Best tips for winter preparedness?

[FarmerDenise]

Our winter preparations consist of having the summers food preserved, fall and winter crops planted, and getting ready for the rainy season.
We fence off an area in the field for the garden in the winter and let the chickens have free range. We get frosts in the winter and occasionally a hard freeze, so we don't have to worry that much about the cold. We scrounge for fire wood all year, chop some of it in the fall, then we have to make sure the wood is protected from the rain, we usually cover it with a tarp or something weighed down with what ever is handy. We load a wheelbarrow or two with firewood and put it under the shade canopy and the dog pen to keep it dry. We keep some firewood stocked next to the fireplace. We make sure all our seeds are stored in metal containers til next spring to protect them from moisture and rodents. In the fall we also usually bring a lot of semi dry garden goods into the house to finish drying. Then we also finish processing it during the rain months, while sitting in fron of the tv.
So for now I am still focusing n preserving our produce from the garden, scavenging what we don't have and planting for the winter.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

OK, I'm fully prepared now . . . I just made a book order. LOL

Thanks for the replies about getting water to the livestock in the dead of winter. I hate tromping in and out of the house. It is good to know your methods for dealing with it. My husband has a butane torch that we have taken to the spigot handle/nozzle on occassion. It works like a charm, but it is a pain to have that extra chore in the morning. I guess I need to toughen up!

 

[patandchickens]

those of you who get REAL winters, I'm wondering how you get running outdoor water for your animals. Do you have "frost free" spigots (which I suspect don't really help much in really cold weather)? Do you just cover your spigots when not in use? Do you have outdoor spigots in small outbuildings? Or do you bring water out from the house? I just remember our spigot, even when covered, still managed to freeze up in our coldest weather last winter.

Having a properly installed frostfree hydrant, and yer water line buried *well* below the frostline (remembering that the ground freezes extra deep where bare or well-trodden), are 90% of the battle.

However, at some point Murphy's law says that your frostfree hydrant's drainage bed will clog up, or you will have an extra cold snap that drives the frost juuuust a little too deep in the ground, or someone's husband who shall remain nameless will persistantly leave a hose connected to the frostfree hydrant, or things like that. At which point, it will convert to a frozen-up hydrant.

IMHO the best solution for most of these problems (except a frozen underground waterline) is to have READY-PREPARED an enclosure for the hydrant, such that you can strap the sides together or close the door or wahtever it takes and then turn on a 100w lightbulb. (It is worth trying a hairdryer, or *gently* trying a heat gun or torch, for 10-15 minutes first... always working from the spigot end on back). Many problems can be solved by 12-48 hrs in an insulated enclosure with a lightbulb. Even if you need to resort to a torch or whatever in the end, it is good to have the enclosure available to KEEP the hydrant thawed once you get it flowing again!

I wanted to dig up my barn and chicken water, both, and repair their drainage beds this year -- the barn one doesn't drain anymore so is not 'frostfree' at all, and the chicken water doesn't work period -- but the water table is so darn high I suspect I will not get a chance til next summer :/

Actually, just wrapping a double layer of foam pipe insulation around the frostfree hydrant, all the way from the lever (as high as possible) down to about a foot underground, will go a LONG way to discourage freezing up. This would probably be worth doing if you do not have a frostfree hydrant too. I just leave the insulation (attached with Vetrap like you'd use for horses ) on all year round.

Boy, this just reminds me how much I hate winter I am not going to complain anymore today about how it is in the 80s and about 103% humidity! At least you don't have to shovel humidity.

Pat

 

[DrakeMaiden]

LOL, I'm glad I am helping ease your current weather complaints, Pat. Also . . . what are husbands for, anyway, besides keeping life interesting.

Most of the time, insulating the spigot works for us, so I don't see us getting too elaborate and involving a light bulb. But thank you for the detailed response. If nothing else, it helps me understand what you go through every winter.

 

[patandchickens]

Most of the time, insulating the spigot works for us, so I don't see us getting too elaborate and involving a light bulb

It can HEAR you, you know. The weather. It's out there, just waiting to getcha, now that you've put up the big 'kick me' sign...

Seriously, a 100w lightbulb in a closet or box is excellent frostproofing for most circumstances.

Have a fun winter <vbg>,

Pat, hoping the weather does not hear ME saying this either

 

[big brown horse]

Most of the time, insulating the spigot works for us, so I don't see us getting too elaborate and involving a light bulb

It can HEAR you, you know. The weather. It's out there, just waiting to getcha, now that you've put up the big 'kick me' sign...

Seriously, a 100w lightbulb in a closet or box is excellent frostproofing for most circumstances.

Have a fun winter <vbg>,

Pat, hoping the weather does not hear ME saying this either

 

[DrakeMaiden]

It can HEAR you, you know. The weather. It's out there, just waiting to getcha, now that you've put up the big 'kick me' sign...

I know Pat!!!! That is why I only said that little bit and then promptly shut up! I did not want to say a word about anything buried under ground.

I will keep the light bulb idea in my mental filing cabinet, in case I decide to eat my words.

 

[justusnak]

Since this is our first year with sheep....watering in the winter will be an experience I am sure. ( and I am sure a few choice words will escape my lips) As for the chickens....well..we use metal waterers in the winter...I know what you all are thinking...YIKES, ICE!! Nope..we have electric in the coops...and I made "water heaters" for the chickens. Take a cookie tin, like you get at Christmas....make a hole in the side, and insert a small light fixture. The kind that holds a C9 or C5 works great. Put the lid back on....make sure it is NTO sitting in the shaveings...maybe sit it in a rubber feed bowl. Works great....set the metal chicken waterer on top of the cookie tin. The heat from the light is not intense..but helps keep them from freezing. I use them in all 10 pens...and rarely have frozen water. Also, you can hang a heat lamp above the waterers...but make sure you "fence it in" so the chickens dont get on it...or get burnt from it...or knock it down.
Storeing food is our MAIN goal right now. Trying to get in enough feed for the animals, for winter...and for us. Canning, freezing..and storeing. Busy busy....the wood is cut, and most of it split and stacked. We did this while waiting on the garden to produce.
I hate to say it....but....bring it on!!!

 

[DrakeMaiden]

That's a great tip for keeping waterers warm, justusnak. I also agree with your last comment, but am a little wary about what I wish for too.