Winter~Are you ready? It's coming!

[Beekissed]

I like winter...... I love living in a four seasons state and I love each and every season equally for many different reasons!

Okay....you can now slap the snot out of me!

Aly, a 20 oz. or smaller pop bottle should fit the water nipples on your watering bottles. If not, it would be a wise investment to buy the ones that do. This way, you can just change out bottles twice a day. Also, those insulating foam sleevies that you can buy for hot drinks that they sell at gas stations? They fit right over those pop bottles and provide a little insulation from freezing.

The extra pop bottles also come in handy in the summer when you can freeze them and put them in the cages for your bunnies to lie against.

I really love the 5 gal. heated buckets for my dogs and livestock...I find they are invaluable and last a long, long time. I am rigging up my electric cords tomorrow so that the dogs and sheep's buckets can all be plugged in, as we have a cold front coming in.....maybe even get some snow!!!

I use the large rubber pan for the chickens, as they get their water so dirty it must be changed all the time anyway. No use investing in a heating system for their water. Also, they usually drink from the dog's and sheep's buckets anyway.....

I know this sounds so Pollyanna-ish....but the winter's hardships like cold hands, sloppy pens and yards, hauling water, getting in firewood, etc. really make me appreciate a warm house, opening a jar from the cellar and making soup, reading seed catalogs by the fire and it really makes me appreciate spring!

 

[miss_thenorth]

But Bee, it's not the water in the water bottles -freezing that causes the problems--the actual valves freeze, plus with the bunns lips touching the cold metal are the problem. Crocks are unfortunately the only way to go for the bunns in the winter. And I'm with BB, two changeouts a day--the critters learn to adapt.

tomorrow won't even get above freezing here.

time to bring out the electric waterers.

 

[Farmfresh]

WINTER ----YAK! I can't stand the stuff. The dark gets me down as much as the cold does.

As for freezing water...

I would use a Fortiflex pan with the rabbits. Those crocks break too easy and are hard to get the ice out of them.

I go to Fortiflex pans (black rubber) in winter for all of the animals except for the large animals (horses) which we have always used electric heaters. I also have a secondary water IN the coop made out of a cut milk jug. (easy to replace when it breaks!)

I tried an experiment last year with the chickens. I saw an ad for an insulated bird bath...
Insulated Sipper ... this gave me an idea. So I cut a cover to fit at the top of my black rubber water pans with a hole in the middle. It did insulate the surface and REALLY did help to keep the water open during the cold cold days. But it was hard to get the lid off when it did freeze and it was not made of a thick enough plastic and broke have way through winter. Maybe you all could work it out better.

Also have you heard that you can keep a large animal tank ice free by floating small tires (like lawn mower size) in it? Apparently the black rubber of the tire collects the suns heat and holds it keeping the water warmer and then when the animals drink they mover the tires around and keep the surface broken open. Has anyone ever tried this?

 

[Up-the-Creek]

LOVE WINTER!
Snow is a coming,.. SNOW!
My favorite time of the year, and no it doesnt bother me to go out and take care of all my varmints in the cold, at least there is no BUGS! I HATE BUGS! And hot weather,...YUCK! My DH says I need to live in Alaska,...they may be a bit extreme.

 

[Beekissed]

But Bee, it's not the water in the water bottles -freezing that causes the problems--the actual valves freeze, plus with the bunns lips touching the cold metal are the problem.

Yep, I understand....in Canada this is probably the case( more so than in OH) and it was at my place too, but you just rinse the nips under warm water when you change out and it takes awhile for them to freeze up....bout the same as a crock of water, I imagine. The cold metal never seemed a prob for my rabbits.

 

[dragonlaurel]

I brought the potted plants in earlier this week and they are loving it on top of the frig.
I hit a thrift shop and got a bunch of winter clothes.
The apt is pretty warm and we have a heavy quilt on the bed.
I have no animals since the kitty passed last august. She used to keep my ankles warm at night. Now I have to wear socks to bed.
My hubby doubles as a pretty good heater.

But . . . we live near the top of a steep street. I do not want to be walking downhill on ice with a hard wind. Snow is pretty but it has an annoying habit or traveling with really cold weather. I don't like sleet, hail, ice storms and freezing hard winds.
Do they make snow chains for shoes?

My place is ready for winter, I'm not!

 

[punkin]

I think it's here!

This is a major event for us, lol. We don't usually get much snow.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

I'm ready now.... got them pigs done. whoot!

hate snow! boo snow!!!

Well, it's about time! We were beginning to think you were sucked into the lard!

nope but i'm workin on the lard now and starting angrily out at the few flakes that are daring to fall....

working on getting my pix up from yesterday

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Well, I think I jinxed it....by starting this thread

IT'S SNOWING!

The ground has a good dusting already, and it's still coming down...I'm just seeing patches of grass in some areas.....

 

[Wildsky]

Do they make snow chains for shoes?

Yes in fact they do - I absolutly need some, I think they call them crampons on something like that.