![]() There are many sad stories of farmers finding their livestock frozen to the ground after ice storms, but that can be avoided. That said, it’s also nice to have some form of shelter to keep the rain off your animals. It should be available to them when a rainstorm blows in right before a cold snap. This doesn’t necessarily have to be indoors hay works well for bedding down. But a goat shouldn’t get wet and cold.” Or put another way: Livestock need a dry place to go. Plant thick edges of trees along your fencerow or use physical barriers, such as barns or gates with blankets, so your animals can get out of the wind.Īs the saying goes, “A goat can get wet, or a goat can get cold. Whether or not you’re rotating your livestock, provide wind breaks during the colder dips in temperature. Most livestock can handle pretty low temperatures it’s the wind that they can’t handle. You can also insulate the tank or place it in a shed protected from the wind, so long as the animals can get to it. If access to electricity is an issue, you can use some tricks: Larger tanks, for instance, have more thermal mass, and thus the water will retain more of its own heat. Fortunately, many affordable devices can help lift that concern off your shoulders-some that float, some that heat the container itself and some that circulate the water like a creek. Livestock need a lot of water in the winter snow is not enough. ![]() Keeping water from freezing is one of the biggest and most important challenges when overwintering livestock. Bare, wet soil in the winter loses soil nutrition, but cover crops keep the soil alive and healthy until spring. Cover crops cover the soil and provide root systems for the microbiology below the surface to gain and retain nutrients. The parts of your garden that don’t have edible crops for harvest should have crops that nourish the soil. In really cold spells, place row covers directly over the plants, and then another section over hoops for double protection. This material is designed to keep the cold off of the plants and to keep heat around them, and it comes in a variety of thicknesses. You may be surprised to see how long your fall garden can hang in there with a little bit of row cover. Here are some ways to survive until spring’s thaw arrives. However, not all has to be lost during the cold season. Freezing temperatures, snow, sleet and ice can wreak havoc on your land, home, outbuildings and animals, and make you feel isolated from the rest of your community. Winter can be a relief for many farmers, who welcome the much-needed rest after a long growing season, but it can also be a trying period.
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