Moving to High Elevation

[DiamondS]

It's official, my fiance' and I have taken a ranch job at 8,800 ft elevation.  Going to leave my flatlander cows behind, and may try to take them next spring after they calve.  Does anybody have any advice for does and don'ts.  Has anybody had any luck taking cows from low elevation to high elevation.  I don't really want to sell them as they were given to me as part of my wages and I have built up a nice sized herd of cows.  I'm looking to learn from somebody elses experiences.  Thanks!

 

[cowz]

What elevation are you now?  Talk to your vet about PAP testing your cattle.  Study up on High Mountain or Brisket Disease.  It can ruin a good bull in a hurry.  Search this site for brisket disease as we had a good discussion about it a few months ago.  Also, if you have herefords, they are not as prone to it as angus.....but you should test!

 

[DiamondS]

We are at 1,000 ft now so it will be a huge change.  That's why I'm not taking the girls until the weather would level out.  This time of year there is a lot of variances.  My biggest problem is going to be that it's 600 miles to the new job.  If I take the cows (hereford and angus) PAP test them and they fail, it's a long ways back home at $5.00 fuel!  Thanks for the advice.  I've found some good info, and a lot of it says different things.  I'm trying to contact Tim Holt at CSU, but haven't heard back from him yet.....