Turning cattle out ??

[markpentre]

Bought some 6 month old stirks that have not been out before.. Is it ok to put them out this time of year with rest of the cattle as we have so much grass to graze off or is there risks with cold nights coming??

 

[Anymulewilldo]

Personally I wouldn’t. Sounds a good way too watch them sink. Keep them in ticking over until spring grass that actually has some poke in it.

 

[beardface]

Depends when you want to sell them. They'll grow a far bit of wool and not much flesh if it turns very cold and shotty, vs fleshing out inside.

 

[markpentre]

wont be sold till next October would be coming in .. in a months time once grazing has come to an end but prob best just to keep them in save them going backwards

 

[Skintagain]

wont be sold till next October would be coming in .. in a months time once grazing has come to an end but prob best just to keep them in save them going backwards

Get some sheep on @Anymulewilldo will drop you some in

 

[goodevans]

Keep them in and leave the others out longer

 

[sticky]

It’s turning colder this coming week, I would think they would go backwards very quickly as well as one or two having snotty noses.
With the onset of cold weather your grass will disappear fast enough anyway.

 

[M-J-G]

Grass still has plenty in it at this time, just look at how well sheep do if they get reasonable grass at this time of year for an example of how much feeding is still there.

However if these cattle have never been out before I wouldn't bother.
If they are dairy cross they are even more unlikely to cope that well being turned out fir their first time at this stage.

 

[Agrivator]

It could be sensible to turn them out on their own so that you can feed them to keep them going- just as long as they don't disappear over the horizon.
It will save bedding and conserved roughage, and if need-be, you can bring them inside as soon as necessary. And it will be much easier turning them out next Spring.
Despite what others might say, any breed and age of dry--stock can be out-wintered if they are fed well and have a dry lie.

 

[M-J-G]

Despite what others might say, any breed and age of dry--stock can be out-wintered if they are fed well and have a dry lie.

Of course they can, cattle are only housed to suit the land and the owner, it's just some breeds need more help to live outside than others for performance not to suffer.
When we had Lim, BB and AA X dairy the cows didn't handle the winter well at all and needed better treatment, when we moved to breeds with a thicker hide they lived the same feed as when they were housed, and were more content in rough weather.

Outwintering stock is one thing, but when we're 10 days away from December turning out calves that haven't been out in their lives before probably isn't ideal, particularly if they are of breeding that feels the cold more than others.

 

[Anymulewilldo]

Get some sheep on @Anymulewilldo will drop you some in

Steady on! I’ve keep ground of my own yet that I can’t afford the lambs too put on it!

 

[Anymulewilldo]

Grass still has plenty in it at this time, just look at how well sheep do if they get reasonable grass at this time of year for an example of how much feeding is still there

Is that not because the maintenance requirements of a sheep is far less than a beast? Sheep can graze its needs much faster then go lie down somewhere dry and cogitate for a bit. Poor old beast has too graze a lot longer too fill it’s needs? Don’t know, just asking!
Our last few cows outside spend all morning at the ring feeder then wander off for the afternoon, graze a bit but mostly lie on the shale banks. Can’t help but think they prefer the dry fibre of the bales over the green soup?

 

[M-J-G]

I'm no expert, I simply observe and attempt to recall what I've seen.
It will vary but most grass we've sampled in the past has had an ME of 11+

So many of today's cattle are whippet like and lack capacity in the name of carcass grades they need a handy as they need to spend so much time eating little and often.
Cattle with more capacity will resemble that of a sheep that can consume more in one go and then go off and relax.

I doubt it will be a preference for DM specifically that cows go for silage over winter grass, it will be more likely the handy option and if it's reasonable silage it should be more palatable than end of season grass that been dunged on for a season.

If it was about DM, they prefer straw over winter grass, and I'm guessing if you replaced your silage bale with straw, they'd start to do a lot more grazing (assuming they have reasonable grass)

We've regularly built up grass on dry land in the autumn and grazed some of cows until January on 2-3 day changes along with straw and 30 cows will maybe eat 2 bales a week, the cows wintered on silage don't tend to do any better than the ones on grass.

I recall a study at SAC, where they kept 3 types of cows on deferred grazing
Lim×AA
Pure Luing
Pure Char
They luings did best, the pure Char cows were next and the Lim×AA did worst, the came to the conclusion that it was down to capacity.

 

[unlacedgecko]

Is that not because the maintenance requirements of a sheep is far less than a beast? Sheep can graze its needs much faster then go lie down somewhere dry and cogitate for a bit. Poor old beast has too graze a lot longer too fill it’s needs? Don’t know, just asking!
Our last few cows outside spend all morning at the ring feeder then wander off for the afternoon, graze a bit but mostly lie on the shale banks. Can’t help but think they prefer the dry fibre of the bales over the green soup?

A dry cow can consume 95% of her daily nutritional requirement in 3hrs of grazing.