Cold weather animal care

It's turned cold here again.  It's 24F as I write this...  and so I think I should say some things about caring for your animals in cold weather.

Now, people who live a lot further north... OK that's most of the continental US have a lot more experience with cold weather animal care than we do here in Arkansas...  But I did live in rural Pennsylvania for 18 years, Rhode Island for 6 and then in the Puget Sound region of Washington for 17.  So I do know a thing or two about cold weather.

Letting your dog or cat out to run around in the snow won't hurt them.  In fact, Peanut LOVES to play in the snow.

Peanut in 8 inches of snow

She loves to go out and see who else has been running around in the snow.  She likes to check under the vehicles to see if there are any evil chipmunks in hiding.

Taking a well deserved nap

But then she likes to come in and take a well earned nap too!

Peanut and Rusty in the den

Chasing those darn chipmunks is tiring work!










Heck, she might even move over and share the chair!



Frostbite on your cat or dog's feet and ears is no joke, though.  As with people, pets can and do get damage from exposure to cold and ice/snow.  Imagine spending the night outside without a blanket when it's 25F... NOT FUN.  I know pets have some insulation, but unless they're a breed which is selectively cold hardy, don't leave your pets outside in the cold.

Warning signs of frostbite in dogs and cats

And what about my beloved poultry?  Of course I care about them as well.  Providing them with clean water in freezing weather is very important.  Blocking the wind insure they will not have to deal with issues due to the wind chill.    It's important to make sure there is enough bedding on the ground/floor that they won't have to walk on the frozen ground.

I put a new layer of wood chips down the other day when it was 60 outside, because I saw the weather forecast for this weekend was in the 20's.  We'd had several days of rain and so their cages were a bit muddy.  That mud would turn to frozen ground and damage their feet.  I couldn't have that.  So off I went to the farm store to get more straw.  They were out of straw, so I brought home pine chips.  The guineas weren't happy about me spreading that all over, but today they're glad their feet aren't frozen in the mud!

Advice on symptoms and care of frostbite in chickens

Frostbite in chickens

My birds live in a converted dog kennel/run.  The previous owners made 2 kennels.  One had a larger doghouse built with a run, and the other had 2 sleeping sections.  I think the larger doghouse was for a mom with pups.  Both were enclosed by chain link fence. 

When we decided to "repurpose" them, we put a second round of chicken wire over the chain link.  We also put more on the lower level inside between the two sections.  Then we put up a partition and door to devide the smaller kennel into two cages.

Here's a picture.

Smaller section designed for banty chickens as well as the larger section for larger birds.

Here you can clearly see the smaller section with the 2 divided "cages" which we had designed for our Bantam chickens, as well as the larger cage we keep the bigger Cochin chickens in.

This year, our Bantam chickens have their own movable house.  Our Rhode Island Red chickens are in this smaller section, and the guinea fowl are in the adjoining bigger section.

To further protect our birds, I wrapped the entire cage in clear plastic.  It's NOT airtight, because there are 2 external door which are loose fitting.  That provided plenty of ventilation.  Also, we don't have a real roof on the structure.  Just chicken wire covered with aluminum roofing.  Since it's NOT nailed down, rain does seep in.  Hence the mud.

But the plastic does provide a great amount of insulation.  The wind doesn't whip through there like it did in years past.  And so far, I haven't had any birds with a frozen comb.

Here's what the cages look like in summer.  The small row of cages have since been removed.  The smaller empty cage in this picture was for Curly Joe and Vera (1 pair of our guinea fowl).

Chicken cages

I also have 2 cages which house quail.  These cages are much smaller.  I have insulated them with straw bedding and completely wrapped them with plastic feed sacks.  This provides a wind block and additional insulation.  They can't see out, but this helps keep the guinea fowl from standing around their cages pecking at them. 

All the plastic will be removed with the winter weather is over.

I could be accused of pampering my birds.  But I can't stand the thought of them suffering in the cold because I didn't care for them properly.  I keep them in a cage, so I MUST provide them with everything they need to survive.  That's the ethical thing to do.

We don't eat our birds.  They are my pets.  I love raising chicks!  I plan on raising more this coming year.  Quail, guinea and chickens (all 4 breeds).