- Location
- Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
Somehow it is already November. Somehow October snuck by and Halloween was a vague date on the calendar called a work day. Yet despite this sneaking of the days the weather has decided to be a wake up call. Some years in Canada September can catch you by surprise with nothing prepared for winter. All of a sudden your life is frozen and buried and hindsight is a small consolation to cracked pipes and frozen windshield wipers. This year fall has been a steady and prolonged season. Arriving with rain and slight frosts, just enough to inhibit the end of harvest, and continuing on with chilly mornings and warm days. Now winter is finally beginning to claw.
Heavy frosts every morning have left the grass crunchy and trees dressed in white crystals. Hoar frost seems to be more of a November thing and this year is no exception. The only difference being the ground is still bare and brown compared to the previous few years. If memory serves the more commercial side of winterization was approached last year. Checking feedlot waterers, getting wind breaks and feed bunks to proper locations, getting the heater running properly for the processing barn, etc. However since this fall finds me in different employment within the ag sector, winterization at work is minimal. Instead I’m left with only personal chores at home. A much smaller scale for sure but easier to avoid and procrastinate as well. Which hasn’t bitten me in the behind yet this year.
Small scale winterizing in Canada is definitely defined by the individual instead of a generic sort of process. I don’t worry about water lines freezing as they’re buried deep enough that they’ve never froze in previous years so I won’t be losing sleep over them this year. I don’t worry about elements in cement water troughs or how bedding machines are running after a summer off. My plans instead, revolve around feed amounts and how many animals can I keep, when should I sell, who should I sell… It involves getting a winter chicken coop ready as I still haven’t finished an all seasons coop after all these years. Really if I took all the time and effort spent in annual coop set up I could probably have the Chateau D’Poulet of all chicken houses.
Recent days off have been spent on this alteration of a section of the barn into a coop. One thing has stayed glaringly obvious the entire time. I am far from a carpenter. Working with simple scraps and pallets, whatever can be found on an old homestead really, I plunk away at my idea of a slightly warmer area for the birds to hide out to avoid serious frost bite. Given the slight population expansion of this summer, a room that has prior use as a winter coop seems too small. Not to mention it’s rather dark and dismal most winter days having only a small window facing east. To give my chickens a less depressing half of a year and hoping for an exchange of more eggs that are less frozen I had decided on a partitioned coop. Small, darker area with extra insulation of bales for sleeping, holding of water buckets, egg laying and possible heat lamps if required and a larger, brighter lit area for daily activities like eating, bathing and perching in the sun. So far only the chicks from this year have moved in but as they aren’t overly keen on coming outside into the frosty grass this morning I’m taking that as a positive sign. Still, there are tweaks to be made. My construction nemesis has always been doors and getting them to fit and this time is no exception so weather stripping of a sort will be needed. As well as a cat flap door as the chickens have actually stolen their room and they’ve been protesting by making perfectly chicken sized beds in the nesting boxes. Which I’m sure the chickens will appreciate!
In the cattle section the calves are still kicking around. My hesitancy to take them to an auction and send them off to a feedlot home always has me looking for ulterior placements first. Whether it be 4-H or just someone looking to raise their own grass fed animal. I don’t see this as too much work considering I only have a few calves at any point in time. The viable heifer is actually in line for a trade for a bull calf for next years use. How much more fun and productive were the days of trade and barter vs today’s main goal of sale for money. Preg tests came back with decent results, considering I do only have 3 mature and breedable animals. The good thing about winter is it’s easier to control their diets, which one of my beef ladies is in desperate need of. She has an unfortunate winter of feed rationing before her so her chubby bum looks less like a finished animal and more like a range cow. Apparently her and grass are very, very good friends. The old Holstein didn’t manage to buddy up with the bull this past summer so in an easy, two birds with one stone move, to wean her calves and get her bred she has gone to visit her previous home and a semen straw for a couple of months. She is always my paranoid link in the livestock loop as I am a beef girl and she is an anorexic black and white skeleton most of the time. It was nice to get verification from a Dairy guy that she’s in good shape, especially considering she’s an old biddy I’ve more or less made a straight grass fed Holstein. Plus she’ll get top of the line dairy ration to further insulate her old bones before coming back here so really, three birds with one stone there.
