How to Best Add a Little Heat to an Animal Shed

[/pine]

She has the wool. Tell her to get knitting!

Have to spin the wool into yarn prior...

 

[Industrial Toys]

OK Tell her to get spinning! How hard can that be? Probably an AP for that nowadays!

 

[square1]

I am just asking about how to improve for the future.

This summer paint the south facing exterior wall black or another dark color. It will help on cold sunny days, but the warmth won't last long after sun starts to go down.

 

[buickanddeere]

I have a neighbor with a few alpacas and sheep. The weather for the last two weeks has been brutally cold with lows ob -10 to -20 and rarely above 0 during the day. She has an enclosed metal shed that got very cold. I offered to give her my 80,000 btu propane construction heater, but she was reluctant to do that. This is her first year with that shed.

Are there any inexpensive to take the edge off these brutal cold snaps? Would hard wiring 4-6 heat lamps in the rafters provide radiant heat that would give them some comfort? Do you have other suggestions? She doesn't have much $$$ to spend on this.

Why would sheep and Alpacas who come factory equipped with thermal underwear need a heater in the winter ? If they have a shed that blocks the wind and precipitation. They are just fine as long as they have good feed and liquid water.

 

[kcflhrc]

I would agree most if not all farm animals just need some shelter out of the wind. Using any kind of heat source is a bad idea. My chickens do just fine in their coop or run out of the wind.

 

[jwstewar]

We haven't been above freezing since Dec. 24th. and only a couple of those days above 20 and several nights of -10+/-. We have chickens and goats. Chickens haven't done anything for them, haven't even closed their door - probably should have done that thinking back. Our big bucks have their 8x16 shed. They've torn the doors up, so I closed half of the one door that is left and closed the freezer vinyl where the other door used to be. Did move the young bucks to the baby stall in the barn (the yearlings have been moved to be with the big girls getting ready for the new babies). Other than closing the 3 doors at night, nothing special for them. Once the babies start coming, there will be some heat lamps used for babies if it is cold. Those are in hot boxes that the big girls can't get to or in plastic 55 gallon drums if they are in the kidding stalls. We also use the "Deep Litter" method of heating for both the chickens and the goats. From about October until April/May we don't clean the barns or coop. Just keep putting more straw on top of what is already there. The composting that starts help generate heat. In our barn, it is a metal pole barn, 1" foam on the inside, covered with OSB. The ceiling is open with a ridge vent. I looked the other night. It was -10 outside, but 20 in the barn. And without the wind, it actually didn't feel bad in their at all. Of course, all of the goats grew extra hair this fall, they knew this was going to be a bad winter. We also should have been kidding by now, they knew they needed to wait going in to heat so as to not put their babies at risk. Our babies aren't expected until Feb. 3rd.

 

[LouNY]

crowded warm barns are the worst you can do to your livestock, the perfect recipe
for pneumonia and other respiratory problems to get started and spread.
keep them dry and feed and watered