Cattle in winter

The biggest mistake in terms of stock health and welfare over winter is too many animals and not enough pasture.

Research shows it’s better to decide to destock as early as possible, even if you lose money on the sale price. Keeping them will almost always cost far more if you factor in the longterm damage to soil and pasture quality and money spent on supplements trying to maintain condition.

■ Young stock needs good quality leafy pastures to keep them growing at 1kg+ per day.

■ Pregnant cows should have a body condition score of 5 for calving (rounded hips).

■ If it gets cold and wet, feed out extra roughage, such as hay. Use hay bales to create windbreaks for weaners to sit behind for protection from wind and rain – the bonus is they can eat it too.

■ Talk to your vet about mineral supplements, which take time to build up in the body. For pregnant cattle, it’s important to be feeding magnesium and calcium supplements. Other concerns include copper, which may be low, especially if you’ve used zinc to prevent facial eczema over summer.

■ If you buy grain-based supplements, introduce them slowly in combination with roughage such as hay. See the information on sheep for more on why this is crucial to prevent acidosis.