marsay
Intermediate Poster
Posts: 124
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Post by marsay on Jan 6, 2013 8:14:51 GMT 1
Yup, I've just moved onto new land, which is overgrown, and because I bought the land I now can't afford a young lad I used to pay to help me when I was working. Trying to get the barrow over the divits, near impossible plus it's never stopped raining. But I do feel guilty even though they are wormed. It looks bad but I will harrow in the spring and I think the ground could do with a manure anyway.
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Post by jill on Jan 6, 2013 8:40:41 GMT 1
I don't get the thought that poo picking affects the worm burden - surely by the time the poo has been on the ground for a few hours the contamination has already been done, and who follows horses around collecting as soon as they poo? I poo pick daily in summer on the small paddocks and the tracks so that I don't get areas of long coarse grass that is too contaminated to be grazed. In winter there is no way an 8 acre field can be done daily (and if it isn't done daily the backlog is far too much, especially with short days) so after winter everywhere gets harrowed. That also has the effect of getting rid of dead grass and moss so needs doing anyway.
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Post by bertie666 on Jan 6, 2013 10:53:57 GMT 1
I do 4 acres every day - come what may In the summer I was doing a track around 8 acres every day. The divots and moles hills are a pain in the backside but hey ho. When it snows I do it with a trug and carry the trug if I cant get wheelbarrow to work.
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Post by antares on Jan 6, 2013 11:05:58 GMT 1
I think it was the tutor when I studied nutrition may have mentioned it.. Or we had discussed it there anyway.. But I'll give it a go for a week and see! I do get a lot of crows and pigeons here as well as magpies and have a lot of resident pheasant so they might even be racing each other to poo spread!!!! Hopefully! My hands are too bad in winter to even contemplate poo picking and my poo vacuum is destined to never work! Lazy poo pro!!! I find pheasants are particularly good at poo spreading!
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Post by shan on Jan 6, 2013 11:24:08 GMT 1
I don't think there's any harm done by leaving it in winter, lots of people do. We do poo-pick daily, I'm not sure if that's actually a subconscious effort to get very fit though, lol! Seriously - it's a hell of a job doing it on a rutted soggy hill, but there's so little grass left. And I have poo-picking OCD!
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Post by cheekychops on Jan 6, 2013 11:36:57 GMT 1
We don't poo pick - there are 3 in a huge field, there is no way we'd get a wheelbarrow in there, and the muck heap is miles away. YO harrows for us periodically. We've done a regular worming routine but now moving to testing.
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Post by specialized on Jan 6, 2013 12:06:41 GMT 1
I don't get the thought that poo picking affects the worm burden - surely by the time the poo has been on the ground for a few hours the contamination has already been done, and who follows horses around collecting as soon as they poo? I poo pick daily in summer on the small paddocks and the tracks so that I don't get areas of long coarse grass that is too contaminated to be grazed. In winter there is no way an 8 acre field can be done daily (and if it isn't done daily the backlog is far too much, especially with short days) so after winter everywhere gets harrowed. That also has the effect of getting rid of dead grass and moss so needs doing anyway. My sentiments exactly. As soon as the poo hits the floor some of the tiny eggs will fall into the grass and the very action of picking it up will spread/shed more eggs so short of catching it before it hits the floor poo picking is only ever partly effective. In a small field it prevents staled areas and keeps the grass sweeter, but harrowing and cross-grazing works much better on large fields - and taking a hay crop is the best where possible.
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daisysp8
Grand Prix Poster
People only see what they are prepared to see
Posts: 2,120
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Post by daisysp8 on Jan 6, 2013 13:03:26 GMT 1
I haven`t poo picked since we moved to the new grazing at the beginning of October. With working full time and the rain ( mudnow knee deep) it just isn`t feesable. I can barely walk through it, let alone get a barrow through. I have a rake up there, and i walk round once a week and just spread/harrow it manually, though tbh, between the birds and the rain (making it soggy) there isn`t a great deal left to start with. The last worm counts i did came back clear/low (Dec) and i keep on top of worming them. Don`t beat yourself up. As long as you keep on top of counts and wormers you`ll be fine
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Post by mandal on Jan 6, 2013 13:50:47 GMT 1
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Post by jill on Jan 6, 2013 14:09:18 GMT 1
I tried the link and it says the file is damaged and could not be repaired *scratches head*??
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Post by mandal on Jan 6, 2013 14:48:04 GMT 1
I tried the link and it says the file is damaged and could not be repaired *scratches head*?? Sorry but it works for me. Google life cycle of equine worms and it or similar will come up. Explains briefly what happens when poo with eggs in hits the grass.
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Post by ladynowak on Jan 6, 2013 15:08:28 GMT 1
. A friend said my field looked bad as i had not been poo picking. I would love to poo pick every day but with three horses and a full time job as well as family commitments I have not got the time. I would smile ever so sweetly at your friend, hand her a poo scoop and wheel barrow and tell her to crack on ;D she obviously has far too much spare time on her hands! I wouldn't worry, I don't poo pick in the winter (doesn't really matter as they're in a huge field) but it would look tidier if it was done. I can live with that though!
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Post by BJMM on Jan 6, 2013 15:43:52 GMT 1
I haven't been clearing mine. I one field I have a poo pile in the corner, also the field is at the top of the hill so not TOO muddy. The others are swamp like and you can barely walk, let alone push a barrow. We have a quad and trailer but it's so wet that the quad is ripping up the surface, so we are rarely using it at the moment. I knock the poo around the field each day in the most trashed field. I do worm counts and worm accordingly. Poo gets picked daily in the dry weather.
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