[JONKS]

New to cattle. Have had 7 head since April, selling in oct.
Can someone tell me BASICS on wintering them.?
I kansas. Have propane heated waters and a lot of hay.
When to buy, sell etc. I know it's a vague question just need a little input.
Thanks in advance!

 

[chronic66]

If your selling in Oct., why are you asking about wintering them? Just curious.

 

[Allen W]

Hay, water, may be protein and/or grain.

 

[Awnry Abe]

Wintering is just a bit more labor intensive, and a lot more energy intensive, than summer.

Pay most attention to the water. I have freeze-proof waterers, but they only work with larger herds. For the small herds, like the dairy and heifers, I always make sure they can get to a pond. Then I only need to be involved the long stretched of extreme bitter cold.

 

[ksfarmer]

New to cattle. Have had 7 head since April, selling in oct.
Can someone tell me BASICS on wintering them.?
I kansas. Have propane heated waters and a lot of hay.
When to buy, sell etc. I know it's a vague question just need a little input.
Thanks in advance!

If you are selling in Oct., you don't have to worry about wintering. If you are thinking of holding them over, there is a difference if you are in southern Kansas or northern Kansas of how cold it gets. Either location, a propane heater in the water tank should be sufficient. I give them free choice Brome or prairie hay and 5 to 10 lbs of grain (or corn gluten) daily. Alfalfa hay would require less grain, prairie hay or brome needs more grain. It takes a lot of energy for them to keep warm when the temp is down to 0 and the wind is blowing snow.
I don't like pond watering in winter because in cold spells you need to chop ice to make a hole to drink from. I also have seen cattle break through the ice and drown in a pond.
I often buy heifer calves in April, pasture them for the summer and then feed till January or Feb., then sell. I have the hay and all I need to buy is some grain (milo or corn) . Corn byproducts are popular around here..

 

[JONKS]

Thanks for the advice!
I planned on selling and did sell these 7 cattle but was asking about wintering some NEXT year. Maybe my question wasn't super clear,
Sorry.
Thanks for the help!

 

[Allen W]

Sorry, I should have gave a better answer. A few specifics makes the question easier to answer. Open general questions like yours often go south because the person doesn't have enough knowledge to ask the right questions to get their answer, or they are paddling their own canoe and don't understand why no one agrees with them.

 

[idigbeets]

Overwintering is pretty simple. Keep em moving so they do not wreck your pasture (completely... some is bound to happen but maybe not with 7), keep em well fed, and in really cold/wet conditions lay out some bedding (we use 3rd cut stemmy junk) for them. The waterers.... that's the fun part.