Cows living on snow?????

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justintime

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Joined
May 26, 2007
Messages
4,346
Location
Saskatchewan Canada
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.
 

uluru

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Joined
Jul 18, 2007
Messages
541
Location
Oakville, ON. Canada
Back to nature with a little help from the swather.
Moose, elk and deer survive well with only snow for water during the cold winter.

A little cold and windy in Sask so I hear.
 

showsteerdlux

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Joined
Nov 30, 2007
Messages
1,765
Location
Western NC
The only thing i would worry about is using snow for the water source. Other than that if it works and the cows look good and breed on time he must be doing something right.
 

shorthorns r us

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Joined
Apr 9, 2007
Messages
900
does he manages the swaths or are they just running on the whole field?  how big is the field?  how big were the cows?
 

justintime

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Joined
May 26, 2007
Messages
4,346
Location
Saskatchewan Canada
He normally manages the swaths and the corn with  an electric wire that is set up so it can be moved quickly. He said he made one mistake this year in that he has found that you have to train the cattle to electric fence prior to winter arriving as he does not have a good enough ground once winter arrives. His 100 yearling heifers were not on electric fence until winter and he has had trouble with them going through the wire. The cows never bother it. His cows would probably weigh 1400-1450 lb. They are good sized cows with lots of depth and capacity. His heifers would probably avarage 1050- 1100 lb. The cows are running on 640 acres, with most of the barley and corn planted on the east sides of poplar bluffs, to provide some shelter from prevaling NW winds. I never asked how many acres he had in corn and barley but I will try to find out.
He did say that the swath grazing works best with about 12 inches of snow cover. He says the cows will dig down to the swath, and eat it clean as they go. If there is not enough snow cover, they will mess it up more but eventually they eat most of it.
 
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