Snow As a Water Source

Frozen Tanks? No Tanks? "Snow" Problem.

Yes, it's true. Cows eat snow. 

As do deer, goats, and sheep.

More than a foot of snow in Robin's part
of Indiana! Check out her blog:
Bring It On Home

So, that back pasture that you don't ever use because there isn't a creek, a pond, or a trough and you HATE hauling water... you need to put that into your rotational grazing plan for wintering your cows.

I met a gentlemen from Oregon at NCBA and we briefly discussed this. He said that his cattle learned "real fast" to eat the snow.

Many producers are surprised to discover the rapid adaptability of cattle to eating snow.

One study suggests that it takes roughly 2 days (35 hrs in their experiment) for cattle to take to eating snow. (Young and Degen, 1980)

After the initial switch, they observed that the cattle had no problem switching back and forth from liquid water to snow. In fact, they go on to state that the second animal started eating the snow half an hour after the first.  (Young and Degen, 1980) So, what this strongly suggests is that:

 "You can truck water to a cow and she will drink for a day. 

Teach her to eat snow and she'll never go thirsty."

My caution: Now, if we consider how cattle eat, we know they use their tongues in a swooping motion to wrap around grass. They gulp to drink. Thus, they prefer powdered, fresh snow. Don't expect a cow to bite into a hardened pile of snow. It will tear up her dental pad (no upper front teeth!) and make her bleed and sore. She will most likely have too sore of a mouth after that to eat snow or feed. OUCH!

Deer, sheep, and goats are different. They don't use their tongues like cattle. They use a biting motion to grasp their food. But, think about the wild deer and sheep that live in valleys, on mountain sides, and other hard to reach places. They adapt to eating snow as well.

Utilizing mother nature to save you time, money, and other valuable resources can be a great addition to your grazing rotation. Sending cattle off to those back pastures that have small tanks that freeze easily or have no water at all isn't a half bad idea.

Don't break your back breaking ice or trucking water. It really does work! Share your experience using snow in the comment section below.

Stay warm out there,

The Bos Lady

Cited: Young, B.A. and A.A. Degan. 1980. Ingestion of snow by cattle. J. Anim. Sci. 51:811-815.