Every homestead needs basic care of animals from season to season. The basic requirements of the animals remain the same in every season. They need food, water and shelter, and protection in every season.
When fall starts you should start getting ready yourself for your homestead. The question comes to your mind if you are a beginner what do you need to do in the winter on your homestead.
This is the time for homesteaders to prepare themselves. Even if you are living in a climate with mild winters you have to prepare your garden and animals. Big or small homesteads both need proper preparation for the cold days.
When winter comes the animals in your homestead may become very nervous when they are confined in close quarters. Dramatic changes in the temperature, high winds, and chilling cold are not good for your animals.
In this article, we are going to discuss with you how to care for your animals on cold days.
Following is a list of things you have to do for the winter on your homestead. But the actions required by you depend upon the homestead and the animals you have. It may happen that your list should be different from ours.
1- MAKE YOUR HOMESTEADING TO-DO LIST
Before starting your work it is suggested that you should do all your work in order. It is a great idea to make a list of all the jobs you have to do before the temperature falls.
When you make a perfect plan to do something then you will succeed in your mission. You should not forget hard work is the key to success.
2- CLEAR OUT THE GARDEN
This is the time to clear out everything in your garden that you don’t want. The benefit of clearing out your garden is that you have to do less work in the coming year.
The best way of clearing the garden is that you should pull all your plants in your garden and scrape out all of the finished plants. After that let the chickens enter this area for a few weeks.
Chickens scratch at the soil and help you in finding the weeds, seeds, and bugs. They will do all the things you missed during the clearing of your garden. Now is the time to add fertilizers and organic material to the garden to make the soil richer for next year.
3- MULCH ALL YOUR GARDEN BEDS
When you clean up your garden, the next step is mulching your garden. You should add a layer of mulch to your garden beds as it is very essential because it will help to retain moisture in the soil.
The other benefit of mulching is it will keep your soil weed-free. Weeds are unwanted plants that can steal all the nutrients from the soil. The layer of mulch should be thick enough to do its work. When spring comes back then you can plant without any trouble.
4- FIX IRRIGATION AND DRAIN WATER LINES
Winter is the best time to clean all of your irrigation and water lines. If you find any drainage issue in your garden, fix it in the winter. Mostly it happens that your irrigation lines are covered with a mess of plants.
In winter, when you clean up your garden then you can easily check out what work and repairs are necessary for the coming year. If you are living in a cold climate and your temperature falls below freezing point then water may freeze in the line.
Before winter you should drain all the water lines. If you do so before the winter season then there is no problem on cold days when you want to sit inside.
5- CLEAN UP YOUR PERENNIALS
Perennials such as daylilies, peonies, and hostas then need to be pruned in the fall before winter comes. The perennial cornflowers and mum can be pruned in spring for new growth.
If you have perennials in your garden then you should clear out the perennials before winter arrives. Make compost from them for the coming year.
If you have herbs and blueberry bushes then you have to keep them for the next season. Mint is one of the herbs that can easily grow back when you cut it. Some plants don’t need heavy pruning because stress can kill the plant.
6- FIX WHAT BOTHERED YOU ON HOMESTEAD
Just as our home needs to change, so does our homestead. You should always try new things that will help you to grow in a better way. When you apply new things to your home then you will get better results.
Experiments will help you to improve things. You should always think about bringing new changes. If anything bothers you then you can take all action to get rid of these problems.
You can easily fix them and make a to-do list before the winter season. If you find anything bugging you then this is the best time to fix it.
7- GET YOUR COMPOST PILES IN ORDER
In case you are composting all year then there must be compost piles in your garden. This is the best time to get things in order before getting too cold.
Before building up piles in the right way you should check that you have used a proper mix of carbon and nitrogen. If you build up your compost piles in the right way then they easily build up heat and kill unwanted things such as fungus, critters, seeds, and weeds.
8- IMPROVE YOUR WORKFLOWS ON THE FARM
You should carefully examine what you have done on your homestead. You always try to make your work easier and try to do more in less time. Improvement in your work will help you in maintaining your homestead for next season.
9- FIX YOUR FENCES
Before winter comes you have to two mend your fence if you have any livestock homestead. Your princess should be in good condition otherwise your animals can escape in the middle of the snow.
