justintime
Well-known member
From time to time I have seen threads on here that refer to the fact that cows cannot live on snow as a water source. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to view a herd of 400 cows that winters on only snow as their water source. These cows have been swath grazing barley cut fairly green, as well as a field of dwarf corn. They only have poplar bush as shelter with no bedding provided. How did these cows look? Well, I have to say that these cows were one of the most impressive sets of cows I have seen in a long time. They were extremely well fleshed, and some would call them too fat. The owner was concerned that they were getting too fat as well, but I thought they looked near perfect.
The calves were weaned from these cows in late October and the cows were run on grain stubble until they had dried up. They were then turned into the field where the barley swaths and corn was. This works very well as there is quite a lot of bush so that the cows have lots protection from wind. It was -30 F yesterday and these cows were out grazing on the corn and looked like they were enjoying it. The owner had over 100 bred heifers running with the cows and they looked very impressive as well. Calving starts in mid April and ends by the 3rd week in May. Everything calves on pasture. Black Simmental bulls are used on all the cows and the heifers are bred to Angus bulls.
These mature cows were mostly Angus/ Hereford cross with the younger cows mainly Simmental/Angus and Maine /Angus crosses. There were also about 30 Shorthorn cows in this group. All were in excellent condition.
What impressed me was that there was literally no work involved in feeding this sizable herd in the winter months. The owner also works full time at his business off the farm. He said he had not started his tractor at all this winter and his only work involved driving through the field once or twice a week to see that everything was OK.
This type of management does not work for everyone or everywhere. I do think that this owner has done an excellent job of matching his environment to the most efficient management of his herd. We have had a very cold winter so far, yet this herd has actually gained weight with no water source , other than snow, no bedding, and literally little or no work. I thought I would pass this on... as it really made me think about the management I was using on my own herd. Some of these practices would not work for my environment, but probably some would.
The calves were weaned from these cows in late October and the cows were run on grain stubble until they had dried up. They were then turned into the field where the barley swaths and corn was. This works very well as there is quite a lot of bush so that the cows have lots protection from wind. It was -30 F yesterday and these cows were out grazing on the corn and looked like they were enjoying it. The owner had over 100 bred heifers running with the cows and they looked very impressive as well. Calving starts in mid April and ends by the 3rd week in May. Everything calves on pasture. Black Simmental bulls are used on all the cows and the heifers are bred to Angus bulls.
These mature cows were mostly Angus/ Hereford cross with the younger cows mainly Simmental/Angus and Maine /Angus crosses. There were also about 30 Shorthorn cows in this group. All were in excellent condition.
What impressed me was that there was literally no work involved in feeding this sizable herd in the winter months. The owner also works full time at his business off the farm. He said he had not started his tractor at all this winter and his only work involved driving through the field once or twice a week to see that everything was OK.
This type of management does not work for everyone or everywhere. I do think that this owner has done an excellent job of matching his environment to the most efficient management of his herd. We have had a very cold winter so far, yet this herd has actually gained weight with no water source , other than snow, no bedding, and literally little or no work. I thought I would pass this on... as it really made me think about the management I was using on my own herd. Some of these practices would not work for my environment, but probably some would.