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Deep snow (pics)
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<blockquote data-quote="Victoria" data-source="post: 313084" data-attributes="member: 1258"><p>We are blessed (sometimes - except when it is flooding) to be in a river valley so we have lots of trees that provide some shelter. Yes, ours do stand around and wait to be fed. It adds an extra cost when we have a year with lots of snow. Some years we've had to feed 8 months out of the year. We find the worst years on the cows are the ones where it has severe weather changes and then they can't acclimatize very well. Then they really become hay burners.There can also be an increased chance of arthritis in the old cows. We make sure that there is a little bit of bedding to sleep on before calving and then after the calves are born we put out lots of straw so that every animal has a deep bed to sleep in and calve in. We also have a couple of calf crates for the babies. Some breeds fair better than others and looking for a good hair coat is important here. We also like to see our cows go into the winter a little fatter. In the fall they get turned out on the hay field. We do only one cut a year so that there's quite a bit of feed on them in the fall usually. It gets their weight up so that when the cold hits they have a bit of added insulation. It is pretty hard to fatten an animal up in freezing conditions.</p><p>Really though the cold is more of a problem than the snow. Snow is an insulator. In fresh powdery snow about 93% of it is air. So if you dig a hole in the snow it will keep you warmer not make you colder. The old crusty, icy stuff has less air and feels much colder. It's when there is no snow and the ground is icy and cold that the cows really need protection from it.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Victoria, post: 313084, member: 1258"] We are blessed (sometimes - except when it is flooding) to be in a river valley so we have lots of trees that provide some shelter. Yes, ours do stand around and wait to be fed. It adds an extra cost when we have a year with lots of snow. Some years we've had to feed 8 months out of the year. We find the worst years on the cows are the ones where it has severe weather changes and then they can't acclimatize very well. Then they really become hay burners.There can also be an increased chance of arthritis in the old cows. We make sure that there is a little bit of bedding to sleep on before calving and then after the calves are born we put out lots of straw so that every animal has a deep bed to sleep in and calve in. We also have a couple of calf crates for the babies. Some breeds fair better than others and looking for a good hair coat is important here. We also like to see our cows go into the winter a little fatter. In the fall they get turned out on the hay field. We do only one cut a year so that there's quite a bit of feed on them in the fall usually. It gets their weight up so that when the cold hits they have a bit of added insulation. It is pretty hard to fatten an animal up in freezing conditions. Really though the cold is more of a problem than the snow. Snow is an insulator. In fresh powdery snow about 93% of it is air. So if you dig a hole in the snow it will keep you warmer not make you colder. The old crusty, icy stuff has less air and feels much colder. It's when there is no snow and the ground is icy and cold that the cows really need protection from it. [/QUOTE]
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