How Do Cows Handle the Cold?

Old man, winter finally arrived this week! 

It is typical for us to receive most of our snow and cold weather between January and February on the ranch. However, it has been several years since we've seen this much snow at one time!

We commonly get asked this question when we have significant snow. How do cows handle the cold weather? 

We respond with the way God made them! 

Cows have a nice thick coat that keeps them nice and insulated even in the nastiest of temperatures. Even when covered in snow, they can remain warm as long as they have access to feed. When cows have a full belly of feed, they can withstand very low temperatures.

Cows are very good at grazing for feed, even when a large amount of snow sits over the top of the grass. Cows can push through up to 2 feet of snow to find feed. The biggest enemy of grazing through the winter is ice. So if the snow is fluffy and easy to push, the cows can graze, but if it is crusted with ice, then the cows cannot push through to graze. 

As you can see in the photo below, the cows are grazing through the snow to find fresh feed. This cow found a clump of grass that's still nice and green in the middle of winter!

Cows naturally want to graze, even when there's plenty of snow, but when the grass is all gone or the conditions are not favorable, then feeding hay is the next best option. During the summer months, we raise all the hay we need for the winter season. The grass is baled in round bales and kept in a stackyard until the time comes to feed hay.

About ten years ago, we owned a team of horses, and we spent the winter season feeding hay with our beautiful team of Belgian draft horses. It was slow work, but Sean enjoyed the satisfaction of working with a well-trained team of horses to feed the cows. (it also made for some life-long photos that we love to look at).

Here, Sean and his brother are unrolling a bale of hay for the cows to eat. We now are back to using tractors to feed since it's much faster and draft horses are difficult to find these days.

The winter months can be difficult, especially when it gets cold, and you have to break the ice daily to ensure that the cows, pigs, and chickens have reliable water. But there is beauty and satisfaction to provide your livestock and tended to and have a nice belly full of feed and fresh water to drink.