What are your top tips for preparing your animals for winter?

[BYH Project Manager]

Winter can be a challenging season for animal care, bringing colder temperatures, less daylight, and unique needs for our livestock and pets. As we prepare for the chill, it's essential to ensure our animals are comfortable, safe, and healthy. From adjusting shelter setups to tweaking feed routines, there’s a lot we can do to help them thrive through the season.

What are your tried-and-true methods for winter prep? Do you have specific routines or tips that make a big difference? Share your best advice and learn from others’ experiences in this discussion on keeping our animals cozy and well-prepared for winter!

 

[Baymule]

I stock up on round bale hay. I buy hay not only for the winter, but for summer drought too. It gets kinda crazy at times! For 23-24 I bought 30 bales, for 24-25 I’ve bought 63 bales. 43 of those bales are the small 4X5, but the other 20 are the bigger bales. We are now in drought, been in drought 4 months, the winter grass has not come up and the summer grass is dormant. I have 26 bred ewes due now through February, 3 rams and 7 young ewes. They are all on dry lot because there is no grass.

Winters are mild here, we may get a week of 20F temperatures, the rest of the time it fluctuates between 60F on the high side to lows down to 32F.

The sheep have shelters from the wind and rain because there is no barn. A barn is in the plans, but for now I have small shelters for the sheep. We seldom get snow, but we get lots of rain. I keep bags of pine shavings for when temperatures drop. Otherwise I use the stalks of grass in the hay that they don’t eat, recycling them for bedding.