When frigid temperatures, wind, snow, and ice strike the homestead, your livestock will rely on you to help them safely endure challenging winter conditions. Preparation and vigilant animal care are vital. From feeding to housing adjustments, understand key elements of winter livestock management to keep your animals healthy and thriving even in extremely cold climates.
I know I freeze when I go outside to take care of my animals. But I did order some new winter gear this year.
I got some amazing waterproof, windproof, anti-slip gloves that are still lightweight and thin enough I can handle outdoor tasks. I also got a cozy, velvet, windproof balaclava and a couple extra tubes of my favorite hand lotion and chapstick. I also got some fleece-lined leggings. The key is to layer, layer, layer.
Caring for Livestock in Winter Weather
Shelter and Housing Considerations
While animals like horses, cattle, sheep, and goats grow thick winter coats for insulation against the cold, their basic shelter and housing needs increase during wintertime. Here’s how to adapt barns, stables, coops and hutches when icy weather blows in:
Close Up Drafts
It’s important to seal up any drafts around barn doors, vents, openings, and gaps in the walls. Caulking, weather stripping, covered windows, and storm doors help greatly. You want a space that contains heat yet still allows for ventilation to prevent dangerous ammonia build-up and moisture drips. Monitor air quality and add extra bedding if needed to keep things dry.
We buy thick sheets of plastic to put up to block northern winds and help keep coops and barns warmer but still let the sunlight in.
Add Insulation
For animals staying in pastures, provide wind blocks with straw bales stacked tightly. Bring species that are more cold intolerant, like poultry and rabbits, into warmer, sheltered spaces in the barn or garage. Insulate exterior walls with thick straw between the interior boards. Hang insulated tarps and blankets inside over animal stalls and pens. The warmer their housing, the less energy animals burn staying warm and the better their health and productivity will be.
Today, it was so cold that none of our animals opted to come out of their cozy shelters, which we added a ton of hay in. They just snuggled down in the hay and stayed indoors since the ground is covered in snow. We did move their food and water closer to coops and shelters, but not directly inside. You don’t want the inside of their shelters to get wet and freeze!
Increase Bedding
All animals need WAY more bedding material during winter since the ground and any concrete floors will be frozen. Built up layers of wood shavings, straw, shredded newspaper, pine needles, wool blankets, and old hay make suitable padding. Keep adding clean, dry layers daily atop soiled wet spots to prevent frostbite on udders, feet, combs and skin against frozen earth. Proper thick, dry bedding makes a huge difference in their comfort.
Supply Sufficient Space
Housing animals too tightly together may seem like a solution for added warmth, however overcrowding causes poor indoor air quality, increased disease transmission, and fighting/injuries. Allow each animal adequate room to move around, eat, and sleep comfortably. If your barn runs short on space, create temporary sheltered areas as needed in the pasture or build new coop housing units for expanded winter quarters.
Enable Access to Feed & Water
When snowdrifts pile up or thick ice coats everything, your livestock still needs 24/7 access to their hay, grains, and fresh unfrozen water. Set up covered feed stations elevated above the ground in paddocks to keep supplies free of moisture. Utilize water heaters designed for stock tanks and rubber buckets. Break apart thick ice layers as needed. Refill water twice a day or more when temperatures drop below freezing.
Adjust Feeding Schedules & Diet
In cold months, animals require more calories and body fat to generate warmth and energy. Their digestive tracts also work harder to utilize feed intake when temperatures plummet far below freezing. To maintain healthy weight and keep your livestock well-nourished in winter:
Provide High Quality Feed
The key is supplying top quality roughage and concentrates during this challenging season. Avoid moldy hay or silage since toxic spores can proliferate in cold, damp conditions. Feed hay elevated in protein and nutrients – clover, alfalfa, and timothy prove good choices. Even meat producing animals benefit from extra grains and enriched feed mixes at this time of year. Investing in the best feed pays off.
Increase Feed Amounts
All livestock need extra rations added to their daily feed amounts in cold weather. Their bodies utilize more calories and burn through provisions faster simply through the work of staying warm. Boosting feed also helps counteract decreased metabolism due to temperature stresses. Slow down rates for large species to prevent deadly bloat. Work up gradually to maximum amounts that keep each animal well-fed but not obese.
Maintain Consistency
Animals depend on consistent feeding times to keep their digestion on track. Stick as closely as possible to morning and evening schedules, especially for milking dairy animals. Feeding at different intervals or randomly on bitterly cold single-digit days is also perfectly fine and may better match their intake needs. Just take note of how much gets consumed as you adjust.
Provide Free Choice Hay
In addition to specific feed times, leave extra bales of hay available free choice in pastures, paddocks ,and housing areas. This gives all species ample opportunity to graze and ruminate on their own natural time tables. Free access equals less falloff in production of milk, eggs, and healthy weight since animals can eat as often as their bodies dictate.
Avoid Abrupt Diet Changes
Stick to consistent feed ingredients animals are accustomed to versus suddenly shifting rations or introducing novel feeds. Their microbial gut balance gets disrupted easily in winter. Unless following a veterinary prescription, make very gradual transitions when you do change feed mixes by blending old and new over 2-3 weeks. Monitor that manure consistency, productivity, and behavior stay normal.
