Indoors or outdoors?

Bridgehouse · Post by **Bridgehouse** » Sun Oct 12, 2008 2:47 pm

Hi

As my first year of keeping Dexters I was just wondering whether experienced keepers of Dexters prefer to leave their stock outdoors in winter or to move them indoors?

Also for those that house indoors does anyone use cubicles?

Thanks
Mark

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Sun Oct 12, 2008 2:56 pm

It depends on your ground mainly. We are on clay and have little cover in many places, but good barn space, so we bring them in. But we don't do this all at once. We'll bring in say the steers for fattening first, then probably calvers, and then we'll perhaps put ring-feeders out in the fields for what's still out there for a while. And we make sure they don't stay out long enough to spoil the ground otherwise we get a bad start to the grass the following year.

But if we were understocked, on well-draining soil with plenty of cover, they'd be out all the time if at all possible.

Edited By Broomcroft on 1223819908

Rutherford · Post by **Rutherford** » Sun Oct 12, 2008 4:35 pm

In general terms I cannot better Clive’s answer I am on heavy clay and need to bring mine in for the winter, but on an earlier farm with some woodland cover they could winter out. I do have mine in cubicles 5.6” in length including the manger, 2.11" width with a swinging side barrier on a short chain.
Beryl

Saffy · Post by **Saffy** » Sun Oct 12, 2008 4:35 pm

Hello Mark,

There is an alternative to in or out - a bit of both!

I bought my first Dexters from Beryl Rutherford who houses hers during winter in cubicles.

My buildings are positioned in an awkward way to allow mine to run to pasture and so unless the weather is really bad I take them out to the field for at least a few hours nearly every day, to stretch their legs and graze a bit and fetch them in again later.

It means a bit more work but I do use a bit less hay and straw and there is a bit less muck to move come the spring, also I hope they will stay healthier for it, especially their feet and they certainly appreciate going out!

Stephanie

Edited By Saffy on 1223825912

Saffy · Post by **Saffy** » Sun Oct 12, 2008 4:37 pm

oops did it twice!

Edited By Saffy on 1223825861

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Sun Oct 12, 2008 5:05 pm

Just to add that we keep ours indoors in separate groups of 10-40 in open barns where most can go in and out at will. I keep my calvers also in groups but never crowded and also in groups of no more than about 10-15 max. I just tie gates together to make the separate indoor areas.

Edited By Broomcroft on 1223827622

Rutherford · Post by **Rutherford** » Sun Oct 12, 2008 5:32 pm

My cows go out by day with access to cover if they want it, and are shut in at night. They get very bored if they are kept in entirely, and I agree with Saffy, I am sure they are healthier if they get exercise.
Beryl (Woodmagic)

nuttalls · Post by **nuttalls** » Sun Oct 12, 2008 7:18 pm

we usually winter all out,with the poorer winterer in for a while,calves in or out with hay,2 years ago we wintererd all out.Its very high n bleak wer we r. one day they had like xmas tree trinkets on there ears jingling but they wer well fed and seemed happy. I dont think that wen im cozy in bed! and its raining but they.re very thik skinnd and coated.and depends wot land theyre on. jean jordeth

Louisa Gidney · Post by **Louisa Gidney** » Sun Oct 12, 2008 10:14 pm

My cows calve from Jan, so I want them all housed by Xmas at the latest. The cows have individual pens inside as I have a horned herd. The males winter outside, with a veranda field shelter by one barn door. Heifers only come in when the weather is really foul. It's a balancing act between poaching the ground outside and the amount of muck to shift out of the barn after turn out. With the ground already sodden, poaching is going to be a problem fairly soon this winter.

domsmith · Post by **domsmith** » Sun Oct 12, 2008 10:45 pm

we winter all beef stock out. we are lucky to have some rough hill ground. there is alot of shelter and hard ground. it doesnt look pretty after a while but it works. we feed silage only. young stock are also outside weaned at christmas and put on a seperate bit of good ground. i sometimes worry about them but when you got find them they are in one of the glens sat content cudding away. they are always nice and clean.
dexters do better than the angus but all manage

dom

Martin · Post by **Martin** » Mon Oct 13, 2008 8:50 am

I farm mainly chalk downland with only a couple of inches of topsoil over almost solid chalk. I could winter out as it is free draining, forgiving and dries out quickly. I house from late December to enable me to turn out to good grass in late March/early April. When housed all animals are fed in open yards to assist in reducing problems that can arise from housing.
I am fortunate in that I farm in a mainly arable area where straw is never a problem (and at the right price) even this year. if straw was either expensive or hard to get I would then rethink how I wintered my stock.
One of the advantages I find with housing is that your stock get used to you moving amoungst them and visitors to my herd always comment on how freindly they are.

Sylvia · Post by **Sylvia** » Mon Oct 13, 2008 9:05 am

Dexters, possibly except newborns, are hardy enough to stay out but as most people have mentioned it is the ground they are on which is the critical factor. Along with the number of cattle you have.

Just a few Dexters will have little impact and you can fill their ring feeder by hand or from a quad trailer. If you have enough to be feeding big bales which need a tractor to move then, even with flotation tyres, damage to the ground is certain except on some very favoured farms. If the tractor damages the ground the Dexters will too. Moving the ring feeder to prevent damage (as is advised by cross compliance) will just spread the problem round the field and major remedial work will be needed. This costs time, if you do it yourself or money if someone else does it.

A well fenced wood is a good option for out wintering but again feed will have to be taken into it. Also, if you have smaller calves it can take a lot of time searching for them to check on their welfare.

A good airy (not drafty) barn is not a health hazard. Strawing down is costly in both time and straw but, in my opinion, Dexters' feet are better served by spending the winter on a dry straw bed rather than struggling through mud to feed.

Inger · Post by **Inger** » Fri Oct 24, 2008 4:08 am

In NZ, a number of dairy farms have built covered standing pads were their herd can be fed hay, silage etc. This saves the pastures from being pugged badly, thus delaying grass growth in the Spring. Over fine periods during Winter (don't often this year I'm afraid), the cows are let out onto a paddock.

The standing pads have a roof and usually two side walls, while the ends are normally left open in the North Island. The temperatures not being as low as you would get in Northern U.K.

Those of us with small herds, just try to provide shelter in the form of trees. So they can shelter from the prevailing wind and worst of the rain. We don't get snow where we are, so our cattle can stay outdoors all year round and fed hay/silage in the paddock.

A feeding pad of concrete, where you could put the hay stand and feed them there all Winter, while still leaving them free to graze the paddocks, could be an alternative. I call our cows to a flat area near the barn, to feed them hay each day, during Winter. It makes a mess of that area, but sacrificing one spot, is preferable to pugging up many spots around the paddocks.

If I put the slices of hay just on the other side of the fence, so they don't stand on it and waste too much of it. A very long feeding trough or hayrick would be nice, but cost a lot.