In the previous article, we discussed the varying impacts that different types of livestock have on the quality of soil. We also mentioned that combining the livestock types can promote soil health by using the strengths of each type of animal.

For example, using cattle and sheep together can optimize pasture use while enhancing nutrient recycling and reducing weeds. Systematic rotation while maintaining a cover crop remains key to sustainable livestock management.

The aim of this series is to determine how managing livestock effectively ensures ongoing soil fertility, leads to improved water quality and prevents soil erosion, all factors that are crucial for sustainable agriculture, especially in the face of climate change due to earth warming.

In this article, we consider whether different species can graze together successfully, whether they will they compete for the same food resources and in doing so end up sabotaging your grazing plan.

What is multi-species rotational grazing?

When practising multispecies grazing, two or more species of livestock graze on the same pastures at the same time during the same season. In diversified farming worldwide this is a popular method, even more so when smallholder farmers of Africa have limited land and must make the most of limited resources available to them in order to survive.

In short, when livestock species are combined, they help improve pasture quality and biodiversity, while also increasing farm production and profitability.

Livestock consists of grazers, browsers and intermediate feeders. In Africa, livestock that are essential to the survival of small-scale farmers, have to compete with or survive alongside game species that have occurred on the savannas of Africa since time immemorial. We shall consider grazing of livestock, especially cattle, along with wildlife in a future article.

Grazers

Grazing animals like cattle are herbivores that consume large amounts of low-quality forage because they have a limited capacity to choose high-quality forages due to their mouths.

Browsers

Herbivores like goats, that have small, narrow mouths with the ability to selectively consume plants and plant parts with greater nutritional value, are browsers.

Intermediate feeders

Herbivores like sheep are intermediate feeders. They have mouths that are small enough to select high-quality plants and plant tissues, but also a digestive system that enables them to eat low-quality forages.

Which animals are best to graze together?

Livestock species each has its own way of feeding and plants it prefers. To select a species for a multispecies grazing, it is important to consider the plant species on your farm. It is also important to make a note of the plants the livestock do not eat at present.

Consider the animals you already own and which ones would be ideal and easiest to allow to graze together. Usually, cattle, goats, and sheep are the most frequent species to be grazed in a rotational paddock system. This works well because each of these animals has a distinct style of grazing.

•Cattle grab forage with the tongue and bite it off before putting it into their mouths.
•Goats eat from head height and prefer to chew on leaves and twigs.

•Sheep browse leaves as well as graze on grass.
•Chickens may also be included. Chickens are simple to combine with different animals as they are easy to move from paddock to paddock in their own mobile henhouse.
•Pigs may be included because they have different feeding habits.

Grazing animals like cattle are herbivores that consume large amounts of low-quality forage because they have a limited capacity to choose high-quality forages because of their big mouths. (Source: Pixabay)

Including pigs in multi-species grazing

Because of their dietary restrictions, pigs may be a good addition to multiple species grazing. Their monogastric digestive system cannot dissolve fibre, so there are a lot of forage nutrients in pastures that the pigs cannot eat. Pigs’ diet is limited because they eat only high-quality forages, such as clovers and young grass shoots, which have highly digestible nutrients.

If only pigs are kept, the low-quality forage will require frequent mowing to mechanically break down and remove mature plant material to restore plants to a growth stage that is suitable for pigs.

Cattle and sheep can eat low-quality forage, since they can consume fibre, which is transformed in the rumen into glucose, which they can absorb. Rather than spending time and resources mowing extra forage, allowing cattle or sheep access to that same pasture or paddock with the pigs will result in better utilisation of the forage. They are well suited to following cattle and sheep and may help rejuvenate tired, worn-out pastures.

Maintaining adequate ground cover is a concern for pasture-based pig producers, and if not controlled, pigs will strip a pasture clean, impacting soil and water quality.

Provide a diversified pasture mix of various legumes, forbs, and grasses to promote pasture growth. Raise pigs in appropriate numbers based on the size of your available land and rotate them, but make sure there is enough time for regrowth of the pasture.

Managing plant species

Farm grasslands can be grazed with species suited to the plants growing there. This minimizes any one species’ control of the area, which may lead to overutilisation of some plant species.

Knowledge of the growth habits of weeds as well as desirable plant species will allow the grazing manager to target-graze weeds and allow palatable plants enough rest to recover. By controlling the amount and duration of grazing, the environment can be changed to a healthy, varied, high-quality pasture.

The rate of regrowth of forage will be determined by the lay of the land as well as the quality of the soil. Each species has its own preference: While goats and sheep can feed on rugged, rocky ground, cattle will do best on flatter ground or gently sloping hills. Pigs prefer flat ground but can scale hilly terrain in search of food. However, keep in mind pigs do not eat tough forage that one might find on rugged land.

Herbivores like sheep are intermediate feeders. Their mouths are small enough to select high-quality plants and tissues, yet their digestive system allows them to process low-quality forages.
(Source: Pixabay)

Mixing species to ward off predators

Multispecies grazing may help control predators. Small poultry, such as chickens, can be free-range farmed when larger animals are present to deter predators such as hawks. Grazing sheep and goats together may also keep bigger predators at bay. When more than one species grazes together from a young age, they bond and help defend one another from dangers. In Africa, keeping a donkey with a herd of sheep can deter jackals and other larger predators.

Disadvantages of multispecies grazing

The biggest disadvantages include that you will have to plan and manage the livestock efficiently, which may be time consuming. It will also cost time and money to build infrastructure for watering and shelter in the different paddocks.