

I don't know much about chemical ferilizers myself but my mister does. He only uses quick release nitrogen and keeps the animals off until dissolved. Usually with a good dew or light rain this is just overnight. We've never had problems. I'll ask him if he can tell us more. He is a liscensed applicator so he knows quite a bit

 

Muddy

[muddy bob]

Mr. Muddy Bob says it all depends on what you use. Quick release liquid nitrogen stays on the leaf longer and animals need to stay off for at least a week. That's why he likes granular quick release nitrogen which releases in the soil. If using liquid quick release nit. with iron keep the critters off for a month. He'd be cautious with any other chemicals. This is all good if you want a quick growth. Ideally, you should have your soil tested and make amendments to balance your soil. Then you won't need to fertilize as much. He recommends that you rest your pasture for as long as possible after making the amendments. Of course this is more difficult on smaller acreage. Good luck.

 

Muddy

 

muddy

[Bill Fosher]

Nitrate poisoning is one potential problem with putting sheep onto a freshly fertilized field. Another is hypomagnesemia also known as grass tetany or ryegrass staggers caused by rapidly growing grass with a high level of nitrate that prevents the uptake of magnesium by the plant, and hence the sheep.

 

How long, as others have said, depends.

 

One thing to make sure of is that sheep are not craving salt when they are put onto a paddock that has been fertilized, as the granular pellets can have a salty flavor and some sheep may eat enough to get sick.

 

Ideally, wait at least until a couple of good rains have had a chance to dissolve the material and work it into the soil. (This will not necessarily prevent grass tetany, but it should reduce the likelihood of nitrate toxicity and outright poisoning from eathing the granules. (remember that sheep will graze much close to the ground than cattle.)

[Deacon Dog]

Thanks for the advice. With three pastures and three groups of sheep that need to be separated (ewes w/ newborns, yearling ewes and ram w/ a couple of wethers), it looks like I'm going to have to get out the Electonet and fertilize one section at a time.