Ice Control & Dealing with Mud
Icy conditions lead to increased environmental hazards that require vigilance. Snow drift cleanup, sanding slick spots, and managing mud help create safer spaces. Here are some points for mitigating winter ground issues:
Apply Sand & Ice Melt Salts
Agricultural stores carry special ice melt blends safe for concrete walkways and dirt paddocks frequented by livestock. Spread generously after heavy snow storms or when thick ice develops in high traffic areas. Always apply fresh materials daily since salts stop working once dissolved and soaked in. Use a shovel to break apart stubborn ice sheets before reapplying.
Remove Snow Buildup
Excess snow piles not only restrict animal movement but also hide potential hazards likes rocks, holes, and uneven terrain. Make rounds frequently after heavy snows to shovel and sweep clear paths and gates. Knock excessive accumulation off rooflines so it doesn’t damage structures. Block shortcuts prone to deep drifts to guide livestock through safer shoveled lanes.
Divert Runoff & Excess Moisture
Winter snow and ice leads to sloppy mud come springtime. Establish drainage channels, rain gutters, and constructive swales to divert moisture away from paddocks, stalls, hutches and walkways animals regularly travel. Layer in gravel or quarry dust to raise up and stabilize muddy areas. Move feeding, housing, milking stations if needed. Rotating living areas allows overused locations to dry out.
Limit Free Roaming
It’s often necessary to restrict free access to snowy or icy pastures. Set up temporary electric fencing perimeters around ice free zones with shelter access instead. Staking animals out with individual tie outs also keeps them from wandering into trouble. Limiting the space reduces chances of slipping, falling, getting stuck, or losing footing. Check often that tethers remain secure. Remove halters if animals stay housed stalled.
General Winter Health & Welfare Checks
While beefed up nutrition, housing, and safe access aid livestock through winter, your personal oversight and involvement plays the most vital role. Commit to complete start-to-finish health inspections daily alongside all the feed/water chores. Catching minor issues early prevents major setbacks.
Assess Energy Level & Attitudes
Healthy happy animals maintain an active mentality and enthusiastic outlook despite the dreary cold days. Yes, they move a bit slower, but you should not observe lethargy, weakness, or depression. Watch that everyone participates normally at feeding time without reluctance or fear. Sick animals tend to isolate themselves. Pay attention to subtle shifts in behavior and disposition that signal underlying issues.
Check for Shivering & Dehydration
A healthy winter coat provides adequate insulation against cold and wind when conditions stay moderately above zero. Continuous shivering, huddling, hiding, or animals feeling overly stiff and cold to the touch indicate housing that may require additional heat or insulation improvements.
Increased water intake aids digestion and prevents dehydration. Check skin tenting on eyelids and gums for tacky signs they need more fluids. Free access to liquid water sources is imperative at all times, even when you must break up frozen surfaces frequently or offer warm water.
Inspect Hooves & Paws
Livestock hooves and paw pads suffer terribly in icy elements. Look each one over carefully for signs of cracked skin, oozing wounds, limping, favoring sore feet or reluctance to move. Treat any injuries found promptly to avoid infection. Use bag balm, udder cream, or other salves to keep hooves and paws protected against drying, freezing temperatures. Check rabbits and poultry feet daily.
Confirm Proper Feed Consumption
Monitor whether all animals are actually eating their rations at meal times. Timid personalities may lose out or low ranking herd members can get bullied away from food. Make sure the grain to roughage ratio also appears balanced in individual stomachs. Signs of bloat require immediate veterinary assistance.
Manually check on any livestock acting less enthusiastic at feed time. Feel their stomach on the left for firm fullness and digesting sounds. Consistent good intake equals steady productivity and health. Intervene if any animal shows poor appetite, loose manure, or loss of cud chewing/rumination.
Brush Out Icing
Long-haired species like horses, alpacas, and certain heritage pig breeds need help keeping their fur coats cleared of snowballs and icicles that form. Use a stiff brush and your fingers to remove any accumulated debris and ice from around their eyes, nose, hooves, tails and private parts. Melting snow can lead to mud matting as well if not groomed out frequently to allow their thick protective coat to fluff back up.
Trim Overgrown Hooves & Fur
Schedule regular farrier visits to keep equine hooves properly trimmed. Their feet still grow despite winter dormancy. Mud buildup packed into sole crevices causes serious laminitis. Hard frozen earth leads to excess hoof wear. Bring other livestock up on a stand to trim overgrown fur, nails, beaks as needed to prevent issues trapping moisture and snow against skin. Sharp shears help collect wool shorn from sheep when it overaccumulates, weighted down by ice.
Stay diligent about your winter livestock inspection routines. Identify concerns early and determine solutions before small issues spiral into emergencies during the most bitter weather when problems compound quickly at subzero temperatures. With adequate planning and preparation paired with attentive animal care, you can help all your beloved creatures thrive protected from the harsh elements until spring. Stay positive and appreciate your role in nurturing their health during the challenges of winter on the homestead.
