I'm sure this has been covered before, so please forgive me for a repeat, but is it ever necessary for cattle's health to provide a barn as shelter for them to go and come as they please? I know that some where I'm from do, and some don't. Is a stretch of woods for shade in the summer good enough? What about winter? A friend of mine in the business says the hardest thing on cattle is an icy rain.
Cows in a barn for shelter
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My calves gain weight on an Icy day. They don't grow much in 100 degree heat. It makes me inclined to think summer is harder on them than winter. I don't think a roof is necessary. Just shade in summer, and a windbreak in winter. I see pics on here of cattle put up for the winter. I am assuming that is necessary where they live. Here in good old Ky its not necessary. It is a rare day if my horses get rained on. Probably no difference in the tolerance level of a horse, and a cow. I just stall them for Rainey days. I also blanket them when it is down below about 25 degrees.
LauraleesFarm
Well-known member
You can build the finest shelters that money can buy. And still, only about half of them will go inside when it rains or storms. The other half will bunch up with their butts to the wind and tough it out.
I do think it is nice to have shelter for dairy cattle and small calves. They seem to need it. But beef cattle are tougher.
All this being said and I live in East TX where winters are mild and summers are super hot and humid. It is more important here to offer shade and access to water.
I do think it is nice to have shelter for dairy cattle and small calves. They seem to need it. But beef cattle are tougher.
All this being said and I live in East TX where winters are mild and summers are super hot and humid. It is more important here to offer shade and access to water.
Pretty much the same a stated above. I built a big three sided loafing shed in my small pasture that I winter and calve the cows in. Very rarely do I see a cow in there. Even in the heaviest of wind and rain storms some will use the outside wall as a wind block or just stick there heads in the bushes and ride it out with no problems. The only times I have some use it is during snow storms. Although all were in in when we had two to three feet of snow on the ground.
Taurus
Well-known member
I always have shelters out for them but it's usually the calves and sometimes a first timer heifer.
OP
OP
herofan
Well-known member
thanks for the responses. We provide shelter, and they have spent a lot of time in there this summer, even though it hasn't been a hot summer, and they sure did leave a mess to clean up. I know they always leave a mess, but there was something more about it this year. I thought I remembered reading that some feel it isn't necessary to provide a barn for beef cattle. Another guy told him that his vet recommended no barn during winter because they get in there, get hot, and possibly get pneumonia.
sim.-ang.king
Well-known member
According to Sir loin cows need a heated barn, or you are a bad farmer that should be horse whipped. :help: :roll:
herofan":p8otbore said:
You mentioned a mess to clean up, I don't put any bedding or feed in there, it's simply a shelter if they need it. They also have plenty of other options for shade in that "winter" pasture. I have nothing in the shelter to lure them in other than the mineral blocks are in there in the wet winter months
ALACOWMAN
Well-known member
yep give em warm rains or dry snows.. here we have wet snows and cold rains which will drop their body temp, like a sack of crete mix...herofan":3h58qve4 said:
TN Cattle Man
Well-known member
Haven't heard anything lately from Sir Loin... is he still on the sight?sim.-ang.king":3gs9sb1d said:
Taurus
Well-known member
I'm sure he is busy building up his herd numbers with his own "management".TN Cattle Man":24hgne0r said:
M5farm
Well-known member
SL and MW are on there honeymoon I figure.Taurus":3mxfeuq4 said:
Taurus
Well-known member
At Rowdy's place? :hide:M5farm":203ix6ve said:
1982vett
Well-known member
Yes.....they ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT survive without shelter......
:lol:
:lol:
OP
OP
herofan
Well-known member
Alan":2ud5tjpn said:
Same here this summer. We didn't put bedding, feed, mineral, nothing. They just seemed to love going in there for part of the day; it was part of their routine. They had access for a couple of months, and by the time we put them in another pasture, it looked like a sewage plant exploded.
djinwa
Well-known member
As mentioned, in most of the U.S., summer is harder on cattle than winter. Cattle are big heat producers, and have difficulty dissipating heat.
Many build sheds or barns for shade. Only problem is, without flow-through ventilation, it can be hot in there. So trees, or an open sided shed make for better shade than a barn. And if dirt bottom, that retains heat more than grass out in the field.
For winter, just a 3 sided shed will suffice to allow them to not lay in the snow and protect from wind. They can do okay without it, but in bad cold, they'll need more feed to stay warm if they're laying in the snow, vs in bedding under a shed. Then of course, cleaning is an issue.
Sometimes better to be out in a clean, cold field, than in a dirty shed or barn.
Which reminds me, many think that in humans, colds are caused by cold weather. Research shows no direct correlation with ambient temperature. Instead, in cold weather, people come indoors more, and the spread of virus increases with crowding. So if moms really don't want their kids to catch a cold, they should kick them outside in the cold, instead of staying inside slobbering all over each other.
Many build sheds or barns for shade. Only problem is, without flow-through ventilation, it can be hot in there. So trees, or an open sided shed make for better shade than a barn. And if dirt bottom, that retains heat more than grass out in the field.
For winter, just a 3 sided shed will suffice to allow them to not lay in the snow and protect from wind. They can do okay without it, but in bad cold, they'll need more feed to stay warm if they're laying in the snow, vs in bedding under a shed. Then of course, cleaning is an issue.
Sometimes better to be out in a clean, cold field, than in a dirty shed or barn.
Which reminds me, many think that in humans, colds are caused by cold weather. Research shows no direct correlation with ambient temperature. Instead, in cold weather, people come indoors more, and the spread of virus increases with crowding. So if moms really don't want their kids to catch a cold, they should kick them outside in the cold, instead of staying inside slobbering all over each other.
sim.-ang.king
Well-known member
Isn't it something it only cost a couple million dollars to do research to find that cold doesn't equal cold?....could of saved them some cash, and told them that.djinwa":280t3mk5 said:
Starting to think researcher are running out of things to research.
I think often times cattle lounge in barns/sheds and the manure accumulates and causes problems with flies and bacteria. Under shade trees the breeze blows and the flies don't seem as bad. I have a barn in my pasture an don't bed anything in there but it needs cleaned out ever so often just from manure build up, I thought about shutting them out but it's awful handy when I load them out, just back up to the barn and walk em in the trailer.on the other hand, when cows are in the barn the barn swallows seem the eat a lot of bugs/flies off them so its probably a catch 22
SRBeef
Well-known member
Rotational grazing with trees/woods for shelter is all my Herefords need even in cold Wisconsin winters. They need shade in the summer and a place to get out of the wind in the winter. They do not need a building. They stay healthier outside. The only time mine are under roof is when they step onto the trailer for a ride to the sale barn or the processors.
Rotation is a key so manure doesn't build up in any one spot. Lounging barns make work and breed diseases.
Jim
Rotation is a key so manure doesn't build up in any one spot. Lounging barns make work and breed diseases.
Jim
Dave
Well-known member
I rarely see a cow in my sheds or barns in the summer. But those 36 degree raining day after day winter nights they are stacked inside like cord wood. When it snows they will all be outside. Clear and cold (in the single digits) they are outside and happy to be there. But those just above freezing days when they are soaked to the skin they sure do better if they can get inside and dry off. I know people around here who have no shelter for their cattle. They have to feed better than I do in the winter.
