The Girls Need In

We are now at that time of year when the weather is trying to do it's best to make things as tough as possible . Don't get me wrong , we have had it much worse at this time before , but it always creeps up on you non the less. roadways start to get mucky , gateways have puddles in them and in general , the land starts to get wet . Grass quality is also rapidly decreasing and now would be the time to be thinking of bringing the cows inside for the winter .
This is always a tricky topic here . On the one hand there is ME that is saying " Bring them in" and on the other is the BOSS saying "NO , they're fine outside" . Of course , both camps are correct , up to a point . It just depends what you want from your herd of cows and how you want them to perform , particularly later on in the year. The argument for keeping them out revolves around the fact that there is still grass outside. this is fine , the cows will eat the grass and it is now a really cheap feed , trouble being there won't be as much feed value in the grass as is thought . Now , again , that in itself is okay if you are not pushing for yield and you just want the cows to produce milk at a leisurely pace. If high yields are to be maintained then the "girls" must be kept on an optimum plain of nutrition for as much time as possible. We are feeding around 3.5 tons of expensive buffer feed at the moment and they are just cleaning it up in a matter of hours just after milking. Then , they get shoved outside and some of the good is undone by them foraging around in the wet fields , especially at night , where temperatures are starting to dip. Basically , at the moment we are nearly getting a roller coaster effect in their nutrition .
Most other herds in the area are now inside , but we always go through this annual ritual of keeping them out , until the milk falls sufficiently to become a worry, and then they are hurriedly brought in and expected to pick up where they left off , before the fall in production.
If thee cows were brought in sooner , before the dip in yield , then they would have a steadier output , a more balanced ration , and ultimately , adapt to their winter housing way quicker , with no ground to make up in the short term .
(There, got that off my chest ! )