Cattle bedding

[burnt]

To be accurate, I will spread a bale or two of straw for the girls if we are having stretch of bad weather. They like it and it makes me feel better!

[Happytrails]

AF...sisal twine is mostly rotted in a year. In moist conditions even sooner. The important thing is that it WILL biodegrade whereas plastic that is buried stays good as new.

The 16000' sisal I use is good for 35-40 bales per 2 roll bundle which you usually can buy for under $40.

You do have to pick the bales relatively promptly (4-6 weeks) after baling or the strings will start breaking. Also don't expect any strings when you take them out of the stack. For me these drawbacks are a small price to pay for NEVER having to pick up twine. HT

[rkaiser]

Had to post my two bits before the thread disappeared.

About 25 below celsius this morning out here at Caroline Ab. Went out to feed my cows and found a couple of them lying out in the snow, chewing their cud. They have access to a wonderful protected treed area and there are areas with some hay on the ground where the bale feeder sat that I moved the day before. Why were these cows laying in the snow and none actually lying on that old hay; i asked myself? Maybe it's because they have a choice, and they choose to lay there.

I guess I should tell a bit more of the story for those who don't know me. I am running 140 cows with heifers and all mixed in. Even have 3 coming three and on coming 5 year old bull with them. They get 3 hay bales a day this year. Feed that I buy. And there is always a bit left in the bale feeder each new morning.

I have tried every way of feeding cows over the years and found that many ways work. I am not saying mine is the best by any means.

One thing I would like to mention however is the water thing. Just like the shelter and bedding thing, I think that animals need to have a choice. We are the ones who erect the fences after all. When I have bale grazed in the winter or swath grazed, I have always allowed access to water for the cattle. They have had to walk a long way at times, but always choose to walk rather than go without water. I don't think they would walk as much if the feed was not stock piled in one way or another, but again, that's just my thoughts.

All the best everyone --- whatever works for you is right --- obviously.

Randy

[Ruken]

Regarding bedding, like rkaiser, I've seen cows sleeping on the packed snow even this morning at -32. Seemed to be a bit stiff when getting up but not to stressed from what I could tell. That said,
I haven't bedded the cows for years.

Only the calves and the bulls get bedding. The biggest thing from my perspective is a belly full of feed to keep the fermentation going and wind protection.

Regarding feeding, the boys at Lacombe Research Station did some work on feed wastage a few years ago. Their numbers were very tight and repeatable. They found feeding long feed on the snow resulted in a waste of 12% and when feeding shredded feed on the snow resulted in a waste of 19%. The effective protein loss being the quality that went into the cows mouth was a drop from 11% to 8% when shredded.
That is huge and makes twine removal incidental.

[grassfarmer]

Ruken, I don't know how tight their figures were but I questioned their methodology in that experiment. The processed into deep snow - most ranchers with any common sense would run their loader bucket along the ground first and clear a path to drop the feed on. That would reduce wastage substantially but I think that would have gone against the purpose of the experiment. Not justifying feeding with a processor because I don't use one.

I find the cows are quite happy bedding on snow, as long as they can get out of the wind. I much prefer keeping a cow's haircoat dry and functioning rather than getting any tag attached to it by bedding. It helps if you have cows with coats instead of T-shirts though eh Randy?

[nicolaas]

An old cattle feeder told me when I startd that you cannot make money feeding calves unless they are well bedded. I've always followed that advice. Cows on my place, on the other hand do not get any bedding, no matter how cold it is. The deer and moose do not get any bedding and do okay. I just provide them with a wind break and feed, and they are fine. The cost of my home grown straw at approx. $65 /tonne due to fertilizer content, baling, fuel, wages, etc, so i feed it to them, I can't afford to have them waste it. I calve in the early summer.

[smcgrath76]

We will occasionally bed cows if the
weather is very cold, but generally
speaking we don't. Bulls are bedded,
simply because although they can take
the weather, I can't afford to lose a
$5000 set of nuts.
Calves historically have been forage fed
in a corral and bedded. This year we
grazed and do not have calves near the
corral. They have some bedding, but
have not suffered unduly on most of the
days when they chose not to bother
coming back to their bed.
We have often bedded with hay (which
will seem insane to some people), but it
is our cheapest bedding resource when we
figure out purchase cost and trucking on
straw.
After this winter so far, I think it
will be a long stretch before we are
convinced to corral calves for the
winter again...

[smcgrath76]

forgot to mention...We don't bed on
prairie, as I am not a fan of invasive
species.

[wilagro]

A neighbour does not bed his cows until they start to calve.

Minus 43 degrees last year for a week, still no bedding. I don't agree with his policy. Up until his cows are calving they look like some neglected cattle out of sub-Saharan Africa. I try not to look as I drive by.

My father treated his cattle with respect and believe me, not providing adequate bedding in extreme weather is ABUSE.