Are farm animals cold outside?

We are in the middle of a snow storm here in Virginia and it's going to be about 4 degrees tonight.  Cold!

I always worry about my animals outside when it is especially cold.  Do you think the farm dogs, horses, pigs and birds are cold outside?  How do they stay warm?

If an animal lives outside all the time, it grows a coat that is suitable for cold weather.

Let's talk about dogs first.
Here is Gandolf, our Great Pyrenees puppy who is now 11 months old:

This guy doesn't even know it's cold out.  He is playing with a chunk of ice in one of the pictures.  Can you see how think his coat is?  That is his winter coat.  It is so thick and heavy!  You can see some snow sitting on his coat.  This is because there is so much insulation between his skin and snow that his body heat is not melting the snow.  When the weather starts to get warm, he'll lose some of his coat which is called shedding.  Gandolf does have a dog house outside in the field he lives in with his chickens.  The house has alot of hay inside and only a small door so he will be toasty warm tonight!

We see the same type of insulation with the horses outside.  See the snow sitting on their backs?  It's because their coat is keeping the heat close to their bodies to keep them warm even when it's really cold out.

Lastly, animals are really smart.  Horses will position themselves so that they are hidden from the wind or so the wind can only reach a small part of their bodies.  Other animals will curl up in a little ball or seek shelter.

We gave our pigs a new bale of straw in their houses but you can see Max and Sassy really don't want to come outside today!  They are smart enough to arrange the straw as bedding inside their house and stay inside where it's warm and dry!

Stay warm everybody!!

What is your morning stretch?

What do you do when you first get out of bed in the morning?  Many of us have routines we follow and some of us like a big stretch!  This short video shows the birds leaving one of our poultry houses first thing in the morning.  The ducks LOVE to stand on their toes, stretch their bodies towards the sky and frantically flap their wings.  It must feel great to them!  

If you're having trouble seeing the video, you can see it on  youtube here:
 http://youtu.be/msE2lsWs3jg

Farm Friends

Did you ever think a pig and horse could be friends?  Most animals on the farm are very curious about each other, enjoy each others company and will sometimes take a walk across a field just to say hi.  Does that surprise you?   In this picture, Buttercup, our baby Haflinger, is saying hi to Max, our Mulefoot Hog.  They are both really friends animals.

Cold Winter Mornings

It's a sunny, cold winter morning here so by my standards, it's really nice!  Even when the weather feels terrible to us, all of our animals need our care and attention.  There are no sick days on a farm!

Before you were even out of bed, I put on my snow boots (my Boggs were fine for today keeping my feet warm and dry), my overalls (gosh! These keep you so warm!) my coat, hat, gloves) and went to brave the cold to take care of everyone.
 

The ducks were quacking and happy to see me when I opened the door of their house to let them outside.  Ducks like to stand on their toes and pull their heads and bodies towards the sky as they quickly flap their wings many times as their morning stretch.
 

Cherokee, the turkey who you saw yesterday always comes out chirping as do the five chickens who live in the same house.
 

This morning I had to carry water from our house because all of the outside water is frozen.  Birds and animals should always have free access to fresh water.
 

Lastly, this group gets a scoop of 'scratch' which consists of a couple types of grain in small kernels.  I spread this around their pen so they'll actively search the ground looking for pieces.  This helps keep them warm.
 

After I've taken care of all our other farm friends, I'm headed back inside for a warm drink and some breakfast! 

And you would be surprised, but all the animals know when to expect me.  The horses expect their grain about 8am.  Today I went late and here they were waiting!

 

Have you hugged you turkey today?

Our dogs are happy and active on this crispy morning!