White clover and sheep

[kimkathan]

I was in the process of moving our sheep into a pasture area that once housed our horses. The pasture is growing nicely with grass, now that we spread manure on it this past spring. The white clover is coming in nice and thick as well in places. Now our horses would love this, but somewhere I read, that red clover can cause pregnancy problems, due to an estrogen like chemical in it. Does anyone have any insight as to white clover? If this is the case, are the effects longterm, or, if I took them off a month or so before I want to breed, would it be OK.

 

We just started building a new barn, so this pasture would become our permanant rotational grazing section, with hay fields avaible after the harvest.

[trailrider]

White clover is the main - eaten material in 2 of my pastures. The fescue they avoid. The red clover hullaballoo has also been criticized.

[concrete]

My sheep do not particularly like white clover but they do eat it without any adverse side effects. It gives my horses the slobbers though.

 

Kevin

[bcnewe2]

I had fields of white clover for years, the only problem I ever ran into was in the spring the sheep would get what I referred to as frothy legume bloat. I solved this by feeding dry matter before turning them out on to the clover hungry. I then learned that if I just left them out on it they would adjust and not gorge themselves each morning.

It is high in nitrogen and my sheep really prospered on it.

Kristen

[Bill Fosher]

The issue with red clover was said to be conception -- the theory was that it would supress ovulation. I have never seen any such effect, and from what I understand there's no scientific evidence to support the contention.

 

White clover is probably the best legume for sheep pasture.

[Mona Howard]

I have korean lespedeza in my pastures. The sheep won't touch it when it's small but once it gets to about 10 inches tall they are nuts about it. It really likes the heat of summer when the grasses are fading. It will persist until frost.

It is suppossed to be an annual but mine reseeds itself. I have read that sheep won't bloat on it and so far mine haven't. We wait in the spring until the we think the last frost has come and then we just broadcast it by hand and have never innoculated the seed. It comes up thick. The horse doesn't seem to care for it all in the field but he loves lespedeza hay. My two cents.

[Jordi44]

I thought that it was alfalfa that caused the problems with breeding - as well as bloat (pasture not hay). I was thinking in my forage class at Purdue (this was a long time ago) that my prof compared white clover to lettuce on the salad bar - tastes good, lots of water, but low nutritional value. Maybe compared to other things? I'd be worried about bloat with it when it's "lush". We started out with tall fescue, orchardgrass, birdsfoot trefoil mix - several years later, we have mostly grass and some various legumes, including white and a little red clover. Sometimes, if it's not toxic/health endangering, you just have to go with the best you can do (or what grows/works).

[Bill Fosher]

Hi Jordi44,

 

Lush white clover is very low in dry matter, but it is highly palatable and very nutritious on a dry matter basis. The same could be said of alfalfa.

 

What makes white clover such a good pasture legume for sheep is that it will tolerate close grazing, it remains palatable even when it's in bloom, and it fixes a lot of nitrogen relative to its biomass. That nitrogen in turn feeds the grasses in the sward, which provide the main source of energy to grazing sheep.

 

It doesn't surprise me that a midwestern forage agronomist would be down on white clover versus alfalfa. Alfalfa will outyield white clover in a pure stand that's mechanically harvested by about six to one. Alfalfa is easier to dry down than white clover.

 

But as an element of a sward that is harvested by grazing animals (as opposed to mechanically) white clover beats the heck out of alfalfa. Alfalfa doesn't compete well with grasses. It doesn't stand grazing pressure. It needs a longer regrowth period between grazings than white clover, and if you allow it to mature to the point where it's ready to mow (and therefore could stand close grazing) the stems have become unpalatable.

 

A mixed pasture stand with white clover can be managed for the benefit of the animals. Alfalfa pasture must be managed for the benefit of the alfalfa, or it will not last more than a couple of years.

 

Legume bloat is mainly only a problem when sheep overfeed on a legume, such as when they are first introduced to it after a long period without it. If white clover is an element in the pasture sward, they will simply eat it along with everything else. I have never had a case of bloat, and there's white clover in every one of my paddocks. I gather that bloat can also be a problem with sheep that are housed every night and turned out to fresh pasture in the morning on empty stomachs.

[trailrider]

Bill, thanks for the explanations. I always liked white clover in the pastures, but never had reasonable proof as to why. Keep us up to date with your info. I`m one that puts sheep up at night, and the risk of morning bloat is always a worry. How could it be avoided? Any ideas?

[Bill Fosher]

Stuff them with hay before they go out, and don't turn them out until the dew is off.

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

Hay? Where do you get that?

 

Just kidding. I'm looking for round bales and they seem rarer than duck teeth around here. Plenty of people are putting up, but they don't want to part with them.

[Dixie_Girl]

I heard that PETA was campaining to outlaw those round bales. Seems they don't like the idea of the animals not getting a square meal!