ideas for 'winterizing' animal pens

[Soundguy]

ideas for \'winterizing\' animal pens

Alright.. I'm going to draw on the collective ( impressive ) knowledge base of the membership here to help me come up with some ideas on how to best ( cost vs. labor ) 'winterize' some of my new animal pens.
Ok.. enough sucking up..

What I have is a fenced dog run, and have dog houses in it and it has a tin roof over the houses as a shade structure.

I believe some old blankets and some straw in the houses will take care of florida winter.
Next, I have a 10 x 10 turkey pen for my (2) royal palm 'tookeys'. The pen is fence post frame with the heavy welded cattle panels for walls. There is a tin roof on a 2x4 frame for shade.

Next is a 20 x 12 pen for my pig. There is a 6x6 tin roof on a 2x4 frame in the corner as a shade structure. This pen is fully boarded & wired on 2 sides,( 20' side and 1 connecting 12' side ). and cattle panel wired on one side ( other 12' side ), and has 3board horse fence and wire on the remaining 20' side. The shade structure adjoins the cattle panel and horse fence corner.

I'll post some pics this weekend.

I'm guessing that all I'll need for the turkeys is to add a generous layer of pine shaving bedding and some straw, and was considering using fence boards to make a bit of a wind break for the pigs, as ther is already a roof.

All ideas welcome.

The animals and i thank you.

Soundguy

 

[gws]

Re: ideas for \'winterizing\' animal pens

florida has winters?

 

[Soundguy]

Re: ideas for \'winterizing\' animal pens

We can freeze pipes, and most horse owners use the strap on horse blanckets/hoods.

Not much of a winter, but enough.

Soundguy

 

[Soundguy]

Re: ideas for \'winterizing\' animal pens

pic#1, The small structure I built as a house for my finish mower, and other small impliments. May change it a bit and put the dogs in it.. just depends on the weather.

Soundguy

 

[Soundguy]

Re: ideas for \'winterizing\' animal pens

pic 2, that same structure from the 'front', looking thru gate.

Soundguy

 

[Soundguy]

Re: ideas for \'winterizing\' animal pens

pic 3.. ok.. just had to take a picture of the tractor in the barn. Still have the cutter attatched to the NH.

soundguy

 

[Soundguy]

Re: ideas for \'winterizing\' animal pens

pic 4, the turkey pen.

 

[Soundguy]

Re: ideas for \'winterizing\' animal pens

#5, side of the hog pen

 

[Soundguy]

Re: ideas for \'winterizing\' animal pens

last pic, another view of the hog pen.

Soundguy

 

[Whiskey]

Re: ideas for \'winterizing\' animal pens

Soundguy:
Are you in the Ocala area? Like you said we use blankets with belly and rear leg straps for the horses and the goat gets her self a nice cozy stall in the barn with plastic tarps stapled to the inside of the stall to help cut the wind, I have been known to tarp the outside of the barn windows to help cut the wind from the barn but I don't do that much anymore it's gotta get [censored] cold before I break out the staple gun (I get tired of pulling them all out after the cold has gone).
The turkey you could hang a light bulb in the pen and rap the pen with blankets or old bed sheets as for the pig maybe where his/her pen is covered you could stuff it with straw deep enough so mr/miss piggy could waller out a deep bed out of the straw.
If the wifey already thinks you out in the barn "sniffing" the tractor when you go out.....whats she going to think when ya strip the bed sheets for the turkey....this I gotta hear ummm hoooooney it's only for a couple of days till it warms up!!!!

 

[Soundguy]

Re: ideas for \'winterizing\' animal pens

Actually a little south of ocala, but still marion county. Summerfield. Yep, we use the horse blankets with chest and leg ties, for our quarter horses, and the dogs usually get the garage if it is really cold.. or just some straw in their houses if it is just a bit cold.

As for the pig, I think I may add a few boards to the open side of her sun shade to break the wind in 2 directions.. then give her a big fluff of hay to wallow in.

May do the same for the turkeys.

The mini horse already has a wind break in the stall.. and is shorter than the stall walls anyway!

Soundguy

 

[Carl_NH]

Re: ideas for \'winterizing\' animal pens

Soundguy,

Solar heating panels connected to the concrete pad with radiant floor heat should do them all nicely /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Maybe get a few inexpensive blue (they come in orange too /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif) tarps 8x10' and some 1" PVC pipe 10' cut the tarps in half and attach the cut side to the pipe with duct tape and screws or what other methods you can think of then attach the top of the tarp to the fence. This way you can roll up in the summer and down in the winter. Adding two holes in each end of the pipe will allow you to nail this in the up or down position

 

[Soundguy]

Re: ideas for \'winterizing\' animal pens

Neat idea for the roll up shade. I may steal that.

thanks

Soundguy