tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1842136564899097734.post2594006693843335704..comments2023-12-15T02:04:08.213-08:00Comments on meat: The big picture for the next yearBruce Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10995706761794063165noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1842136564899097734.post-8960822205715351442013-08-26T00:01:30.735-07:002013-08-26T00:01:30.735-07:00Hey Bruce,
You mentioned that you're thinking...Hey Bruce,<br /><br />You mentioned that you're thinking of attempting to grow much of your own animal feed. I guess you're talking about not just the cows, but also your pigs? <br /><br />In your earlier posts however, I recall that you generally haven't been particularly fond of this approach for your farm. I think the rationale was that it simply wouldn't be worth the immense additional effort to plant, cultivate, harvest & maintain the pastures/crops required to feed the pigs....especially when compared to how cheaply grain can be purchased. Besides the huge amount of labour involved, there is also the costs of buying (or hiring) the appropriate machinery that would be needed.<br /><br />Have your thoughts on this changed a little?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05197450620470498635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1842136564899097734.post-70361674628507392712013-08-24T16:27:45.844-07:002013-08-24T16:27:45.844-07:00I've never wintered cattle in a barn, but I wo...I've never wintered cattle in a barn, but I wouldn't think that you would need or want to enclose a barn and/or insulate it. <br /><br />I'd be concerned that enclosing the barn would reduce the amount of ventilation and would cause more respiratory problems. <br /><br />My cattle are on pasture year-round and I had one hard winter where at the worst part we had about a week with low temperatures down to -25 F and highs that only reached up to about 10 F along with snow and ice. For weeks, I was chopping through about 10" of ice on the ponds so that they could get water. Except for a newborn calf that got frostbitten ears, I didn't have any problems with the cattle freezing to death. <br /><br />Of course, I've also got beef cattle, and dairy cattle might be more vulnerable to cold.<br /><br />Does anybody else in the local area have enclosed barns for their cattle?Richhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11412944120622315804noreply@blogger.com