Flerd – Multispecies Grazing is Good for your Pasture & Pocketbook

By Denice Rackley

The term ‘flerd’, a combination of the words herd and flock, simply refers to a group of multiple livestock species who are managed and graze as one group.

Bonding smaller ruminants to cattle began as practical arrangement that decreases the number of sheep lost to predation. Cattle, especially range cattle, cooperate with each other when confronted by coyotes, wolves, or other predators.

Much like their wild cousins, bison, cattle will form a protective circle facing outward toward predators with calves protected in the center. This natural defensive prevents predator’s ability to sneak up on a calf. Sheep and goats, if bonded with cattle, will keep the herd within sight and seek out the cattle when predators are nearby.

Standing near or even under a cow is like having your very own super hero. Most predators understand that advancing on mature cows is reckless, chances of being injured out weight the odds of scoring a meal.

Species Bonding

Bonding is accomplished by combining the different species in a smaller area so that their natural behavior is modified. Bonding is a time sensitive process.

Younger animals generally accept other species more quickly. While bonding can be accomplished on pasture or in a pen it has been found that pen confinement for 30 and 50 days tend to produce lasting bonds between species. Other considerations when establishing a bond include using one water source during confinement, feeding animals together, removing any animals that are bullying others, and selecting docile breeds that flock more easily. Not adding new animals to the group until the bind is cemented, and not separating species for longer than necessary is also recommended. Typically separating the bonded animals into species specific groups for less 2 months doesn’t result in a lessening of the bond.

Bonding does reduce predation, but flerd grazing presents some challenges.

Challenges of Flerd Grazing

The challenges that accompany multi-species grazing can include:

·        Increased fencing requirements

·        Different nutritional requirements

·        Mineral needs different

·        Increased knowledge of animal husbandry required

Fencing challenges can be overcome by multiple strands of electric wire or woven wire installed that will hold all species. The nutritional requirements of cattle and goats align fairly well but sheep are sensitive to copper. Feeding sheep mineral to cattle would be an additional cost. One way around this would be to occasionally sort sheep with a creep gate into an adjoining pasture while offering species specific trace minerals. Smaller ruminates also have significantly higher nutritional requirements for a month or so before and after birthing.

While these issues do present a challenge, there are numerous advantages to flerd grazing for both your pastures and your pocketbook.

Flerd Advantages

The advantages of multispecies grazing extend beyond include:

·        Carrying capacity of pasture/range increases            

·        Bio diversity of forages improves

·        Undesirable forage is suppressed

·        Animal performance improves

·        Animal health increases

·        Parasite pressure is reduced

·        Bonded flerds reduce predation

·        Cash flow is diversified 

These benefits result from the different dietary and topographic preferences of each livestock species. Goats, sheep and cattle prefer to graze specific types of plants and even prefer specific locations related to how the land lays.

Diet Preferences

Cattle prefer to graze grass. Their diet is typically 70% grass but they aren’t very particular where they graze. However, if options are available, they prefer lowland, flatter areas. Cattle graze by grasping forage with their tongue, pulling it into their mouth to be bitten off. This means that cattle graze longer gasses and will ingest more mature grasses in the same mouthful.

Sheep diets are 50% grass, 30 % forbs, with a bit browse for good measure. Sheep enjoy grazing on slopes and areas where they have a good view of surrounding land. They also prefer to graze into the wind, a great adaptations to being a prey species. Sheep tend to graze with their heads down and occasionally at eye level. Their flexible lips and smaller heads enable them to bite off grass closer to the ground and they have a preference for tender forage.

Goat diets average 60% browse. The old adage of goats eating anything isn’t true. Of the three species they are the most selective. Goats, like sheep, graze into the wind, enjoy grazing on slopes, and bedding down in open areas with good vantage points. Goats enjoy grazing above their heads, often standing on back feet to reach into trees or vines.

While these are generalizations, they hold true. Evaluating current plant species that are not being grazed or are abundant in your pastures will help you decide which species to add to your grazing system.

Goats browsing bushes, cedars, and brambles will keep these species in check allowing more forage growth. Sheep enjoy grazing leafy spurge and larkspur that are harmful to cattle.

Decreasing undesirable or harmful plant species can be accomplished with grazing multiple species while also benefiting from increased stocking rates and improved forage utilization. Early studies by John Walker in 1994, Multispecies grazing: The ecological advantage, showed you can increase the productivity and carry capacity by 20 – 25% when adding sheep to a cattle enterprise.

Diversity is Key to Success

“Diversity is key, and just as diversity of plant species leads to greater soil health, having diverse animal species on the landscape adds a multiplier effect. Proper grazing increases soil aggregation, enhancing soil structure and allowing for better water-holding capacity and nutrient exchange. Grazing also contributes soil organic matter and rumen microbes to the soil that help to increase biodiversity, buffer soil temperature, escalate nutrient cycling, and minimize soil compaction and disturbance,” says Lee Rinehart, agriculture specialist at the National Center for Appropriate Technology – Northeastern region

 http://organicfarmermag.com/2019/06/multispecies-grazing/

Flerds – Biologically & Economically Viable

“Multispecies grazing may be one of the most biologically and economically viable systems available to producers, especially on landscapes that support heterogeneous plant communities,” said Dean Anderson, USDA – ARS research animal scientist in New Mexico. 

Managing livestock using animal behavior: Mixed-species stocking and flerds, by Dean Anderson, E. L. Fredrickson, and Rick Estell. Animal, 2012