It's been a pretty up and down winter here too. Not much snow but several very cold spells with winds. Quite a few nights below zero. Ground is frozen quite deep although the top got muddy recently.

I am very pleased with their condition. I do not have barns or any sort of shelter, just the woods on the north and west sides of this pasture. They are never under a roof until they step in the trailer. My Herefords are well adapted to my climate and system. Most get real woolly in the winter to stay warm and slick up nicely to stay cool before the summer heat.

My hay is all mixed grasses with varying amounts of alfalfa depending on which field it came from. I'll be interseeding a couple pastures this spring where the alfalfa has worn out. Red clover works well interseeded here where there's been significant alfalfa recently. The hay in the picture was first crop that was baled dry and then wrapped.  I put the bull in for start of calving April 26th this year so the cows and bred  heifers are only about 6-8 weeks from calving. From now on I'll start ramping them up to the best hay I have until rotational grazing starts about the 2nd week of May and many will have calves at their side.

Regarding grain, I don't usually feed grain. I believe a cow should be able to thrive in the winter on good hay, good mineral (Mineral-lyx), a white salt block and heated water. There have been some cold nights where it was -10F or lower with windchills way below that and then highs in the single digits F. Ahead of extreme cold, I will occasionally give them a couple buckets of a sweet feed blend from our local feed store in the corral bunks to make sure they have enough calories for extreme cold. 

This is also a good training reminder for the times I need them in the corral for a vet visit, sorting etc.  They can be in the woods 1/4 mile away and all I need to do is call them and bang on a white bucket and they come galloping down the hill and into the corral. There are a couple cows with a sweet tooth and the rest follow. I buy the sweet feed in 50 lb bags and it is not a regular thing nor a major nutritional source. Cows are designed by nature with 4 stomachs to thrive on good grass. We just need to let them do that.