# Wooded Cow, No Pasture



## enggass (Nov 23, 2011)

Hi all - I have 10 acres of wooded land, lots of Oak trees. Small hobby farm I'd like to grow. Would love to add a milking cow. I can cut trees, put up fencing, shelter etc... but there is no real pasture. Has anyone here raised a 'cow in the woods' so to speak and fed primarily hay year round? What can I do to make a cow a reality on my property as it is now... What are the pitfalls?
Thanks!!
Steve


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## Empire (Jan 7, 2016)

Silvopasture is what you need to look up. Most folks don't run milk cows, rather dairy goats or sheep. You may want to contact a local ag extension and see what other folks in the area are using in similar localities. Silvopasture is big in the south with cattle or goats running in with pine trees.


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

Cut enough trees to let light in, you will be surprised how much grass will grow. Spread some grass and clover seed in there. Maybe make several meadows, stumps don't hurt anything. A few years and they pop right out if you kill the stumps so no suckers grow up. Make sure there are no trees with poisonous leaves or leaves that cause an off taste in the milk....James


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## G. Seddon (May 16, 2005)

You'll want to read about acorn toxicity in cattle (google).

One cow is going to be very lonely; they do best with a like companion.


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## Vahomesteaders (Jun 4, 2014)

We cut about 2 acres of trees down last fall for pasture land. Left all stumps. This area is heavily wooded. Not a single blade of grass or sapling grew in it before cutting. This spring without planting anything, it blew up. Grass and weeds up to my chest. It's not hard to get pasture land to take.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

Trees grow in all sorts of soil. Grass can grow in all sorts of soil, too. But without a soil test and knowing the soil type, including subsoil and water table information, no one can know.

A single cow can eat down all the grass in an unimproved pasture at an alarming rate to those unfamiliar to cattle. 

Some wooded areas have lots of grassy areas, while some have no grass at all. 

Wild cherry leaves are toxic, as are other plant species. 

I'd consider wooded land as windbreak. 

In my mind's eye, a woodlot with trees, oak stumps, wild grasses and a milk cow foraging for feed isn't an attractive one.

I will continue to advise people that want a woodlot to buy property with woods and those that want to pasture livestock, to buy open pasture. Creating a wooded property from open ground is difficult and takes many years. Clearing a wood lot, cutting trees, pulling stumps and cultivating, fertilizing and seeding is a lot of work, too.

If you bought the wrong property, sell it and buy what is suitable to you or modify your activities that embrace the land's suitability.


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## COWS (Dec 23, 2012)

Wild cherry leaves are only toxic if they are wilted. Example: A storm blows over a cherry tree and the leaves become wllted before the cows find it. Then the cows find it and eat the leaves, some get sick, maybe die. 

Cherry trees that the leaves die on when frost occurs are not harmful. Cows usually don't eat these anyway.

A cherry tree that blows over and the cows find it before the leaves have time to wilt won't hurt the cows.

Cows do like wild cherry leaves and will eat live leaves within reach with no ill effects, on the cows anyway. 

Re acorns: Cows will not eat enough acorns to cause problems from trees that are naturally occurring in the pasture. If the cows are confined with little feed and acorns are available they may eat too many acorns. A neighbor once had that problem because his bull was tied out under an acorn tree.

COWS


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## tree-farmer (Jul 5, 2015)

Sounds like pigs would do great there too


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## ShannonR (Nov 28, 2012)

I think some goats would clear out the underbrush pretty well in preparation for trying to grow grass for a cow. It doesn't do much about the bigger trees which would have to be at least selectively cut. But it's a low input start.

Cows in the woods, are a money pit. Do you enjoy horses? I ask because the feed input for woods cattle can be rather outrageous, much like financing a horse. I've often thought to myself, jeez I might as well buy a horse instead of feeding this cow...
Plan on 99% of their diet being bought in hay if you go this route, until you have some pasture established. On the upside, things like hoof care cost far less than for a horse.

I'll openly admit this: my woods cow is currently chewing down someone else's pasture. It's almost time to bring her in for the winter but there is the feed bill to consider so not in a huge hurry to bring her back here.

One more thing to add! I was buying in local grass and grass mix hay, also oat hay for my cow and goats. When I had some space cleared I would throw some old hay (pen cleanings work just fine) on the ground there and let it mulch down for the winter. Come springtime I had an excellent start in my cleared areas! Local grown hay is best because it is more likely to be suitable for your soil type. 
It pays later to ask the hay grower about things like weeds. Avoiding star thistle hay is all the rage on this acreage, many other weeds I'll just tolerate or hand pull. I did get some hay once which actually had BLACKBERRY VINES in it, wasn't too impressed with that scenario. So be nosey about local hay.


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## Ronney (Nov 26, 2004)

Wooded cow, no pasture = no cow. Cattle are grazers not browsers and to that end, I agree with Haypoint 100%.

Cheers,
Ronnie


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## gjhinesjr (Jun 28, 2014)

In a sense, you're question is obvious. Can you raise a cow on 100% hay while being fenced into a 10 acre woodlot. Of course you can. Expecting to get some feed value for that cow out of a woodland is going to be work.

I think you have an exciting future/adventure, but a lot of work. Personally I would pay some serious money to have mature oaks on my place. But I'm trying to build a Savannah ecology. To me, that makes the most sense for you to do given what you're starting with and the animal you're hoping to have. 

Survey your property, see which trees have open grown structure, if any, and keep those. Maybe get a forester to help. You're naturally in an Eastern Deciduous Forest kind of ecology though. So you'll likely be fighting ongoing forest regeneration, but nothing that hasn't been done for centuries before you.

