Cow care in winter
Topics
10 min read
A successful winter grazing system will take the cows’ experience into account alongside the environmental, financial and practical aspects of wintering. The following are focus areas for wintering and include an overview to cow health, lying time, calving surface, diet and body condition, and what to consider in prolonged wet weather. Ensure cows are in good body condition, as fat acts as insulation. Aim to put on body condition in early winter. Group dry cows based on their condition and calving date, enabling tailored feeding and protection from dominant cows. Keep an eye out for health issues and transition cows onto winter crops gradually to prevent illness.
Cow health and comfort in winter
Winter preparation for cows is key to their health and productivity. Make the most of your crop through careful management and attention to detail. Early detection of a cow health problem will greatly increase the cow’s chance of recovery.
Cow wellbeing goes beyond providing food, water and health care. Consider important cow behaviours, such as lying down, rest, access to shelter, and how it affects their experience. Cows can be healthy and well fed, but still experience frustration and fatigue which impacts their overall wellbeing.
If your cows are cared for by a grazier over winter, you still have a responsibility for their welfare. Use the headings below as points to discuss with your grazier so both parties understand what’s expected.
Daily health checks
Daily health checks are crucial when checking cows on crops it's important to look out for lameness, injury, loss of body condition score, mastitis. Check calving conditions and keep an eye out for slipped or early calved cows. Watch for signs of fatigue, for example, cow head hanging low or shifting weight from side-to-side, these can indicate cows aren’t getting enough lying time.
Some of the signs of health issues that can occur on crops are in the table below. Read more on cow health here.
| Health Issue | Observation |
| Metabolic disorder or mineral deficiency | Wobbly, down, lethargic, or skittish cows. |
| Red water or SMCO poisoning |
Red urine, weakness, diarrhoea,jaundice, decreased appetite and poor performance. |
| Bloat |
Protruding rumen, no longer grazing,reluctant to move, rapid breathing, staggering. |
| Photosensitivity | Reddening and peeling of pink skin. |
| Woody tongue/tooth issue | Tongue is swollen, and cow finds it painful to eat and drink. |
Cow lying time
Cows are selective about the surface they’ll lie on. If the ground is wet, they’ll stay standing but become tired and experience a drop in well-being as a result. Cows will compensate for shorter lying times during bad weather by increasing their lying time when the weather and ground conditions improve.
Cows require a minimum of 8-10 hours of lying time per day and prefer 10-12 hours. It’s important to make sure conditions are good enough for them to lie down comfortably when they want to. This is a requirement of the Dairy Cattle code of welfare.
As shown in a trial completed at the Southern Dairy Hub in 2020, cow lying time is negatively impacted by rainfall events. Neave et al., 2022 – Behaviour of dairy cows managed outdoors in winter: Effects of weather and paddock conditions.
I know my cows are getting enough time resting if most of the cows are lying down when I check them in the afternoon, or if I can see lots of lying bowls where they have been lying.
Farmer tip
A study conducted by DairyNZ in partnership with AgResearch on behaviour of dairy cows managed outdoors in winter found the following results:
- For every 1 mm increase in rainfall, lying time reduces by 24 minutes and 29 minutes the following day.
- When soils are already wet, a relatively small rainfall event i.e. 12 mm in 24 hours can reduce lying time to an average of two and half hours a day.
- Around a third of the mob may not lie down for 24 hours during periods of heavy rainfall that result in sodden soil conditions.
- Lying time decreases with increased water pooling and poor soil structure (soil moisture, liquification). These conditions can be used to indicate if the lying surface is suitable for cows.
- Following a rainfall event when soil conditions improve, lying time will be greater than before to compensate for time when there was limited access to suitable lying conditions.
- Cooler air temperatures can also reduce lying time because cows lose heat faster when underfoot conditions are wet.
Note:
If swale and gullies are well managed and the soil type is suitable for wintering, cows will experience the majority of winter with a suitable lying area.
Persistent rain over several days requires similar management to an adverse weather event. Read more on wet weather management here.
Look for lying 'bowls' during winter grazing
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Look for lying 'bowls' during winter grazing
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Assessing paddock conditions
To assess paddock conditions in wet weather and determine actions to help maintain cow welfare, score your paddock using the scoring system below and take action if required.
Score one: Feed intake and lying time not restricted.
- No water pooling
- Soil is firm and crumbly and, if held in hand, does not seep between fingers
- Cows lying down
- Gumboot imprint dry and sides remain formed
No action required.
Score two: Feed intake and lying time affected.
- No water pooling
- Soil is sticky and, if held in hands, some soil seeps between fingers
- Cows may lie down
- Gumboot imprint wet, may be sticky, and less defined
Actions to consider:
- Giving access to drier areas in the paddock i.e. behind the back fence or next to shelter
- Feeding extra supplement or crop (excluding fodder beet)
- Spreading straw for a drier lying surface
Score three: Feed intake and lying time restricted.
- Water pooling
- Soil is liquefied and, if held in hand, seeps between fingers
- Cows will not lie down
- Gumboot imprint disappears and the paddock is difficult to walk across
Actions to consider:
- Giving access to drier areas in the paddock i.e. behind the back fence or next to shelter
- Spreading straw for a drier lying surface
- Feeding extra supplement or crop (excluding fodder beet)
- For grass paddocks, give a second break area
- If poor weather persists, cows should be given access to grass break out zones, a grass paddock or stand-off area/facility
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Providing a comfortable lying surface for cows during winter
Minimising the challenges around cow comfort and environmental management begins well before winter, with selecting the right paddock for planting. Have a plan for how you manage the herd and paddock when it no longer provides a comfortable lying surface.
