Dexters on Lucern

[wravenant]

Good day all.

I live in the Karoo region of South Africa.  The winters here get bitterly cold, with mornings below freezing and in summer temps can go up to 40 degrees Celsius.

I have about 1 hectare here that I recently put under Lucern/Alfalfa.  I am now thinking of getting some Dexters as I have heard only good things about them.

So, my questions are:

1)How many would I be able to keep? I am thinking 4 cows and a bull.

2)Is it OK for them to graze on Lucern/Alfalfa

Thanks in advance

[zephyrhillsusan]

Hopefully someone who has experienced this will chime in. FYI, North Americans, 1 hectare is about 2 acres. Someone asked this question on the Keeping a Family Cow forum, and several people thought pure alfalfa/lucerne would be too rich for the only grazing and you'd be risking bloat. I do know a farmer in France who raises Salers and has a lot of lucerne, but he does have other forage.  Here's a link to his blog; he's a really nice guy and I'm sure would answer a question if you contact him.

Somewhere in the recesses of my mind is a niggling thought that frozen lucerne is toxic. Does anyone know?  Since it's a legume, if you graze cattle on it when it's wet, there's a risk for bloat.  I have no idea how Brent handles that.

Welcome, wravenant!  Glad to see you here.  And sorry I can't answer on the number of cattle because we have horses, too, so that throws everything off.