By my title, a lot of you can tell I am from the South and zero degrees is somewhat daunting. Okay, it's a LOT daunting. Weather.com has predicted the temperature for our area to be 0 this week and snow coming in on Tuesday morning, so that means we have to do a lot of shoring up of animals before then. Frozen animals is a sad sad thing. We have chickens, cows, goats and dogs to take care of plus all the humans. During the frigid temperatures, we also have to make sure water lines are properly insulated to not freeze, droppable trees are not in the way of power lines, roof lines, and fence lines. Food stores, at this point in your homesteading, should not be an issue. During the winter it is best to have at least one month of food on hand at all times. More is always better.
Animals: Deep bedding, closed shelter, lots of water, extra feed and pray.
We will be haying all the animal beds and bringing inside the animals whose enclosures don't provide enough shelter. Sometimes, that means bringing them in the home too. Watering/breaking the ice has to be done at least twice a day. Extra feed is a good thing because they are going to need the energy.
Humans: Inside: Propane and kerosene fill up in case the gas lines freeze or the power goes out. When it gets really cold, sometimes the lines freeze. That means we are without heat until they are up and going again. It gets really cold really fast, so we have to make sure there is extra propane and kerosene for heaters. We will also seal off a room with blankets and all shelter there for the night to get maximum heat.
Extra food already cooked so we don't have to spend time doing it on a busy day. It should go without saying, there should be plenty of food in store.
Outside: Dress in LAYERS. Thermals on the skin, over clothes and hats, gloves, wool socks and coats over the top of all that. Hand and feet warmers are good to use in boots and pockets. Limit exposure time. Drink lots of water and eat lots of fat, maybe play some cards?
This one was short and sweet, but we have things to do and more things to do. Have a great one.
