Post by Joes Wife on Jul 6, 2009 19:18:34 GMT -5
For those of you who have beef cows and dairy cows, do you keep them together in the same pasture, paddock, pen etc.? Do you just keep hay out for them all the time? We are in the process of changing some things around our place and I could really use some experienced advice. We have an angus cow, her 2 month old steer, and her heifer from last year. We also have Gertie our Jersey and her 3 month old heifer. Gertie has always had her own pen and shed. Hay, minerals and water available to her at all times. During the spring and summer she goes out into the pasture during the day and comes to her pen in the evening. This has been her routine since I have had her. Now of course we have added milking to her program.
The angus have always just stayed in the pasture. We have a heavily treed area and during rain, cold, and too much sun they just hang out in the trees. During the winter months we put hay out for them but we don't neccessarily have hay in front of them all the time. They get a bale a day and during the really cold and snowy months they get more. The angus have always been very healthy and in good condition.
We have a new barn (my husband built it just like I wanted it!!). At the back of the barn there are doors (big sliding ones) that open to a hay feeder and a big pen. The idea is, during the winter months when my daughter and I do chores alone we never have to leave the barn (or carry the hay out to the pasture). We just open the sliding doors and put the hay in the hay feeder. We get lots of snow up here and it has always been such a hassle getting the hay out to the pasture. The horses are in stalls and we can feed them right there in the barn also.
Question is, we would like to put ALL the cows in that new pen but is it okay to let Gertie run out of hay? I will be milking her through the winter. Do the beef cows need the same amount of hay as my milker? I watch them eat sometimes and my largest/oldest angus (Maggie) eats way more then all the others. I think she is fat. My husband thinks she is healthy. How much hay does a beef cow need? We have had Maggie for 5 years, this is her 3rd calf. She has a healthy appetite.
Those of you who have beef and dairy, do you keep them together? Do you do anything extra for the dairy? She gets grain and her alfalfa pellets at milking. Is it a good idea to keep them together for the winter, it sure would make chores easier!!
Ideas, thoughts, opinions and questions for more details welcome!!!
TIA
Teresa
The angus have always just stayed in the pasture. We have a heavily treed area and during rain, cold, and too much sun they just hang out in the trees. During the winter months we put hay out for them but we don't neccessarily have hay in front of them all the time. They get a bale a day and during the really cold and snowy months they get more. The angus have always been very healthy and in good condition.
We have a new barn (my husband built it just like I wanted it!!). At the back of the barn there are doors (big sliding ones) that open to a hay feeder and a big pen. The idea is, during the winter months when my daughter and I do chores alone we never have to leave the barn (or carry the hay out to the pasture). We just open the sliding doors and put the hay in the hay feeder. We get lots of snow up here and it has always been such a hassle getting the hay out to the pasture. The horses are in stalls and we can feed them right there in the barn also.
Question is, we would like to put ALL the cows in that new pen but is it okay to let Gertie run out of hay? I will be milking her through the winter. Do the beef cows need the same amount of hay as my milker? I watch them eat sometimes and my largest/oldest angus (Maggie) eats way more then all the others. I think she is fat. My husband thinks she is healthy. How much hay does a beef cow need? We have had Maggie for 5 years, this is her 3rd calf. She has a healthy appetite.
Those of you who have beef and dairy, do you keep them together? Do you do anything extra for the dairy? She gets grain and her alfalfa pellets at milking. Is it a good idea to keep them together for the winter, it sure would make chores easier!!
Ideas, thoughts, opinions and questions for more details welcome!!!
TIA
Teresa