Here are some suggestions for how you can do this:
- Move the break fence regularly to provide fresh ground, as long as it does not result in the overallocation of crops and create potential nutritional risks. Feeding twice a day will improve feed utilisation and provide the opportunity to move cows onto drier ground.
- Move the back fence to provide cows access to drier areas or sheltered areas in previously grazed parts of the paddock. Put it back in place once the poor weather has passed.
- Protect the area closest to the feeding face by grazing animals into the prevailing weather conditions.
- During prolonged periods of wet weather when paddocks become too wet and muddy, it’s important to have a contingency plan. Save drier areas, especially any with shelter, for your contingency plan. Move cows out of the paddock to drier paddocks or dedicated areas on the farm such as tussock blocks, shelter belts and off-paddock facilities.
- Keep supplement feed and water troughs near the feeding face, not in any swales or hollows where it may create excess mud.
- Roll out hay or straw for cows to lie down on.
- If you have limited options, put cows that will be most affected by a period of poor weather (younger, lighter, earlier calvers) into paddocks with the most shelter, best soil condition or best feed.
- Lanes and yards do not provide a comfortable lying surface unless covered with a comfortable rubber matting.
Providing hay or straw for cows to lie down on can improve cow comfort.
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Providing hay or straw for cows and calves to lie down on can improve cow comfort.
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Providing hay or straw for cows to lie down on can improve cow comfort.
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A grass break out zone in a kale paddock at the Southern Dairy Hub.
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A grass breakout zone between two blocks of fodder beet to provide cows access to a drier area.
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Management strategies for calving in winter
Include calving conditions in your wintering plan to ensure the whole farm team understands the level of care expected on your farm during winter.
Video: Calving in winter
Dairy farmer Luke Templeton shares his top tips for having a successful calving over winter.
Check calving conditions when winter grazing: Planning to calve in the right conditions is essential for cow and calf health. Avoid calving in muddy conditions to decrease the risk of death and infections for both the cow and the calf.
Mob cows by calving date: Grouping cows by calving date and removing them from crop paddocks well before calving will help protect cow and calf welfare. Remove animals from intensively grazed winter paddocks at least two weeks before their expected calving date.
If a calf is born on crop, promptly collect and remove the calf and cow to a drier area. Know what you will do with a slip or early calver (include actions to take for cow and calf).
Timed pregnancy diagnosis allows you to be well organised by identifying the animals closest to calving to move to the springer/calving area. Talk to your vet about dating pregnancies at scanning.
Be careful with low-protein feeds: Be careful in mobs fed fodder beet or high yielding swedes, as bagging, or springing up, is limited in cows on low-protein feeds. If feeding fodder beet, detail how you observe springing udders since cows might not bag up as much.
We pregnancy date scan our herd so that we know when each cow is expected to calve. Cows are drafted off the crop and into a pre-calving mob ten days before their expected calving date, or earlier if they udder up.
Farmer tip
Cold stress
Cold stress in cows can occur in extreme cold and wet weather conditions. When designing your plan, consider the welfare of your cows and any potential environmental impact. Remember to factor in cold stress as it can have a greater impact on cows with low body condition score.
If a cow is clean and dry and there is little wind or rain, cold stress is rare until temperatures fall below -10°C.
The factors that increase the risk of cold stress are:
- Combination of cold temperatures, rain and wind
- Wet muddy ground conditions
- Low body condition score
- Low feeding levels
- Sickness
- No access to shelter
In poor weather, allow for decreased feed utilisation and increased energy demand. Depending on the BCS of the herd, and the weather situation, wet and windy conditions require an additional 0.5 – 3 kg DM/cow/day of intake.
Cows in good body condition are better able to withstand cold as the fat layer beneath the skin acts as an insulating layer. Body condition score the herd in autumn to make dry-off decisions, create winter mobs, and hit BCS targets at calving to improve cow performance the following season.
Our cows are wintered in BCS mobs, and then we redraft them into calving date mobs a couple of weeks before calving starts. For easy drafting, we tail paint our cows according to their calving date before they go to the winter crop.
Farmer tip
Cow nutrition
Feeding on and off crop: Cows must be transitioned on and off winter crops to allow the gut bacteria time to adjust to a new feed source. If wintering on crop, increase the proportion of supplement for up to a week to allow the gut bacteria to adjust back to a pasture-based diet.
The last 3–4 weeks of pregnancy: During the last 3–4 weeks of pregnancy, provide the correct balance of nutrients such as energy, protein, calcium, magnesium and phosphorus. This will improve ease of calving, calf survival, and the quality and quantity of their colostrum.
Key takeaways
- Cows prefer 10-12 hours of lying time every day.
- Calving in muddy environments can increase risks for calves and cows, so you should consider measures like grouping cows by calving date and removing them from crop paddocks well before calving.
- If a cow is clean and dry and there is little wind or rain, cold stress is rare until ambient temperatures fall below -10°C.
Podcast - What cows prefer in winter
Tune in to Episode 80 of Talking Dairy, where DairyNZ Senior Scientist Dawn Dalley shares 15 years of research and practical tips to help you manage and ensure your cows thrive during the challenging winter months.