'Tis the season! Well, yeah, Christmas and New Year's is comin', but on the homestead, this time of year also means something else. With the drifting snow and the falling temps, protecting your critters becomes even more important than usual. Not only do you need to protect your animals from cold weather and all the troubles it brings by itself, you also need to be more aware of predators since their free and easy buffet is drying up. Here's a few quick tips to help you prepare for the winter season.
Most animals, save for some specialty breeds, do fine in cold weather as long as they have a few simple adjustments....mainly shelter from the rain, snow and wind, adequate food to stoke the internal furnace (the simple act of digesting food creates inner heat that helps the animal make it through the cold better) and easy to access water. A shelter can be as fancy as a barn or as easy as a lean-to, hoop house or in the case of goats and sheep, a dog house. Contrary to popular belief, bigger is not better when it comes to winter shelter...the animal's body heat can actually help heat the structure if it's small enough. Just be sure to give proper bedding, usually hay or straw is good, as both enable the animal to lay or burrow into it and make sure the entrance is situated away from the wind.
Predators are finding less plentiful food and are starting to eye your livestock and pets more seriously. As a good steward to your critters, you need to make their areas as safe as possible. That could be as easy as shutting the chickens and other birds up in their coops earlier, before the evening's hunt begins or as much work as stringing extra lines of electric fence, beefing up existing fencing or even investing in livestock guardian dogs. Determined predators may even cause a need for hunting and trapping.
Below are a few links to our files and more intensive information on winter care of your pets and livestock.
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