Northern Extremes

[PureCountry]

Days like this make me want a barn big enough for all the critters on the place:


Wind Chill Warning : Flagstaff Co. near Lougheed and Hardisty Issued at 1:10 AM MST Saturday 12 December 2009
Extreme wind chills tonight and Saturday. This is a warning that extreme wind chill conditions are imminent or occurring in these regions. Monitor weather conditions..Listen for updated statements.

Bitterly cold Arctic air has pushed down over Northern Alberta. As well, brisk northwest winds will develop tonight producing wind chill values as cold as minus 50. Conditions will gradually improve Saturday morning in the Edmonton, Grande Prairie and Peace River regions as wind diminish under a cold Arctic ridge. Eastern Alberta may see wind chill values below minus 40 throughout much of the weekend. Temperatures will remain well below normal this weekend across Northern Alberta. At these extreme wind chill values frostbite on exposed skin may occur in less than 5 minutes.


Right now the good news is that they're quoting a temperature of -32 C, and a breeze of 15mph, for a windchill of -45 C. The bad news is that the wind is picking up. I've been out in this kinda stuff before, and don't recall liking it even once. For those who are wondering what -50 Celsius feels like, ya know that sensation on the roof of your mouth when you first chew into spearmint gum, or take a slurp of Buckley's cough syrup? Now imagine that sensation all the way down your throat and into your lungs, every time you take a breath. I hope the dumb cows we bought are smart enough at least to follow the lead cows into cover, if they're not there already.

 

[WyomingRancher]

Good luck PC! We just got through with 50 below windchills, with gusts over 70mph. The cattle need a break from this crap soon.

 

[Blkbuckaroo]

Pc,keep your weather up there,we already got a taste of a canadian cold front,no thanks.Be real careful in that stuff.

 

[little bow rancher]

just got in I think its that now , I sure hope the forecast is right for the middle of the week :???:

 

[hillsdown]

The only thing that gets me through these bitter cold days when I am out doing chores is " At least there are no snakes."...

Cattle are covered in frozen snow and frost but so far so good .They look like furry teddy bears :wink: . They are not really eating all that much more either, so I do believe we should be getting a break soon.

I just hope Jan and Feb are kind to me or there will be a lot of babies pulled from mom at all ours of the day and night so they do not freeze to death when they pop out.

I spoke to hubby this morn and it is -56 where he is at and things will probably shut down until it warms up. I wonder how the cattle survive up there.

 

[RSL]

-50 here. Cows are grazing on native, but we are supplementing with a bit of barley. Calves are out grazing and look pretty good as well.

 

[Grassfarmer]

Mid -40Cs with winchill here - my cows that are still grazing seem quite content. I was concerned I couldn't see them from the yard this morning but they appeared late morning. They graze during the day then move every night into some pretty dense bush. With it being colder I guess they just decided on a bit of a lie in this morning. I know the feeling
How do you supplement them with barley RSL? on the ground by truck? I think that would turn mine into welfare cows pretty quick.

 

[gcreekrch]

Mid -40Cs with winchill here - my cows that are still grazing seem quite content. I was concerned I couldn't see them from the yard this morning but they appeared late morning. They graze during the day then move every night into some pretty dense bush. With it being colder I guess they just decided on a bit of a lie in this morning. I know the feeling
How do you supplement them with barley RSL? on the ground by truck? I think that would turn mine into welfare cows pretty quick.

You've been where you are awhile Grassfarmer. With the quality of feed you have and no supplements, how long will your cows stay in good condition if temps were to stay in the -30's and 40's?

 

[hillsdown]

Mid -40Cs with winchill here - my cows that are still grazing seem quite content. I was concerned I couldn't see them from the yard this morning but they appeared late morning. They graze during the day then move every night into some pretty dense bush. With it being colder I guess they just decided on a bit of a lie in this morning. I know the feeling
How do you supplement them with barley RSL? on the ground by truck? I think that would turn mine into welfare cows pretty quick.

If it stays cold for a long period you may have no choice for them to maintain condition. No shame in that, we have had a hell of a year with drought , well at least in my area we did.

 

[RSL]

Mid -40Cs with winchill here - my cows that are still grazing seem quite content. I was concerned I couldn't see them from the yard this morning but they appeared late morning. They graze during the day then move every night into some pretty dense bush. With it being colder I guess they just decided on a bit of a lie in this morning. I know the feeling
How do you supplement them with barley RSL? on the ground by truck? I think that would turn mine into welfare cows pretty quick.

'

We dump about 2 pounds per cow on the ground with 5 gallon pails. The feed tests show we need a bit when it is cold and it stretches our regular feed out. We have not started on our swath grazing yet. This is the first time we have fed any type of grain in 5 years. (Actually feeding grain is a PITA for us). It is strictly a mathematical thing with drought affecting our regular winter feed supplies. We have a pretty different resource than you GF, since our late pastures are strictly native. Most of our operation (80%+) is strictly native range.
Not sure what quantifies a welfare cow, but I don't suppose ours qualify by most standards (although they are pretty fat).

