Keeping livestock over winter - Tips and advice

[sumi]

It's winter for most of us at the moment and nearly all of us here has some livestock, so I thought it'd be a good idea to share our winter livestock keeping tips etc here.

What do you all do to make things easier for you and your livestock over winter? Be it dogs, chickens, goats, sheep, pigs... Please share your methods, tips, lessons learned and anything else.

 

[tortoise]

My goats are pastured all winter with minimal shelter - they can go in a grain bin to get out of the weather. This year DH put a frost free faucet on the side of our house, near the goat pen. I moved their water bucket closer to the faucet.... conveniently right next to the electric fencer outlet so they get a bucket de-icer this winter. DH gives them round bales - insummer he buys the previous year's round bales for cheap. Last winter they went through 3. They're eating on the same hay now - it's 2 years old. My goats are not producers. 2 whethers and a dairy buck. They do very nicely without much care or expense.

My ewes are bred in winter, so they get good hay. I check their body condition frequently and supplement with grain as needed. They lounge in the barn in winter but still have access to their pastures. DH hangs strips of carpet in the barn doors to block some of the wind.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Ummmm,,, lemme think... I know there's something. Oh yeah - I buy new mud boots...for ME, lol. And I close the window on the north wall of the barn....and I buy extra hay. That's about it.

 

[NH Homesteader]

Gotta love Texas!

 

[baymule]

What are these winter preparations of which you speak?

 

[NH Homesteader]

When we had ducks, we used to go out and smash a hole in the stream for them to swim in. Every single day. All winter. Now I'm remembering why we no longer have ducks.

I was going to fence the free ranging chickens in before winter, but ran out of time. They haven't left the shoveled area outside their coop... It's like a snow fence! Lol!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Ugh.... sounds like work! Love it that your chickens are staying close. There must be something to this snow fence thingy!

 

[Mini Horses]

I have several heated tubs & buckets but only use when several days of freeze, they are expensive to run. However, great if long cold spell!!. Otherwise, I break ice and add hot water. Sometimes I keep one heated tub plugged in to dip out the water for refills......in the barn, saves me steps. It's where animals can't use it.

Generally we thaw most days and I refill tubs/troughs then, late day. We do not NORMALLY get day long freeze except a week or two in Jan/Feb time frame. A week if it's a bad winter. Then those tubs are plugged in!!!!! One year -- horrid weather -- almost a month of extreme and those tubs were a life saver for me and the animals. Refilling was even a chore that year. A 50gal dedicated water container in back of pickup was filled at the garage, driven to troughs.

If you surround your troughs with wood, even insulate, it sure helps with freeze issue. You people in the far North, you can hardly keep a hose thawed while using it! Some of the mini horse people had tales that were unreal for their amount of freezing. I prefer my more moderate temps -- and even they are challenging some years.

 

[Denim Deb]

Got to thinking about this thread because of the cold we've been experiencing and the problems so many w/larger animals are having keeping water from freezing.

In the field next to mine is a different type of automatic waterer. The one in my field (if it was working) has a heater in it to keep the water from freezing. And I also have a stock tank w/a heater in it. Both of these use quite a bit of electricity to keep the water from freezing. When I get my own place, while I'll still have the stock tank, I won't be using it as much. Instead, I'll get a " drinking post" waterer. This type of waterer does not use electricity. It works about like a frost free hydrant. There is a bowl, but the water does not stay in it. The animals have to push on a paddle. The bowl fills w/water so the animal can drink. Then, the water drains out.

Here's a couple of different styles of them. The cost is about the same as for the style of waterer that's in my field, but is a lot less bother.

http://www.rammfence.com/barn/horse-waterers-and-buckets/horse-post-waterer

https://www.horsedrinker.com/products/horse-donkey-mule-waterer/

 

[Denim Deb]

I can't put out a RB. Licorice is fat enough as it is. If I put out a RB, she'd look like a pumpkin w/legs. The past few days, the weather has been so bad I've had to put their hay in hay nets and hang it in the run-in. It would have been buried by the snow on Thursday, and would have blown away every other day.