Winter is always the most difficult time of year on a cattle farm, both for the cattle and for the farmer.  Plants are not actively growing and grazing is at a minimum, and keeping the herd supplied with water in sub-freezing temperatures can be a challenge.  

 

Luckily Belted Galloways love cold temperatures.  While most cattle prepare for winter by packing on a thick layer of unhealthy fat, Belted Galloways instead grow a thick coat of shaggy fur, giving them a beautiful winter coat that at times has an almost auburn appearance.  

 

Our cattle always have shelter, especially in the winter, but they very rarely spend time in the barn and often prefer to sleep outside on all but the windiest winter nights.  Since the cattle are not concentrated in a small are there are benefits to both their health and the health of the environment.  Often times cattle confined to small, poorly ventilated spaces can get each other sick and contract diseases such as TB, but that is a problem our cattle ever have, nor do we have manure run-off issues since our cattle remain spread out on-pasture instead of concentrated in a feedlot.

 

You may be wondering what grass-fed cattle eat during the winter when there is no grass growing.  They still eat grass in the form of hay and fermented haylege that was made the previous year at times when there was too much forage in the fields and pastures for the cattle to eat.  Additionaly some species of plants can be "stockpile grazed" during winter.  These are plants whose cells are not killed by a hard frost and that have been managed to grow during the autumn, leaving a "stockpile" for the cattle to graze in early winter.  The herd is also fed silage over winter, which is chopped and fermented whole-plant corn.  The corn plant is actually a type of grass, and it provides the herd with much-need energy in the cold months while they have to be off-pasture.  This mix of feed sustains the cattle very well while still allowing for a grass/forage based diet.

 

Towards the end of winter the first calves will be born.  While it may seem harsh for a calf to be born into freezing tempuratures they are all born with a thick winter coat and have plenty of fresh milk waiting for them.  Calves need the most milk from their mothers when they are 1-3 months old and calving in the winter ensures momma cows will have plenty of spring grass to eat and stay healthy.  Calves are tagged at birth for identification and bull calves that will not be kept for breeding are castrated and made into steers.  While castration may sound painful the scrotum of the young bulls goes numb after only a few minutes and the young calves never even limp.  Castration is necessary to keep young bulls from breeding their sisters and other relatives.