Blizzard Worries in Tex Panhandle with a question?

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Tex

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Apr 27, 2008
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59
Guys I have a question?  What would you do with some cows with month old to week old cows?  Get them in a lot with a decent shelter out of a blizzard or leave them in a good stalk pasture to see how they fair? Its been sometime since they have called for a blizzard in the Panhandle.
 

rtmcc

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Oct 11, 2008
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Location
Peterson, MN
Some shelter would be great, depending on how many you have space for.  If they have a good wind break and a dry place to lay they should be able to handle a lot even if they do not have a roof over their head.  Up here in the "upper midwest" of Minnesota we try to set up a creep pen type area were at least the calves can get in out of the wind and moisture.  One good thing is it shouldn't last long this time of year.

I sure feel for those of you you calving in the Black Hills, the Dakota's and Montana / Wyoming this week.  That weather can sure take the fun out of it.
 

BIGTEX

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May 7, 2008
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North Texas
I heard it was going to be pretty rough. Lots of high winds. 30 to 40 mph. I'd put them inside. Should only be for 1 or 2 days.
 

Jill

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Gardner, KS
Here are some pics I had sent to me of the storm on Monday, glad I don't live in Wyoming!
 

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aj

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Jul 5, 2006
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western kansas
In Northwest Kansas...they are talking a possible 11 inches in Tribune and 2 inches in McCook, Nebraska. I feel for the people up north who have been beat to death all year long. Check out this book "In all its fury-the great blizzard of 1888" by W.H. O'gara.  This storm changed the way cattle people did business. It challenged the homesteaders of Nebraska, Colorado, Texas, and Kansas. It flat out broke the large cattle operation that were mainly running longhorns on free grass in Colorado. I think there was a movie about how some Herford bull were brought in to improve the genetics of the longhorn cows. I think the legend was that the Herford cattle were the only survivors in most cases. Blizzards scare the be jeebes out of me. This storm upcoming is suppposed to be a one day deal? But with 45 mph winds it could be hard on stuff and with 11 inches of snow it would be a cow killer. Good luck.
 

justintime

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May 26, 2007
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Saskatchewan Canada
This has been the hardest winter we have had in decades. We finally had a break about 10 days ago when it got warm enough to start melting the snow. Then it turned cold again and started to snow again. Yesterday was miserable to say the least... a strong NM wind, snow blowing, reduced visibility, ice covered roads. It has taken a toll on the hay piles and cows. I thought I would be left with a good surplus of hay when spring arrived. Now I am thinking it could be almost gone. I made the mistake of checking the 14 day forecast this morning. I am concerned I might turn into an axe murderer, after reading what the next two weeks holds. It shows a couple days of decent temps, but wind, several days of snow and below normal temps for most of it. This is beyond stupid! I want Al Gore to give back the $10 million he made last year on his speaking tour about global warming. Have you noticed that Al Gore isn't referring to this as global warming any more? Now he refers to this as climate change. I am beginning to believe that he may be right this time... I am thinking we are headed back into an ice age!

I have kept records of when our creek has run for over 30 years. The earliest it has run in that time, was March 13th, and the latest was March 23rd. It is a long way from running yet, and by the forecast it could be well into April before we see it running. I asked a fellow breeder I was talking with this morning, " who will ever believe us when we have April calves with frozen years?"

It could be one of those years that we get those heavy late storms like are happening south of here now. They can be devastating. I remember delivering a load of bulls to a rancher in South Dakota in the late 80s, and a storm like this had rolled in. He had some deep ravines with lots of trees, and the cows and baby calves moved into the ravines for shelter when the storm hit. When it was over the cows had managed to get out, but they found over 700 dead calves that got buried in the storm. I have often thought about this guy... he was buying bulls after this disaster. Most people would have given up. Talk about cowboy fortitude!
 

kanshow

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May 24, 2007
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Kansas
It's unbelievable..    We are still cleaning up from the windstorm earlier this week.  Now gotta get everything prepared for snow.  We are supposed to get 7 - 10. 
 

roundrobin

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Mar 8, 2009
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The storm on monday was extremely bad .  There have been severe losses here in wyoming.  The 50 mph wind was the killer. 
 

MooMooLover

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Mar 5, 2009
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Ohio
Never thought I'd say I'm glad I live in N'east Ohio.  Wow! Let us know how you make out.
 

happyrock

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Sep 2, 2008
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Jill said:
Here are some pics I had sent to me of the storm on Monday, glad I don't live in Wyoming!

We are in day 3 of this fine stuff in Friendly Manitoba.  Days like this I am glad that I don't have hundreds of calves to try to keep dry.  Thankfully it is only 6 below freezing.
 

shorthorngirl2010

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Apr 25, 2008
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321
Location
McCook, Nebraska
Dont know how cowboy's getting along up the road... im located just west of mccook, its snowed a bit here and there today, no accumulation as of this evening.  Just went outside to check on heifers that decided to calve in the cold weather (i should have known lol) and the wind has picked up considerably and heavy snow has set in.  Hope everybody being affected by this is OK, i sure know i was hoping winter was OVER.. but it is Nebraska huh? ::)
 

BCCC

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Jan 6, 2008
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Hillsboro, TX
I would deffinatly try and get them in and dry lot them. We brought in over 400 cows off of corn stalks to dry lot just for this blizzard. I will spend most of tomarrow breaking ice, plowing snow, and cleaning bunks, as school has been cancled since 7 o'clock, and its just now starting to rain a little bit.Suposed to get a foot of snow at least and only be 5 degrees and then by Saturday its supposed to be 65 degrees....Thats SW Kansas' life story
 

chiangus

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Mar 27, 2009
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461
they are talking a lot of snow here in ks, but I don't think it will stick as the temps have been steady for about 2 weeks

just going to be a muddy mess, but I guess some moisture is better than what is happening down south, unless your in north dakota
 

MYT Farms

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Oct 28, 2008
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Peyton CO
Howlin' to beat the band here. Bulls, steers, and a couple ponies are in our barn. Rest of our cows have good shelter and barns. Shore does make me shiver, but I've been praying for this kind of moisture. So glad that we finally got it.
 

aj

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Jul 5, 2006
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western kansas
The Rare Breed was the movie I was thinking of 1966 produced. It wasn't nessecarily about the blizzard but more of a drama. I think we only had 4 inches or so last night.
 

kanshow

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May 24, 2007
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Kansas
I remember that movie ..  seems like it starred the lady who played the mother on the Parent Trap ..  what is her name??   

AJ, are they predicting more snow for you later today?  Ours is called for later today & tomorrow.  All we have now is wicked north wind & some wind chill.
 

aj

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Jul 5, 2006
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western kansas
I think they said we could get 1-3 more inches of snow and it will move out about noon and head your way.
 

kanshow

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May 24, 2007
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Kansas
I thought Klintdog was from ND but I've been wrong before.  I've wondered how he was surviving the storms.

We are just now getting some snow and looks everything to the southwest of us is cancelling. 
 

Hilltop

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Mar 22, 2009
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Location
Sask, Canada
And we thought that we had a tough go of it this winter!! We can only imagine the hardship some cattle produces are going through right now. I guess -20 to -30 weather is not all that bad. I heard that somewhere SW of Billings there is major flooding also now when many large producers are in the middle of calving. Our thoughts are with all of these people while they battle with mother nature!!
 
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