 

[Grassfarmer]

Mid -40Cs with winchill here - my cows that are still grazing seem quite content. I was concerned I couldn't see them from the yard this morning but they appeared late morning. They graze during the day then move every night into some pretty dense bush. With it being colder I guess they just decided on a bit of a lie in this morning. I know the feeling
How do you supplement them with barley RSL? on the ground by truck? I think that would turn mine into welfare cows pretty quick.

You've been where you are awhile Grassfarmer. With the quality of feed you have and no supplements, how long will your cows stay in good condition if temps were to stay in the -30's and 40's?

Where I am we don't tend to stay in the -30's or 40's for very long. Last year by all accounts was the toughest winter in a long time here. We had more or less 6 weeks straight of super cold weather and the cows grazed right through that. We ran out of pasture just as it ended coincidentally.
In another week once the cows get closer to home i'll pull maybe 25% of them and put them onto silage. These will almost all be bought cows Angus and Charolais xs that were not bred for our system. The better end of my herd will manage easily until Feb 1st which is when our pasture will last to. No concerns about them at all because we have bred a cow for our system.
Nothing wrong with manipulating cow condition in my book - the silage we have this winter is higher quality than we need and straw is priced out of the equation - I actually don't want my cows too fat this year when I start feeding them. They can stand to lose a little in fact. Cow backfat is a resource to manage and harvest just like grass, sunlight and solar energy.

RSL I wasn't meaning your cows were on welfare - just that I reckon if I started feeding mine I think it would unsettle them from grazing and turn them into truck chasers.

 

[hillsdown]

What kind silage are you feeding and what is the protein and energy in it ? Do you use a TMR feed ?

 

[gcreekrch]

Cattle we have brought in here usually require a little extra attention for about two winters until they acclimate, even if they originated in areas within 200 kms from here. With the end of 2009, our expansion phase has reached it's peak and from here on we hope to keep our own replacements than bring cattle in. Surprisingly, the young cows we bought this summer from Brooks Alta. are in better condition than we thought they would be.
I agree with you about managing cow condition, if a cow winters too fat there is no room for her to flush on grass and conception rates fall.

 

[per]

Brooks cows would be a tough as they come. I would take more than 2 years to acclimate to your winters.

 

[gcreekrch]

Brooks cows would be a tough as they come. I would take more than 2 years to acclimate to your winters.

That could be said for any major relocation. :wink:

I have a few photos of when those cows were delivered in July, will try to get photos of the same cows in the next few days and we can do a comparison.

 

[leanin' H]

How long do ya suppose it would take one of my sweet young sisters to adjust to the northern tropics of Anahim lake? :shock:

 

[per]

Brooks cows would be a tough as they come. I would take more than 2 years to acclimate to your winters.

That could be said for any major relocation. :wink:

I have a few photos of when those cows were delivered in July, will try to get photos of the same cows in the next few days and we can do a comparison.

I'm sure we would enjoy the comparison. My cousin bought 50 black cows out of Brooks one time. They were independent and tough and did well on soft and hard grass. You did however need a spotting scope to have a look at them.

 

[Grassfarmer]

What kind silage are you feeding and what is the protein and energy in it ? Do you use a TMR feed ?

Mixed silage - cereal, canola, weeds, alfalfa. The first sample we took was 12.5 protein and 62.5 TDN. Will take another as we get further back in the pit. Don't need a TMR - we only have the one ingredient. Everything gets to eat a little straw from a ring also for roughage and that lets me assess how much silage they need. Like to have them putting a little pressure on the straw - even the weaned calves.

 

[gcreekrch]

Brooks cows would be a tough as they come. I would take more than 2 years to acclimate to your winters.

That could be said for any major relocation. :wink:

I have a few photos of when those cows were delivered in July, will try to get photos of the same cows in the next few days and we can do a comparison.

I'm sure we would enjoy the comparison. My cousin bought 50 black cows out of Brooks one time. They were independent and tough and did well on soft and hard grass. You did however need a spotting scope to have a look at them.

These cattle would only require 4x and fit in with most of ours. :lol:
Seriously, other than a couple trotty old darlings they are not wild in my books. The one characteristic that doesn't make sense is they act like they have had wolves to deal with and fight my dogs worse than any bunch of cows we have ever purchased. Our old cattle will be a little high headed if they have been harassed by predators but almost breath a sigh of relief when they know we and the dogs are around. The only other explanation is someone has some terrible mutts that spoiled these cows.

 

[per]

Not sure if wolves go that far down the Bow. Most likely dogs. :???: Mind you these collared wolves travel sometime 60 miles in a day.