My basic plan would be this: Cut selected oaks to thin out your lot. Aim for 40-60% canopy cover give/take. Plant grass seed. Essentially done.

Obviously a ton of work going into that, soil sampling if you want to get technical. But it can all be on whatever scale you want.

Maybe co-graze a few pigs on the property to clean up the acorns and derive some value from the resources you already have.


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

Ronney said:


> Wooded cow, no pasture = no cow. Cattle are grazers not browsers and to that end, I agree with Haypoint 100%.
> 
> Cheers,
> Ronnie


Dairy cows are milked everyday without pasture. At least the cow would be off concrete and get exercise even if it is woodland. I grew up on a dairy, 60 cows, 47 acres of timberland on the building side of the road, 50 acres across the road for hay and corn for silage, a small pasture for young stock. The cows ran the 47 acres of steep timberland with small meadows and open areas of huge oak trees. About 1/2 was Douglas Fir that was selectively logged. Worked well. Trees for shelter on really rainy days, lots of those here....James


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## arnie (Apr 26, 2012)

you can keep a cow in the wooded pasture . you just have to feed her hay and grain . check to make sure no toxic weeds like stagger weed are growing there , my farm is mostly wooded with open areas for pasture, the cows spend lots of time in the woods using the trees as shelter . land that has been in forest will need lime added to it to help grass grow


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

Here because it is brush and timber Goats are the way to go. Three years Goats will change the landscape if grassed hard enough.

We burn off every Spring and cut firewood as we go. 

After awhile will be able to run a couple Cows.

big rockpile


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## donrae (Nov 13, 2015)

Don't have experience, but we're going to be in pretty much the same situation once we find a place. Our budget does not allow us to buy pasture land, it's going to be wooded. We'll keep our beef and just feed them hay. Not sure it's any different for a milk cow. 

We are hoping grass comes when we clear some land, but that's just doing to depend on where we wind up, the soil, how much water, etc. 

And remember there are places where folks just don't have the water for pasture much of the year. The animals may be on "pasture", as in a large field, but there's no nutrition there. Those animals eat hay much of the year and do just fine. It's going to be up to you if it's financially feasible. No one else can make that decision for you.


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## WannabeWaltons (Nov 18, 2016)

This is what I am wanting to do so I will be following this thread. I have seen a few videos on YouTube about dairy cows being grazed in wooded pastures as well as the trimming of the top branches (is that cop picking or pollarding) for supplemental winter feed. I am hoping it is possible to have a healthy cow on minimal supplemental feed with only an acre of open meadow and forest. 
I am imagining it depends on the type of understory in the forest as well? Like if it is thick brambles it would be Marie browse than pasture but if the ground is mostly grasses and ferns it would be suitable.


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## rileycows (Sep 14, 2016)

Back in the day, i worked for a dairy farmer and he bought a chunk of woods that abutted his property. What he did was cut it all down except for cluster of large trees which he thinned out for shade and turned the cows into the field and sowed seed and scattered square bales around. Within a couple of years he had pretty good pasture


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## LittleRedHen (Apr 26, 2006)

enggass said:


> Hi all - I have 10 acres of wooded land, lots of Oak trees. Small hobby farm I'd like to grow. Would love to add a milking cow. I can cut trees, put up fencing, shelter etc... but there is no real pasture. Has anyone here raised a 'cow in the woods' so to speak and fed primarily hay year round? What can I do to make a cow a reality on my property as it is now... What are the pitfalls?
> Thanks!!
> Steve


I raise a couple dairy cows entirely on hay and they wander the woods  Hay is expensive but i love my cows


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

Cutting down some trees and casting grass seed might work, IF the area grows grass easily. Many areas of the country won't.


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## topside1 (Sep 23, 2005)

My soil on the Cumberland Plateau has a low PH, very low. Cutting down trees and hoping for edible, nutritious grasses are out of the question. I'm sure in some locations this may work but it's all about location....Just started feeding hay, thanks to Tennessee's extreme drought conditions. Be prepared for anything, you never know....Topside


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## oregon woodsmok (Dec 19, 2010)

Yes, you can raise and milk a milk cow on a diet of hay and grain. Milk cows do not need pasture to produce good milk.

I'd be careful about putting goats into my woodlot. They strip bark off of trees and I'd be unhappy if they killed my oak trees.

If you can get a good fence around that, you might buy a couple of feeder pigs and put them out there when the acorns start to fall.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

oregon woodsmok said:


> Yes, you can raise and milk a milk cow on a diet of hay and grain. Milk cows do not need pasture to produce good milk.
> 
> I'd be careful about putting goats into my woodlot. They strip bark off of trees and I'd be unhappy if they killed my oak trees.
> 
> If you can get a good fence around that, you might buy a couple of feeder pigs and put them out there when the acorns start to fall.


hay grain and trace minerals.


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## genebo (Sep 12, 2004)

I've had goats in the same wooded pastures with my Dexter cattle for 13 years. The cattle and goats have cleaned up all of the small growth (poison ivy, wild rose, blackberries and saplings) then began eating the bark from the trees. First choice was cedar trees. They killed every cedar. I cut the dead cedars and used them as fence posts and construction timbers. Next they went after pines. Then gums and poplars. That's where they are today. About 1/2 of the gums and poplars are left. They have finally thinned the trees to the point that I can get some grass to grow in what used to be the heavy trees. I haven't lost very many trees in the last few years. I'm actually anxious to get more sunlight into the wooded parts so I can grow more grass. So far, the oaks, hickories, dogwoods, ironwoods, locusts and elms have been spared.


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## dyrne (Feb 22, 2015)

As someone else mentioned, acorn fed or finished pigs are a treat.


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