"Thinking is fun"

I just found this as part of an article on Sugar Mountain Farm's blog (They do all kinds of pastured animals in Vermont):

"Another trick is changing the animal species that uses a space. Different species put different loads on the pastures. They each have their own adapted set of parasites and hangers on who can't survive with other species. By changing who is using a pasture or permanent housing space we again break the cycles in a safe natural organic manner.

With permanent housing like the winter dens I carved into the hillside or the post and beam animal sheds we built, we achieve the cleanout by only letting the animals use those spaces for part of the year. These are all winter spaces so during the warm weather the animals are not in them. In the spring, fall and summer the livestock move out to pasture giving the dens and sheds time to air and rest. The bedding gets composted and then used on the gardens. Disease and parasite loads are vitually eliminated without having to use any chemical treatments. This is healthier for us, the plants, the animals and the soil. Good practices like this are also less expensive and less work although they do take more thinking to implement. Thinking is fun."

We've been talking a lot lately about putting in more fencing so we can do rotational grazing with our sheep and goats, which will be complemented by following them with the chickens. But I think it will be poor management practice to give the sheep and goats fresh pasture but then bring them into the same stinky stall every night of the year. I like this idea of only taking them in during winter, and maybe heavy rains. I will have to talk to Neil and also the program. Right now, letting all the animals out in the morning is a big part of the program. It is a regular scheduled activity, giving them a constant routine and the sense of resposibility and daily chores. I think feeding them and other daily care would be alright, without letting them out too. Man that would save me so much work of 2x/wk stall mucking in the summer too!