Winter here in Northeast Wisconsin can be brutal. Or it can be friendly. We never know what we’re gonna get, so we always plan for the worst, and hope for the best! As I write this we’ve already had the first snow of the season, and it’s been colder than normal for this time of year.
Winter 2014 was a record-setting year for cold and snow in the Green Bay WI area. We had 54 days straight of below zero temps, and over 72 inches of snow. In January 2019 Green Bay WI tied a record for cold with -26 F. Words cannot describe the harshness of -26 (-50 with a windchill). We got so cold so fast we could only do 5-10 minutes of chores outside before needing to warm up. I always want to be prepared for these kinds of winters that come our way!
Winter prep, at least to me, feels like it is always on our minds and happens year round 🙂 In Spring and Summer we take the time to change anything in the layout of shelters, or food and water set ups, that didn’t perform well or allowed for easy care for the year prior.
Starting in June we are already planning for the upcoming winter by purchasing and putting up bales of hay and straw as it becomes available. June is generally when the first crop of hay is taken in by the farmers. Depending on weather, several crops of hay can come off the fields by the end of summer. The kinds of animals needed to be fed determines what kind of hay we buy. Our goats are pretty cool with any kind of hay, but really love softer grasses like orchard and timothy. Our llamas like the softer grasses too, and we try to buy hay with a little bit of alfalfa in it for when it gets especially cold. Alfalfa is higher in protein and helps keep the herd warm through digestion in the coldest parts of the year. Straw is our go to bedding in cold weather. It helps the animals retain heat, doesn’t get stuck in their fiber, and we can bed it several inches deep for maximum insulation. This year, with llama babies, we are already bedding a lot of straw to help the little ones stay warm.
Other projects we work on in fall are to prep the shelters for all animals for the upcoming season. Every shelter gets fully cleaned out with fresh bedding and straw put down. I also like to put barn lime down in the chicken coops and goat coops to help keep the smell down in winter. Cleaning the coops and barns out in winter isn’t just hard, it can be almost impossible. So to ensure the animals keep clean we use what’s called a “deep litter method” in our goats and chickens. This means that we simply pile more straw or bedding on top of the soiled bedding in the coops.
As the soiled bedding breaks down it creates a small amount of heat for the animals, and the new bedding gives them a clean place to lay. All shelter doors are made sure to be in working order, and we board up any open spots to help keep the snow and wind out. Our goat shelter has heavy duty plastic stripping hanging from the overhang, which helps keep the snow out and provides a wind break. Those get checked over for any cracks or tears. The chicken and goose runs get shoveled out and prepped for snow drifts. It gets pretty windy by our farm, and the drifts can sometimes be tall enough to block the entryways for the animals. Cleaning out the runs allows for us to shovel a path to the doors.
Watering our animals in summer is easy – we just run a hose to every pen. In winter that isn’t an option, and there is some heavy lifting involved to water everyone. All our animals get either submersible tank heaters (goats and llamas) or heated water bases for chickens and turkeys. Geese and ducks need open water containers to fully submerse their heads into to stay healthy. They all get rubber tanks with submersible heaters in them. Until we can install a frost free water hydrant closer to some of our animals, we have had to make do with bringing buckets to the animals to water them daily. They certainly don’t care, so long as the water is fresh and clean.
For most of our animals we have string lights running through their shelters. This is more for us than them. It makes chore time a lot easier, and I am not a fan of wearing a head lamp if I don’t have to in the dark of winter! All the bulbs that are burnt out need to be changed, and any dust needs to be cleaned off the strands. We’ve found it to be extremely helpful to install battery operated motion lights around the property in areas that we can’t run electrical to yet. Not only does it light our way, but the motion sensors deter some predators who are startled by the unexpected lights. Batteries need to be changed out and I check all the lights at dark to make sure they come on as expected.
We also make sure to check all the fencing before hard winter sets in. That becomes a regular thing to do after storms in any season. Branches could be down on the fencing, or wind could knock it over.
Our barn cats are pretty spoiled for winter here 🙂 The cats all get access to heated animal beds throughout the barn. Some of the beds are in little shelters as well if anyone wants to hide and be warm. They all have access to the hay and straw bales we store in the barn for the animals. The bales are usually THE go to spot for the cats. I feed extra dry and wet food in winter for the cats to keep their calorie intake up. They also have access to fresh water in either the goat pen or llama pen. Those water troughs are kept open with submersible heaters that work pretty nice!
All in all we have a good set up for winter on our farm. Experience has taught us what works and doesn’t work, and the important thing is to be flexible and adjust as needed. Bring on the snow!
Finally, I try to make sure that all animals have access to outside and especially sun when we finally get some nice days. Nothing feels better for them than sunbathing on a cold January day 🙂