How are conditions near you??

domsmith · Post by **domsmith** » Mon Jan 04, 2010 11:51 am

We have been snowed in now for 2 weeks. only 4 wheel drive cars can get up to us. no feed wagon oil delivery or customers can get to us.
feed is dropped off at the main road in 1/2 ton tote bags and then hauled up the road by tractor.
the fields have between 4 and 8 inches of snow lying. there are drifts up to 1 foot deep. under the snow is ice. the 2 wheel drive quad struggles, the 4 wd is essential.

we have been feeding the sheep haylage for the full period. killing lambs are getting haylage and lamb pellets.
the outside dexters are on adlib silage, the finishers are now getting barley as they are outside and i am worried.
there is no sign of a thaw.
all the water for the outside pigs is frozen, they require a hose pipe running every morning. this morning the main barn water was frozen for the 1st time even with the taps running. so all the barn had to be watered. yesterday took nearly 5 hours to feed and water. the tractor/ bikes/skidsteer all struggle to start even with new batteries.
thankfully my stock man was back in today afternew year so we managed quite quickly. but we are desperate for this to end.

whats everyone else like at the moment. certainly in my 33 years i dont remember anything like this.

dominic
sanquhar scotland

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Mon Jan 04, 2010 2:21 pm

Sounds really bad up there Dom. It's frozen where we are in Shropshire, just south of Shrewsbury, but not much snow, just a white covering. Having to lug an ibr full of water around with the JCB. All sheep are out, mainly on clover fields that I've only just opened up so they've got plenty, probably too much as they are in lamb.

I've got about 60 cattle inside, mainly calvers plus a few finishers, but half the herd are outside with ad-lib haylage, and they'll stay there. All those inside are just having haylage except a bit of feed for finishers. Still got finishing lambs outside, they've also got ad-lib haylage and get fed twice a day also, but they seem more interested in the grass than the haylage.

It is good that you can drive everywhere over the frozen land without all the mud. We're on clay, so I prefer frozen even though it is a lot of extra work.

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nuttalls · Post by **nuttalls** » Mon Jan 04, 2010 9:03 pm

hiya dom,wer'e 1000ft high and sound like you, just wish the pipes were deeper underground we are carrying water too, and it's still snowing now, neva mind can't do ewt about weather,look forward to lambing and spring. jean jordeth

clacko · Post by **clacko** » Tue Jan 05, 2010 11:15 pm

dom, sanquhar brings back memorys, stayed there in a holiday cottage for a week in march 96, bloody lovely. sounds a bit different now though.
norfolk is white at the moment but just a covering, serious frosts down to -7/8 on this breckland stripe land, everything is frozen. everyone carting water and hay to stock. we have had snow lying since the first covering the week before christmas, there is no give in the ground at all. the forecasts look interesting and we will see what they bring. our biggest problem is the poeple who don't know how to drive in these conditions and block roads mostly down to there stupidity, i moan about the plodders in the summer months but at the moment the plodders are quite refreshing to see on the roads. paul

Saffy · Post by **Saffy** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 9:26 am

It is still snowing here - South Wales between Abergavenny and Monmouth.

We have about 8 inches, which is a good few less than the higher ground just up the road, any hills, mountains areas and Ebbw Vale and Blaenavon, I expect all the "Welsh Valleys" areas have about a foot now.

We have given the half of the herd that are out just a bit of hay now as it will cover with snow too quickly for them too eat much and then feed them more in a couple of hours.

Hopefully it will have stopped then.

Stephanie

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Saffy · Post by **Saffy** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 12:05 pm

It has stopped snowing here and it is thawing a little but we are low down, so we are probably in a minority to be getting a few hours of thaw.

How is it higher up?

Stephanie

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 1:00 pm

We at 600ft in Shropshire, right next to the Wrekin. It's about 4" thick in snow and +1C at a guess, so not much thawing out going on. Some pipes frozen but a couple in the barns are clear.

Saffy · Post by **Saffy** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 1:49 pm

This was first thing but it has started snowing again here now.

Stephanie

bjreroberts · Post by **bjreroberts** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 2:16 pm

Clive, how often are you filling the ring feeders for your cattle outside?

Normally I feed mine once a day on the ground, just enough so it is not wasted and let them fill their bellies on the grass. Obviously with the snow I am now haveing to feed twice a day as they cannot get to the grass.

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 2:40 pm

bjreroberts wrote:Clive, how often are you filling the ring feeders for your cattle outside?

I'm putting about 1.25-1.50 large round bale a day of haylage for them Ben. There are 40 in that group and they have 2 ring-feeders. It's ad lib although if they run out for half a day I'm not worried.

I always seem to feed 1 large round bale per day for about 30 animals, or 1 bale would last one cow a month, not that you would do that. Don't know how that translates into other type of bales.

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bjreroberts · Post by **bjreroberts** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 3:17 pm

Thanks, I'm off to buy one then. I have been meaning to get one for sometime, but I need to go away for a couple of days and cannot find enough cattle sitters to arrange feeding twice a day.

Without a feeder they just lie on any quantity greater than their immediate requirements and waste it.

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 5:59 pm

People have said that the cattle don't like wet hay but I don't have a problem and feed outside all the time. I assume this is because I'm using tightly packed round bales and they don't last long enough to get really wet as well as being sort of waterproof.

If the hay is loose inside the feeder, you may need a lid on it, don't know.

Countrywide had 25% of Bateman ring-feeders but I THINK that was only till Jan 1st, can't remember.

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Saffy · Post by **Saffy** » Thu Jan 07, 2010 4:01 pm

Still the same here really - just thought I would add some more pics.

At least the sun is shining.

Stephanie

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Thu Jan 07, 2010 6:18 pm

Forecast is now -14C here tonight! That's cold. I remember -20C in 1983/84 where we were in the Midlands. You had to be careful what you touched otherwise you stuck to it.

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Saffy · Post by **Saffy** » Thu Jan 07, 2010 7:55 pm

That was a hard winter Clive and difficult trying to milk the cows, the easy milkers, where some ran out before I got the machine on were leaving little stalagmites of milk on the floor. Washing the udders was torture, my hands were so cold. We couldn't clean the parlour or yards as the muck was hard as stone. The milk froze in the pipes between parlour and dairy and the bulk tank of milk actually froze one night, stopping the automatic paddle. The milk tanker didn't come either, so we were loading the milk into an emergency tank on a trailor and taking it to a meeting point on a main road but some did get thrown down the drain when roads were not passable.

Stephanie