We are in the middle of a really nasty little cold snap, its that kind of weather when you put on the long johns, then the wool socks, thick pants, a shirt, a sweater, a inner jacket and a outer, two pairs of gloves, a balaclava, scarf and a hood to boot! Winter boots good to -40 are in order and thankful for the beard.

Your breath catches and if you don’t have it going though the scarf, it does not take many breath for your lungs to hurt, if anything is still showing, it stings and then quickly becomes numb, moving quickly helps but still warm up breaks are required, hot drinks are a given when you get in.

Increase in protein and fats for pretty much everyone, the rabbits need sunflower seeds on their regular feed as well as the hay, they need the extra calories and the extra fats.. the chickens needed extra protein, in weather like this, I up it by 1 to 2 percent and for the cats, I dribble a bit of extra oil on their dry feed and make dishes up with the dry with hot water and serve up two warm meals per day ideally.

The outer critters get warm water to drink hauled out for them, they will drink more warm water then they will if its cold, and while a little bit of extra grain is good for them, the big thing for this cold weather is Hay! lots an lots of hay! its what will increase that internal output of heat.

Below minus 30 on the farm at the moment, is it any wonder that the pasture and everyone else is hunkered down, deep pack bedding is the best as it creates a warm bed for them to lay down on.. I know, I know, its not pretty, folk would rather see a super clean stall, where its got a little layer of bedding, like those pretty pictures on the net or those places that have heated barns..

Mine is heated alright, heated by critter body heat, heated by composting deep bedding in the stalls.. the pigs loved their extra big chips of straw, they are dug into their bedding and snuggled up, and when they get up, their whole body steam’s in the cold air.

These temps will for sure drop my egg production even more then its been but that’s ok, I totally understand why the girls would prefer to put it all into staying warm..

I will not be out riding today, and the horses will thank me for it..

What’s the weather doing in your neck of the woods?