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Question for the farmers and ranchers....

ltcdoty
We got a little snow today up here in New York on the Vermont border..as I was riding around I was looking at a bunch of cows standing around in the rain and snow...and I wondered...

I know that horses grow a winter coat ...do cows do the same, or do they just stand around being cold and looking miserable....
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  • Night Stalker
    quote:Originally posted by ltcdoty
    We got a little snow today up here in New York on the Vermont border..as I was riding around I was looking at a bunch of cows standing around in the rain and snow...and I wondered...

    I know that horses grow a winter coat ...do cows do the same, or do they just stand around being cold and looking miserable....
    Yes sir, they do.

    NS
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  • discusdad
    if you notice in summer the coats look slick, in winter the coats look shaggy/fluffy. some individual hairs take on a longer texture, some become more hollow-as air is the great insulator, and some become more wool like traits closer to the skin to give them different methods of combatting the elements.
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  • jesnlsn
    cattle never cease to amaze me, we run corriente's here in Arizona in the desert and they will survive on brush,

    3 weeks ago went to visit my sister in north Dakota, and her neighbor had a herd of Corrientes. (Mexican roping cattle)

    where we are from in north Dakota the winters are brutal, and he said they do fine.

    so a breed from mexico that is adapted to desert living is thriving in one of the coldest areas of the usa.
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  • redneckandy
    Mine turn into fuzzballs. I've had calves born when it was about 0 degrees outside up and running within an hour like it was no big deal.


    Cold doesn't seem to bother em too much, however extended freezing rain and cold where everything gets thoroughly soaked and muddy does. The rain and ice pulls the heat out of em and they can't eat enough to replace the calories burned trying to stay warm.
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  • Cornflk1
    quote:Originally posted by redneckandy
    Mine turn into fuzzballs. I've had calves born when it was about 0 degrees outside up and running within an hour like it was no big deal.


    Cold doesn't seem to bother em too much, however extended freezing rain and cold where everything gets thoroughly soaked and muddy does. The rain and ice pulls the heat out of em and they can't eat enough to replace the calories burned trying to stay warm.



    Yep they do a lot better if its just cold, slightly below freezing. Wading and laying down in the mud is so much worse on them. Although a stiff wind can be bad, just basic wind breaks can make a world of difference.
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  • Wild Turkey
    When we had horses two of them would shed by the handful come spring. The pony was a "Mountain Pony", supposed to be a separate breed, and she would shed through two colors before her summer coat appeared.

    The white Arabian would leave patched of hair on the ground when she rolled and the birds would clean them up.

    I understand that American Buffalo have the warmest coat of all and some folk shear them come spring. (I've been told they have to put them to sleep to shear them!)
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  • buddyb
    We had some belted galloways that could live on weeds,leaves and sort of poor feed and still do well.But they were miserable in these hot,humid Carolina summers so we sold and traded them to homes in a little cooler climates.
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