Bright Raven
Well-known member
-30 celcius, wind chill about -40 and fine snow today. Iron all ran and everybody got fed.
Cold In the North at Gcreekranch
- Thread starter Bright Raven
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wbvs58
Well-known member
I would think once you get down to about -10 C an extra -20 you wouldn't even notice it.
Ken
Ken
Silver
Well-known member
Always amazes me to see how well cattle handle the cold. Even -30 is not bad when the sun is shining and no wind. Take away the sun and add wind and suddenly it's not so nice.
They claim there was a 8 or 9 mph wind this morning, not sure there was here. Vehicles today in fact do not register less than -40. It was -45C this morning (-49F) plus whatever the wind chill factor was. But the truck tried to make me feel better by only displaying -40. Fortunately no water bowls frozen.
They claim there was a 8 or 9 mph wind this morning, not sure there was here. Vehicles today in fact do not register less than -40. It was -45C this morning (-49F) plus whatever the wind chill factor was. But the truck tried to make me feel better by only displaying -40. Fortunately no water bowls frozen.
Mind boggling to me.
farmerjan
Well-known member
Just curiousity, how many cattle in that group? Did you just roll out the hay or are they eating grain? It sure looks like one HE// of a nice bunch of cows. Are they in the 14-1500 size?
Jeanne - Simme Valley
Well-known member
Great group of cows.
Silver said:Always amazes me to see how well cattle handle the cold. Even -30 is not bad when the sun is shining and no wind. Take away the sun and add wind and suddenly it's not so nice.
They claim there was a 8 or 9 mph wind this morning, not sure there was here. Vehicles today in fact do not register less than -40. It was -45C this morning (-49F) plus whatever the wind chill factor was. But the truck tried to make me feel better by only displaying -40. Fortunately no water bowls frozen.
We made -34 today Silver, neighbors a 1000 feet lower elevation were -39. Celcius that is. Had a high of -21. Wind was negligible and sun shone all day. We fed well enough yesterday the old girls were not fussy about eating and stood about enjoying the Vitamin D they were gathering.
farmerjan said:
We are feeding in groups of about 220 head each. They are getting 3 1700 lb bales of grass hay rolled out on clean snow on our weakest hay fields until calving starts and 6 lbs each of grain screening pellets. Colder days they get more hay. When the ground starts thawing and gets wet we will be shutting off the pellets and feeding only hay.
The 240 1st and 2nd calvers are getting 2 bales one day and 3 the next and are getting 7.5 lbs of pellets. Will get BR to post a photo of that bunch to this thread tomorrow if he is so kind.
We haven't deloused our mature herd bulls yet, they are kind of patchy. They are on bale rings of mediocre hay and get 10 lbs pellets until they are what we call in good condition.
Replacement heifers are fed a mix of 9 lbs hay, 5.5 lbs 60% moisture oat, barley and pea silage, both run through a bale processor and 6 lbs pellets. They sleep in a bit of the hay. They will be a green 700 lbs when they go to grass in late May.
Our feed was all baled in 28 days last summer. It tested mostly between 11 and 12 % protein and 58 to 64% tdn. Not bad for grass hey grown in a swamp. The silage bales are from two of our calving areas that get destroyed with ruts and hoof prints every spring. It usually tests about 7% on a dry matter basis. Calves love it but it doesn't have the punch other silage does grown in warmer climes.
wbvs58 said:
-10 is perfect winter temp. -25 and colder starts to take more feed. At -50, these cows will clean up 40 lbs of dry hay to stay warm. When it warms from -50 to -20 it is very noticeable and coats start coming off when grunt work needs done.
Bright Raven
Well-known member
1st and second calves and patchy bull from Gcreekranch:
Silver
Well-known member
It appears as though a Charolais is now in the mix. Newer purchase?
lithuanian farmer
Well-known member
It's very impressive how you all can manage such cold.
However, I believe that cold, even if the thermometer shows the same temperature, it is a bit different in different places. Due to humidity and probably some other stuff. Because, as an example, just recently have matched a video from one place, where temperature was around -50-60 and animals froze into an ice while walking, for example rabbits, cats, dogs. If such cold would come here, it'd be a pretty similar situation. No vehicle would start (winter diesel here is suitable for temperatures not lower than -35), and everything would be frozen. I'm sure a number of cattle kept outside wouldn't survive. Not talking about calving... When it's -30 here, it's already unbearable and causes many problems...
Have some relatives sometimes coming from abroad once in a while. They live further to the North from us and often mentioned how temperatures feels differently in our and their place.
However, I believe that cold, even if the thermometer shows the same temperature, it is a bit different in different places. Due to humidity and probably some other stuff. Because, as an example, just recently have matched a video from one place, where temperature was around -50-60 and animals froze into an ice while walking, for example rabbits, cats, dogs. If such cold would come here, it'd be a pretty similar situation. No vehicle would start (winter diesel here is suitable for temperatures not lower than -35), and everything would be frozen. I'm sure a number of cattle kept outside wouldn't survive. Not talking about calving... When it's -30 here, it's already unbearable and causes many problems...
Have some relatives sometimes coming from abroad once in a while. They live further to the North from us and often mentioned how temperatures feels differently in our and their place.
Bright Raven
Well-known member
gcreekrch said:
uplandnut
Well-known member
As usual I enjoy the pictures. The cattle look great despite the cold temps.
Bright Raven
Well-known member
gcreekrch said:
Here is the heifer picture:
Bright Raven said:gcreekrch said:
Here is the heifer picture:
Thanks Ron.
These heifers have been managed from weaning to have moderate growth. They went to grass in late May at a green 700 to 750 lbs. We had bulls with 106 heifers for 35 days and kept the 87 that were bred. The open heifers weighed an average of 938 lbs on Oct 1 after a 200 mile haul.
The second calf cows that are also in this feeding were manage exactly the same. Their second breeding period was 50 days. We calved 180 heifers last spring and there are still 151 of them here.
The whole group grazed poor quality grass after Nov 1 until Dec 20 supplemented with lick tubs. I doubt they would average 1050 this spring after they have calved.
Gators Rule
Well-known member
does blood even pump at that temp??? Hard to fathom!
