Ice-box heifers

Outwintering youngstock helped these expansion-minded producers keep facility costs at a minimum
by Rick Mooney

Conventional wisdom: You can't keep Holstein heifers outside all winter in the upper Midwest. They just aren't hardy enough to stand up to the rigors of harsh winter weather.

Nonsense, respond Kevin Belkholm, Braham, Minn. and Dave Kretzschmar, Mellen, Wis. Not only can Holstein youngstock take the tough stuff offered up by the climate, say these north country producers, they can actually thrive in it.

As part of a herd-expansion project that will eventually take his herd from 70 to 300 milk cows, Belkholm started keeping older heifers-roughly 15 months and up-in a woodlot/pasture throughout the winter. "When we started the expansion [about four years ago], we were keeping our heifers in a shed built for 40 animals," he explains. "Sometimes we had as many as 70 head packed in there during the winter. They were always dirty. And trying to bed the thing was always a big problem. With heifer numbers growing, I knew we had to do something different."

Rather than tie up scarce capital in a new facility, Belkholm opted to turn out heifers into a lowland pasture/woodlot located about half a mile from the farmstead. "When we first started keeping them outside, we were concerned that we'd get a blizzard and wouldn't be able to get to them," says Belkholm. "So far, that hasn't been a problem."

The pasture covers about 80 acres. Clumps of ash and willow trees scattered throughout provide protection from the winds. "Site selection is really critical," says Belkholm. "In our case, the pasture is in a low area that's pretty much sheltered from the wind. You wouldn't want to keep them up on the hill where you get a lot of wind whipping across."

Along with site selection, Belkholm pegs the following as keys to managing outwintered Holstein heifers:

Feeding. Kevin's dad, Chester, handles feeding chores for youngstock. Dry hay is fed in bale rings. Corn silage is fed via a feeder wagon hauled to the site once a day. "You definitely reduce the workload when you keep heifers outside," says Belkholm. "The tradeoff is that you have to be the sort of person who can hop onto the tractor to go check the cattle when the temperature is minus 20 and the wind is blowing 30 miles an hour."

Water. Belkholm originally relied on existing deep-water stock ponds to provide water. But that approach presented several problems: "Dad spent a lot of time chopping ice every day," he says. "And in the spring and fall, when the ice was only a few inches thick, the cattle would walk out onto the pond and break through." To solve the problem, last year Belkholm dug a shallow pond fed by a spring. "It picks up geothermal heat and stays open nearly all the time," he says. "Water is really a limiting factor in doing things this way."

Stocking rates. This winter, Belkholm is stocking upwards of 100 head in the pasture. At any given time, he estimates, the cattle are making use of just two to three acres. "I wouldn't want to do it with just five or 10 head," he says. "With this many animals, if we do get a big snowstorm, the cattle have a large area trampled down within a few hours. They don't have to waste any energy struggling to buck the snow."

In assessing pluses and minuses of this approach to heifer rearing, Belkholm points out that typical age at first calving in his herd is 24 to 27 month, about the same as when heifers were reared inside. "But overall the cattle stay a lot cleaner and a lot healthier," he says.

Bottom line: Belkholm doubts he'll be looking over blueprints for a heifer rearing facility any time soon. "This gave me the opportunity to grow the herd without laying out a big pile of cash to house the youngstock," he says. "What I learned along the way is that heifers don't need a lot in the way of housing to do well."

Dave Kretzschmar has an even longer track record for keeping heifers outside in winter. Up until about 10 years ago, Kretzschmar was housing all heifers from an 80-cow herd (at that time) in a shed with an open southern front. As part of an expansion program, he decided to push older heifers-12 months old and up-outside year around.

Resource allocation played a big role in the decision. "When you look at the $1,200 or so that the experts figure it costs to take a heifer from birth to freshening in this part of the country, you can figure a good portion goes to capital and interest for a building," says Kretzschmar, who now manages a 210-cow herd with a production average topping 25,000 lb.

"And most of the buildings that you see heifers in are fairly labor intensive. No matter what kind of system you have-scraping, hauling, whatever-you can spend lots of time handling manure. The way we're set up now, the heifers basically spread the manure themselves."

At this dairy, heifers are moved off summer pasture to a 200-acre woodlot/pasture in the late fall. As creeks and other existing watering sources start to freeze over, the animals are moved to a sheltered 40-acre paddock near the milk barn. "Cold doesn't bother the animals a bit," he explains. "But they don't like the wind. Whatever you can use to slow down that wind-a man-made windbreak, a thick grove of trees or a valley-will make a difference."

Heifers in Kretzschmar's herd typically throw a first calf at 22 months of age. A particularly good group of a dozen heifers freshening after a tough winter a few years back averaged over 33,000 lb. of milk in their first lactation. "The way we see things now, there's no reason to have a building for heifers," he says. "What I really like about it is that the heifers stay so much cleaner when they're outside, especially in the fall and spring."

Kretzschmar points to a number of "keys" to successfully managing an outwintering program for dairy heifers. Getting heifers off to a good start (i.e. before they spend a winter outdoors) is essential. At Kretzschmar's, baby calves are started in individual hutches. At roughly 2.5 months, they move to a super hutch, then through a series of group pens until they're ready for pasture. "My feeling on heifers is that if you do a good job with them in the first eight months, the rest is easy," he says. "Body condition is extremely important. We like them to go into the winter with a body condition score of 3.25 or even a little better."

Feeding quality forages is equally important. Kretzschmar uses wagons to feed a blend of corn silage, haylage, minerals and ionophores and some long hay "when it's available." He calculates average dry-matter intake throughout the winter at roughly 22 lb. a day. "You have to have feed for them all the time," says Kretzschmar. "Inside, you can let the mangers get down to where they're bare once in awhile. Outside, that just doesn't work.

"They don't necessarily need a lot more energy. They just need more feed because they eat a little more when it's cold outside. I compare it to feeding a single ration TMR. You don't balance things any differently for the cow that's giving you 100 lb. of milk and the cow that's giving you 50 lb. of milk. The 100-lb. cow just eats a little more."

Hugh Chester Jones, ruminant specialist at the University of Minnesota's Southern Experiment Station in Waseca, agrees with Kretzschmar's assessment. "You need to get enough energy into them so they can maintain themselves," he says. "The important thing is to make sure that all the animals are getting what they need. There can be a lot of variation in intake according to the size of animals. Grouping by size would be beneficial."

University of Wisconsin dairy specialist Pat Hoffman points out that whether heifers are housed inside or out in the winter, adjusting energy requirements for cold stress can be tricky business. Duration and severity of cold, wind, animal size and hair coat will all play a role in calculating energy needs. For example, clean, dry animals with excellent hair coat can withstand relatively cold temperatures and require only modest energy adjustments in cold weather. On the other hand, energy requirements for animals with mud-laden haircoats "will rise dramatically" as temperatures fall.

But you also need to guard against overdoing it on energy. "Extremely high energy diets formulated to meet cold stress needs may not meet minimum levels of dietary fiber to maintain proper rumen function," Hoffman notes.

Effect of temperature and body mud on NEm requirements of dairy replacement heifers

(1)Average season temperatures at Marshfield, Wis.

(2)Mud condition: None = no mud, Medium = mud on legs/abdomen, Heavy = mud on legs, abdomen, sides and/or flanks.

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