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Cows Shivering

bverellen

Well-known member
Went out to check cows this afternoon.

Like everyone else, it has been an extremely cold week for us, but today was the worse. It started raining last night, and has been a steady light rain and drizzle all day, cold wind with it.

Albeit, it is not near the extremes most of you experience, but like us, our cows are not aclimated to this cold crap either.

They have plenty of stockpiled pasture, and have shelter from the wind. I took out clean dry hay for them, is there anything else I should do to give them a boost or just let them be?

Temps are to be near freezing for the next two nights.

Thanks.....

bart.

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per

Well-known member
They have feed and are out of the wind. You have done your part. Go inside and play a game of Monopoly with the kids.
 

bverellen

Well-known member
Thanks Per. Ithink I'll take that advice, it's too miserable outside to do anything else, although we are grateful for the abundance of rain we've been receiving this winter.

bart.

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Denny

Well-known member
I'm sure the cows are just fine. I gotta laugh though we have calves born in colder weather than your having.And thats in april.
 

Silver

Well-known member
Denny said:
I'm sure the cows are just fine. I gotta laugh though we have calves born in colder weather than your having.And thats in april.


I've had calves born in weather like that and didn't make out very well. I'd far sooner it was 15 degrees colder, dry, calm and sunny.
 

PATB

Well-known member
I agree with silver to having calfs born in the cold rain versus frozen ground. I will take the frozen ground or snow anyday.
 

jingo2

Well-known member
If YOU think your cows are hungry & cold....FEED'EM.

Your info lists "gators".....so you must be South.

Critters in the South don't have the heavy hair coat as the cows North........so they will get colder quicker.


Feed'em if YOU want to.
 

burnt

Well-known member
A chilly, wet 35F is harder on cows than -10 or -20F any day. They will not be able to keep warm, especially if they are not used to it. But there's not much you can do other than keep them full. Watch for viral outbreaks a few days later - the stress can set them off.
 

per

Well-known member
jingo2 said:
If YOU think your cows are hungry & cold....FEED'EM.

Your info lists "gators".....so you must be South.

Critters in the South don't have the heavy hair coat as the cows North........so they will get colder quicker.


Feed'em if YOU want to.
Read his post, they have shelter, grass and dry fresh hay.
 

bverellen

Well-known member
Thanks for the input everyone.

I threw them some more hay, if nothing else it makes me feel better.

The rain has cleared out and the wind has died down a bit, but it's still darn cold(for us).

I'll definately be watching them fore the next week or so, by the end of the week we are forecasted to have a high of 80F this coming saturday, with more rain, which means another cold front.

Perfect weather for getting sick, man and beast alike.

bart.

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burnt

Well-known member
You know I got to thinking about this cold/dry vs. damp/chilly thing and I would think that going by our cows here in Southern Ontario, I would prefer the cold to what we get at times.

I have gone out to feed some days when it is about -10C or 14F and the cows are huddled and twisting and snaking their heads around when they come out of their "shelter" because of the damp, cold conditions.

And then another day it can be -20 or -30C (kinda rare here to gt-30C) or 5 below F to 20 below F and the girls come running out kicking their heels in the air like yearling heifers.

So while we don't get the cold as in really low temperatures here in the east, we get a different kind of damp cold that will melt the fat off of a cow in a week in you don't keep her fed right. We get a chilly, damp wind that seems to come right off of an iceberg in Lake Huron 25 miles to our west. And all of the nasty snow squalls that comes with being in the lee of the lake.

We also get a lot more overcast days than the folks who live just 20 miles further east of us, so less days where the cows just stand in the sun and soak up the warmth that comes with sunshine.

I think I oughtta move to New Zealand for the winter months!!
 

Denny

Well-known member
I don't think many would know how that lake effect can change temps. I was at a stock car race in Superior Wis one time and it was a very nice summer evening 80f. The wind changed directions coming off Lake Superior and the temps dropped 30 degrees in about 10 minutes. It had everyone going for a jacket. Damp cold is shivering.
 

jingo2

Well-known member
per said:
jingo2 said:
If YOU think your cows are hungry & cold....FEED'EM.

Your info lists "gators".....so you must be South.

Critters in the South don't have the heavy hair coat as the cows North........so they will get colder quicker.


Feed'em if YOU want to.
Read his post, they have shelter, grass and dry fresh hay.


So, big deal. It's his cows and he must've felt he needed to feed'em......seems he did just that.

What's a bit more hay in the scheme of things anyway....
 

Grassfarmer

Well-known member
Denny said:
I don't think many would know how that lake effect can change temps. I was at a stock car race in Superior Wis one time and it was a very nice summer evening 80f. The wind changed directions coming off Lake Superior and the temps dropped 30 degrees in about 10 minutes. It had everyone going for a jacket. Damp cold is shivering.
I can testify to that - it's essentially what winter on the west coast of Scotland entails. Most of the annual rainfall comes over winter and although not cold the fact that everything is constantly wet really makes man and beast miserable. Wind is also an almost constant factor along with the rain. I remember often going into a wet spell when we were calving and going maybe 3 weeks without a dry day - cows had nowhere to sit that wasn't mud, calves were born in mud and grew up in it. A stressful situation all around.
I remember an old Luing Chairman in the annual Journal, who lived in at wetter area than us, giving his yearly report stating that the first 3 months of the year had brought over 6 feet of rain - falling essentially on rocky mountainsides. The hill sheep particularly were in very poor condition heading to lambing and in years like that would sometimes turn in only a 65% lamb crop.
Sometimes it's cold out here in the west but it's not a bad climate for cattle - or people.
 
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