Bale Grazing Pairs on Snow???

[Happytrails]

Having he** at the dugout watering some bale grazing pairs. Going to fence it off limits tomorrow. Does anybody have experience using snow as water source for pairs on bales? There is no shortage of snow and if it wasn't for the calves I would have already quit watering them. TIA and Merry Christmas!!

[gaucho]

No problems have been doing it for 10 years... you'll regret you didn't do it sooner

[grassfarmer]

We don't bale graze but my cows know how to winter
on snow. It's remarkable how the calves pick up this
knowledge even if they don't get much exposure to it
while they are still suckling. I have lids over all my
waterers at night and you see the weaned calves
happily licking snow in the morning before I take the
covers off. Same with digging through snow for grass
- my calves do it quite happily even if they never did
it before they were weaned (if there hadn't been
snow).
I conclude it's more than learned behaviour - cows
must teach their offspring in advance through some
other means which means they are smarter than
people give them credit for.

[wilagro]

Cows are a lot smarter than most people give them credit for. They can be quite playful at times as well.

[tizhot]

I guess my cows are pampered. Always fresh spring water or water bowls. Do I disagree with snow-no. Just have issues with maintaining our snow level and having fresh snow for the cows. Where the cows are wintering right now is the only place they do not have water and have to walk home for a bowl. Guess I just LOVE paying for bowls and driving the tractor/shredder a mile to get to them everyday (twice to get enough feed to them) We don't do things the cheapest way possible and I will be the first to admit that. But they arestill grazing on grass that hasn't been touched since last winter with grain and bales to go along with the grass. Bale grazing isn't a practice here either. Guess I just love keeping my fuel supplier in business! Be nice to me I'm new to the site and its Christmas!! ha.

[wlc]

Have had cows on snow for many years.
Now also leaving calves on cows and
all are bale grazing .Only cost is
the feed .

[Happytrails]

Thanks for the encouraging words. I hope it works because we lost another calf and pulled a bunch out again this morning. I think that bale grazing cows water earlier in the morning than fed cows (if water is available).

[ALLFARMER]

Welcome Lizhot. ......fellow bale shredder person.
Anything colder than -30 and our cows also get
bedding. It must be hard on their joints if their
standing around all the time. Roughly what area
are you at and farm size. Again Welcome

How are you making out Happytrails? We have
had cows break thru the Ice here also. That's
another of the reasons we winter in the corral. Did
you get the dugout fenced off? We used extra
straw bales years ago to fence off the dugout
with. We plan to expand the dugout as our herd
expands so bales are easy to move in later years.

[grassfarmer]

Do your cows not sit down when it's cold Allfarmer?
Mine do and I guess they find the snow rather
comfortable. One of the reasons I like cattle equipped
with coats instead of T-shirts.

[ALLFARMER]

No they don't lay down when it's -30 or so cold.
We maybe provide bedding every 10 or 15 days
maybe 6 old pea straw bales at a time.

[Happytrails]

Finally got the dugout fenced out Christmas morning. 2 strand electric fence for 3 sides of a square. Anchored the corner rods to a spike with twine. It looked like trouble so we wrapped the twine with hot barbed wire. That kept the cows from rubbing and chewing etc. So far so good. The next couple of days should tell if the transition to snow is successful.

After the first break through it seemed like the herd developed a morbid fascination with the dugout. They looked like boozers hanging around a bar.

[grassfarmer]

Just a suggestion if they are transitioning to snow for
the first time - the further you keep away from them
the quicker they'll settle in the first 2 or 3 days.

[Happytrails]

The herd was out of feed so I had to change fields with them this morning. They took a look at the fenced off water in the new field and then headed for bales. Seemed pretty content.

Probably had quite a few bites of snow going 2 miles through 18 inches of it. Another mile puts them drinking at the yard but they didn't today. Guess I will see if they want water bad enough to make that walk. Having the wreck at the first water hole sure prioritized getting the next one fenced.