The livestock waterer here is fairly old fashioned and hillbilly. No floats and electric pump for this acreage. An old belt run water pump - so I suppose there is some electricity involved - simply brings water from below the frost line into the trough where a less than fancy de-icer floats to keep the top open for the animals to drink. There’s never any worry of frozen lines as everything drains back down to the bottom of the well when the pump is off. If anything does quit there’s usually a days grace at least before the 100 gallon tank is frozen completely solid. It’s much easier to axe a water trough open when there’s still water at the bottom instead of a block made for an extensive igloo. On winters with lots of snow it’s also very helpful to pack in around the trough. Free insulation that is 100% biodegradable! Who needs fancy technology, really.
In the land of bedding packs I’m frugal and the ground is still nice and dry, when the frost finally leaves at least, so there’s no straw to stretch out in until the snow is around. Nobody is dirty or seems to mind so far but there’s nothing happier than a cow with fresh straw on a winter day.
The horse is the last member of the livestock crew and after a summer of disaster for one of her feet she is getting a bit more consideration than she normally would. A visit from a farrier is one thing she’s gained but as he knows about winterizing horses she has once again become a barefoot animal. No worrying about snow in horse shoes for a while at least.
To round out the small scale acreage critter contingent, the cats and dogs are not ignored. Dog houses are sprayed with a flea be gone bottle and given fresh straw or old matts no longer appreciated in the house. Cats are set up with random straw beds and little tunnels to explore and hide in when the bales are unloaded and stacked. As a personal hobby that the cats also benefit from, I find enjoyment out of bird feeders in the winter and seeing who shows up for a visit. The cats see it as live action TV with a chance of supplied snacks. Pretty painted feeders are hung in front of the house with a variety of seed mixes that attract a variety of different feathered friends. Every year somebody new shows up to add some colour to the black and white world of winter.
Really, preparing for a Canadian winter can be just making sure all your garden hoses are drained, the coolant in your car is good to -50 C, you have winter washer fluid for your wipers, your furnace filter is checked and furnace is running good (always bad when that quits working mid winter…) and you’ve dug your snow shovel, window scraper and ice salt out from whatever corner they’ve been hiding in for the summer. Plus finding your entire winter wardrobe wherever it was stored. But that is all so easy and accomplished so quickly! Life is much nicer when you have random thoughts popping into your head like whether or not the electric fence will work properly and be intimidating enough if it gets buried in a snow bank and becomes knee height instead of chest height or where you want the feeders to be placed for the winter before they freeze to the ground and become immovable.
Winterizing with livestock is about as dull and predictable as doing anything with livestock really. Who would have it any other way!
Our Canadian member @Blaithin blogs occasionally for TFF
Heavy frosts every morning have left the grass crunchy and trees dressed in white crystals. Hoar frost seems to be more of a November thing and this year is no exception. The only difference being the ground is still bare and brown compared to the previous few years. If memory serves the more commercial side of winterization was approached last year. Checking feedlot waterers, getting wind breaks and feed bunks to proper locations, getting the heater running properly for the processing barn, etc. However since this fall finds me in different employment within the ag sector, winterization at work is minimal. Instead I’m left with only personal chores at home. A much smaller scale for sure but easier to avoid and procrastinate as well. Which hasn’t bitten me in the behind yet this year.
Small scale winterizing in Canada is definitely defined by the individual instead of a generic sort of process. I don’t worry about water lines freezing as they’re buried deep enough that they’ve never froze in previous years so I won’t be losing sleep over them this year. I don’t worry about elements in cement water troughs or how bedding machines are running after a summer off. My plans instead, revolve around feed amounts and how many animals can I keep, when should I sell, who should I sell… It involves getting a winter chicken coop ready as I still haven’t finished an all seasons coop after all these years. Really if I took all the time and effort spent in annual coop set up I could probably have the Chateau D’Poulet of all chicken houses.
Recent days off have been spent on this alteration of a section of the barn into a coop. One thing has stayed glaringly obvious the entire time. I am far from a carpenter. Working with simple scraps and pallets, whatever can be found on an old homestead really, I plunk away at my idea of a slightly warmer area for the birds to hide out to avoid serious frost bite. Given the slight population expansion of this summer, a room that has prior use as a winter coop seems too small. Not to mention it’s rather dark and dismal most winter days having only a small window facing east. To give my chickens a less depressing half of a year and hoping for an exchange of more eggs that are less frozen I had decided on a partitioned coop. Small, darker area with extra insulation of bales for sleeping, holding of water buckets, egg laying and possible heat lamps if required and a larger, brighter lit area for daily activities like eating, bathing and perching in the sun. So far only the chicks from this year have moved in but as they aren’t overly keen on coming outside into the frosty grass this morning I’m taking that as a positive sign. Still, there are tweaks to be made. My construction nemesis has always been doors and getting them to fit and this time is no exception so weather stripping of a sort will be needed. As well as a cat flap door as the chickens have actually stolen their room and they’ve been protesting by making perfectly chicken sized beds in the nesting boxes. Which I’m sure the chickens will appreciate!
