There’s no denying it – from East coast to West coast, Canadian winters can be COLD! We all have our different ways of dealing with it though, like cranking the heat in the car, enjoying a hot chocolate by the fire or bundling up and hitting the sloops. Our cattle however, handle the chilly winds that whip across their ranches a little bit differently.
Angus cattle are similar to their Canadian ranchers in that they are quite tolerant to the dropping temperatures. As the temperatures begin to fall, cattle grow a winter coat providing them with a much higher level of insulation because of the pockets of air they are able to trap within their new long hair. We of course provide our cattle with warm comfy barns as well, fully furnished with lots of hay and bedding, but it is important to keep exposing the cattle to the cold air and not just keep them sheltered indoors. This is because if the cattle are kept warm all season long they will never develop their winter coat and in turn if they then are exposed to the cold for some reason it becomes a very stressful situation for them.
Another factor that plays a large role in keeping our cattle warm and cosy is keeping them dry. Moisture in their coats can lead to dramatic heat loss making them very uncomfortable, so we make sure our cattles have clean coats before any deep freezes, keep their paddocks in the barn fresh and dry along with keeping them inside if the temperature is fluctuating enough to start a thaw and freeze cycle.
When temperatures are cold enough that we know the snow will not melt and the cattle can safely be let out to roam the pasture for a bit, like children, sometimes they try to eat the snow or lick the ice. While water consumption is extremely important during the winter (your average cattle needs to consume about 14 gallons per day) our ranchers strongly try to discourage the cattle from getting their daily H2O intact from the fully white stuff all around them. Ice and snow consumption will lower the cattles body temperature and increase their energy needs, meaning they will need extra food to stay warm. To avoid this from happening, our cattle have access to heated troughes both inside and outside of the barn, ensuring that they never go thirsty!
While monitoring the temperature and keeping the cattle warm and dry are the main focuses of winter life on the ranch, many other factors are taken into consideration on a daily basis such as feeding, the cattles body condition and mud management. Special care is also given to cattle who are pregnant in the winter months; often they are seperated from the herd, espically during feeding hours so their health and appetite can be easily monitored. As you can see winter life on the ranch is no stroll in the [snowy covered] park. That is why Beretta, along with our One Earth Farms family, only works with the best ranchers across Canada who are confidient that they can make the cattles winter as enjoyable as ours, even if theirs doesn’t include hot chocolate, building snow men and stylish warm winter jackets.
