# Mob grazing- Anybody cleaning up after they go through?



## Richardin52 (Aug 14, 2011)

I have been mob grazing at about 100,000 lbs. / acre and have noticed an increase in milkweed so I have started mowing after they go through an area.

The only other thing I can think of is increasing the stocking rate. Will that work?


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

Milkweed is unpalatable and aggressive. We have been fighting it 10 years here as we can't spray.


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## ontario hay man (Jul 18, 2013)

Sounds dumb but get some goats. They will clean up all the junk cattle wont even look at.


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

My sister rotates horses with shetland sheep. The sheep prefer browse but won't touch milkweed. We have to mow or handpull.

At high enough stocking the horses damage about 25% of the stems by trampling but it doesn't kill enough of them.


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## prairie (Jun 20, 2008)

Common Milkweed is just another forage resource for my cattle. My cows usually pick it out first before they eat the grass. Its amusing to watch them race each other to the milkweed plants when turned into a new paddock. They leave nothing behind but the stripped stalk on larger plants, and eat the small plants almost to the ground.

I have heard that horses won't eat it.

if you want to reduce it, try to graze it with cattle or goats before it produces viable seed. You may also need to use herbicide, as it is a perennial that spreads by rhizomes. Mowing will do little, if anything to reduce it.

Increasing the stock density, not the stocking rate, may help by forcing the sheep to learn to eat the milkweed and increasing trampling of the plants.

Maybe the sheep could be trained to eat the milkweed, http://www.livestockforlandscapes.com/


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

In our experience te sheep will eat the grass to the dirt and start breaking fences before touching milkweed. Frequent mowing will control it but not eliminate it. I have noticed when the deer bed in it for the night they will strip te leaves off it.


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## prairie (Jun 20, 2008)

slowzuki said:


> In our experience te sheep will eat the grass to the dirt and start breaking fences before touching milkweed. Frequent mowing will control it but not eliminate it. I have noticed when the deer bed in it for the night they will strip te leaves off it.


Goats and deer generally have more similar forage preferences than sheep and deer.

I would think you sheep could be trained to eat milkweed fairly easily.


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## hayward (Jan 26, 2012)

prairie said:


> Common Milkweed is just another forage resource for my cattle. My cows usually pick it out first before they eat the grass. Its amusing to watch them race each other to the milkweed plants when turned into a new paddock. They leave nothing behind but the stripped stalk on larger plants, and eat the small plants almost to the ground.
> I have heard that horses won't eat it.
> if you want to reduce it, try to graze it with cattle or goats before it produces viable seed. You may also need to use herbicide, as it is a perennial that spreads by rhizomes. Mowing will do little, if anything to reduce it.
> Increasing the stock density, not the stocking rate, may help by forcing the sheep to learn to eat the milkweed and increasing trampling of the plants.
> Maybe the sheep could be trained to eat the milkweed, http://www.livestockforlandscapes.com/


Buy some heifers off of prairie, lol, i have never seen any animal eat milkweed even when they had nothing else to eat, let alone race to eat em. No harm meant prairie, just thought it was funny. You got some tough cows man! I wonder if I'm thinking of the right plant, stalky, 2' tall, pale lime green, dusty looking leaves, yellowish seed pods, bitter smell, burn eyes an skin when you bushoging em?


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

There are lots of variety of milkweed. We just have common milkweed. I'm guessing they learn to eat them when they are small and tender, they get a woody sort of stem when bigger.


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