In the cattle section the calves are still kicking around. My hesitancy to take them to an auction and send them off to a feedlot home always has me looking for ulterior placements first. Whether it be 4-H or just someone looking to raise their own grass fed animal. I don’t see this as too much work considering I only have a few calves at any point in time. The viable heifer is actually in line for a trade for a bull calf for next years use. How much more fun and productive were the days of trade and barter vs today’s main goal of sale for money. Preg tests came back with decent results, considering I do only have 3 mature and breedable animals. The good thing about winter is it’s easier to control their diets, which one of my beef ladies is in desperate need of. She has an unfortunate winter of feed rationing before her so her chubby bum looks less like a finished animal and more like a range cow. Apparently her and grass are very, very good friends. The old Holstein didn’t manage to buddy up with the bull this past summer so in an easy, two birds with one stone move, to wean her calves and get her bred she has gone to visit her previous home and a semen straw for a couple of months. She is always my paranoid link in the livestock loop as I am a beef girl and she is an anorexic black and white skeleton most of the time. It was nice to get verification from a Dairy guy that she’s in good shape, especially considering she’s an old biddy I’ve more or less made a straight grass fed Holstein. Plus she’ll get top of the line dairy ration to further insulate her old bones before coming back here so really, three birds with one stone there.
The livestock waterer here is fairly old fashioned and hillbilly. No floats and electric pump for this acreage. An old belt run water pump - so I suppose there is some electricity involved - simply brings water from below the frost line into the trough where a less than fancy de-icer floats to keep the top open for the animals to drink. There’s never any worry of frozen lines as everything drains back down to the bottom of the well when the pump is off. If anything does quit there’s usually a days grace at least before the 100 gallon tank is frozen completely solid. It’s much easier to axe a water trough open when there’s still water at the bottom instead of a block made for an extensive igloo. On winters with lots of snow it’s also very helpful to pack in around the trough. Free insulation that is 100% biodegradable! Who needs fancy technology, really.
In the land of bedding packs I’m frugal and the ground is still nice and dry, when the frost finally leaves at least, so there’s no straw to stretch out in until the snow is around. Nobody is dirty or seems to mind so far but there’s nothing happier than a cow with fresh straw on a winter day.
The horse is the last member of the livestock crew and after a summer of disaster for one of her feet she is getting a bit more consideration than she normally would. A visit from a farrier is one thing she’s gained but as he knows about winterizing horses she has once again become a barefoot animal. No worrying about snow in horse shoes for a while at least.
To round out the small scale acreage critter contingent, the cats and dogs are not ignored. Dog houses are sprayed with a flea be gone bottle and given fresh straw or old matts no longer appreciated in the house. Cats are set up with random straw beds and little tunnels to explore and hide in when the bales are unloaded and stacked. As a personal hobby that the cats also benefit from, I find enjoyment out of bird feeders in the winter and seeing who shows up for a visit. The cats see it as live action TV with a chance of supplied snacks. Pretty painted feeders are hung in front of the house with a variety of seed mixes that attract a variety of different feathered friends. Every year somebody new shows up to add some colour to the black and white world of winter.
Really, preparing for a Canadian winter can be just making sure all your garden hoses are drained, the coolant in your car is good to -50 C, you have winter washer fluid for your wipers, your furnace filter is checked and furnace is running good (always bad when that quits working mid winter…) and you’ve dug your snow shovel, window scraper and ice salt out from whatever corner they’ve been hiding in for the summer. Plus finding your entire winter wardrobe wherever it was stored. But that is all so easy and accomplished so quickly! Life is much nicer when you have random thoughts popping into your head like whether or not the electric fence will work properly and be intimidating enough if it gets buried in a snow bank and becomes knee height instead of chest height or where you want the feeders to be placed for the winter before they freeze to the ground and become immovable.
Winterizing with livestock is about as dull and predictable as doing anything with livestock really. Who would have it any other way!
Our Canadian member @Blaithin blogs occasionally for TFF
