Over wintering cattle in a forest.

[GarethM]

Sheep would always be my preferred option, had a neighbor winter cattle one year and they mostly stayed in the woodland out of the wind etc 

 

Fifteen years later and I took over the ground, the drainage is still terrible as the compaction just created a clay mud bath.

 

You might be okay with a small breed like a Dexter, but sheep will munch the self seeded saplings. Best moved out by April tho as it'll be horse fly and bug central.

 

Get some herwicks, personality, attitude and relatively low maintenance.

[Terrain Aeration]

Did you hear on news bison coming to Kent for same reason keeping undergrowth down 😀

[MattyF]

8 hours ago, Stubby said:

That's a great picture Matty . Dunno why but its kinda comforting . 

Thanks mate… I enjoyed looking after them whilst they where there…a lot easier than sheep !!

[Stubby]

45 minutes ago, MattyF said:

Thanks mate… I enjoyed looking after them whilst they where there…a lot easier than sheep !!

And probably people I would think 🙂

[JaySmith]

13 hours ago, Terrain Aeration said:

Did you hear on news bison coming to Kent for same reason keeping undergrowth down 😀

I think this is the project in Blean (Nr Canterbury) between the Kent Wildlife Trust and the National Lottery. Looks like it is working and they are just starting to breed successfully. 

[JaySmith]

Given the size of the woodland (20 acres) and the amount of cattle (4/5) I would have thought any damage would be relatively small. The farmer near me has had issues with cows prematurely killing trees where they gather under them in a small woodland in one area of the grazing field. However for context this is a large herd with many, many years of using the same area of ground so the issues have built up over time. Coincidentally the water trough is near the trees and this seems to frequently overflow leading to the water collecting under the trees which the cows then tread in as they shelter from the rain. This has caused root damage to the trees and then decline in the canopies from the top down, no real surprise as the roots are suffering direct damage and water logging. 
 

I’ve personally seem worse damage from pigs, a smallholder close to me has some pigs that they breed and then butcher in time. These have caused no end of damage in the woodland to the ground and also the bases of the trees. The woodland is predominantly mature sweet chestnut with some lapsed coppice and over the last few years the trees have steadily been declining - again no real surprise. 

[timberonabike]

I've made use of cattle grazing to keep bracken and brambles in check. Bit weather dependent as they could easily trash the ground. 

Usually come to the woods as they come off the hill at end of October and have until the weather turns. We get 10-20 of the heifers on a 30ish acre site. Where we let them in affects where they tend to congregate and graze. 

 

Need to be something quite hardy, our neighbours stock spend the summer on the hill and love stripping bracken. Think they are Belgian blues?

Another tenant has Dexters that can stay out for longer as they are lighter, but also don't graze as much or wade into big thickets.