You can get the free wood from the trees that fall in your garden. Your fences should be in tip-top shape before cold days come.
10- WINTERIZE BEES
Bees are self-sufficient in the summer season but when winter comes they need your extra care. During winter you should put each hive in one box. In this box, bees will produce winter bees that are very healthy and bigger.
These bees take care of the queen and keep her warm. You should add extra water so they don’t have to travel.
In cold weather, you can also add sugar and water to help them in making honey. To make hives warmer you can decrease the size of the holes where they enter or exit.
11- CHECK ANIMAL WATER
Before winter, you should check the water sources of your animal. Their working conditions should be good. If you have electric water buckets plugged in, then you should check if they are working or not.
If you find any problem then fix it before the temperature falls. If any bucket creates a problem, discard it and buy a new one.
12- CLEAN OUT YOUR ANIMAL HOUSING
Before winter you have to examine the animal’s housing. If they need any repair then do it on time so you will not face any difficulty on cold days. You should clean the coops, shed and barn at this time.
After deep cleaning, you should put down a thick layer of bedding in the chicken coops. In the same way, clean the barns of goats after that using a deep litter bedding method.
Clean the hutch and if it needs any repair then do it before the temperature falls. Move the manure of the rabbit to the compost pile in your garden.
The heat in the rabbits’ hutch should be maintained in winter by insulating. The wire doors should be blocked with the help of the blanket. In snow storms and heavy wind, your rabbits will be protected.
13- WINTER HAY AND FOOD STORAGE
For winter, you have to store food and hay for your animals. We should store your food in rubber garbage cans to avoid moisture issues.
It is better to buy hay in a large quantity in the summer so it can last till the winter season. In this way, you have ample food for your animals.
Make sure you have plenty of food in winter so you will not have difficulty feeding your animals. You should be prepared for the harsh weather like ice storms and potential snow so you don’t have to go outside to buy food.
14- WINTERIZE YOUR EQUIPMENT
Every homestead has some equipment like a tiller, lawn mower, and even a tractor. If you want to make your equipment last long then you have to properly winterize them.
Cover your lawn mower so it will be protected from moisture. It is better to have your equipment serviced every year before winter.
15- CHECK THE HEALTH OF YOUR ANIMALS
The health of your animals is very important. When you raise animals on your homestead, they need good care. But sometimes unfortunate things happen.
You should vaccinate the animals to avoid any sudden trouble. For instance, hens can die by flystrike. When you raise animals and they die due to illness, it’s very hard to face it.
Whenever an animal dies, all your efforts are in vain. Animals can’t speak so they can’t tell you about their pain. To avoid unexpected things it’s good to have some knowledge on how to take care of the health of animals on your homestead.
You need to be prepared to deal with any situation. If you get all the knowledge about it then you have good control of your animal’s health. In this way, you can save the life of your animals on your homestead.
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16- THINK ABOUT NEW PROJECTS AND PLANS FOR NEXT YEAR
Anything you want to do on your homestead should be planned. In the winter season, you have time to think about a new project for coming here. You should always think big so that you can get success in your goal.
17- SPLIT AND STACK YOUR FIREWOOD
It is not an easy task to keep all the needed wood in one place. For a wood stove or fireplace, you need to collect splitting and stacking wood. If firewood dries out properly then it will burn easily on the stove.
If you buy a hydraulic wood splitter then your investment will not be wasted because this will help you a lot on your homestead.
18- TRIM HOOVES
This is the right time to train the hooves of goats. Again you can do it in spring.
19- CHECK YOUR PANTRY
For those areas where the temperature falls below freezing point, it is essential to store plenty of grains, beans, oatmeal, and rice because you never know when the power could go out. In such areas, you should always prepare for the winter season.
20- ENJOY THE NEW THINGS YOU HAVE DONE ON YOUR HOMESTEAD
When you have done all the steps which are mentioned above then this is the time to sit back and celebrate your hard work. This is a reward for your hard work now you can relax on cold days.
We should not be afraid of the cold and admire this season also. When spring comes you have to do nothing and start the growing season in your garden. Now your homestead is working for you as a well-oiled machine.