FREEZING WEATHER Small Livestock and Poultry In order to properly care of livestock and poultry outdoors all animals

need a place out of the wind, the rain, and to have a supply of water and food available in order to prevent hypothermia. Sick animals, the very old and some of the newborns are exceptions and need to be in warm areas. Improperly heated chicken coops and sheds for small livestock can be a hazard. When the weather gets very cold many small barns will burn down. Most of these barn fires are caused by using long thin wire extension cords and high wattage heat lamps. or supplemental light we recommend the metal protector screens and covered ! " bulbs if you are using this type of low wattage light bulb, or an any bulb around animals. #s $I, to check the amperage and size%length of extension cord you can go to http&%%cepnow.com%'page(id)*++, or powerstream.com, or csgnetwork.com and other sites. ,sing the wrong size cord will cause a voltage drop and thus a fire. I an electrical cord eels !arm to t"e touc"# you need to un$lu% it and c"eck it out. or all outdoor uses of heating items inside a poultry or livestock barn, we recommend using a - I interrupter extension cord, available at most hardware stores. .nly a few of the stock tank heaters cannot be on a - I circuit. If you are going to use timers, there are some /uality 0 prong mechanical timers available 1i.e. Woods2, adaptors that turn on%off thematically controlled units 1i.e. 3hermo !ube2, photoelectric 0 prong timers 1Wood .utdoor, Intermatic2, and there are some timers which are rated for up to +456 watts 1-raingers2. Many of these /uality items are found at our local #ce 7ardware or 8udget 7ome !enter. If you need to use a heat lamp then use a brooder lamp that hangs from the ceiling, above the animals, versus the clamp on units that can fall into the bedding. It is recommended to have a battery powered fire alarm in an area where you are trying to keep animals warm in the winter. If using bedding there is no advantage to using over 9: if the bedding is dry. or poultry that are laying eggs and need *;+6 hours of darkness, to supplement heat during the dark there are pads available which are superior to those sold for humans. 3hese pads are sold for use in keeping pigs warm 1i.e. <ane2. Adult# "ealt"y c"ickens do not need any su$$lemental "eat, even during freezing weather at 6 . 7ealthy birds will be ok as long as you have provided food, water, and a place out of the wind and weather, plus a perch or location where they can get up and off the cold ground. &ore s"ed ires are caused 'y "eat lam$s t"an

anyt"in% else( .verall they may do more harm than good because of this fire potential. $oung chicks that are less than 4;* weeks old, a brooder with supplemental heat, and sick birds are usually the only times you need to heat the hen house. !ommercially hen houses have their air heated and are properly vented. In most home situations it is not economical to consider the expense to properly heat a hen house. #s another warning, all of the plastic heated water bowls can cause a fire if they run out of water= we recommend the metal base heaters and water :founts: for poultry. 7eating pads and lamps are to be used with concern if the animals have bedding. .verall we do not recommend the average goat, sheep or even rabbit have access to heating pads or lights since they can chew on the cords. 7eating pads and bedding should not be used together. !heck the label and most of the heating pads available are not labeled for outdoor use. #ll animals should have the ability to get away from a pad or lamp that may get excessively hot. If used there are metal conduit and flexible protectors available to prevent chewing problems with the cords to lamps, pads or water heaters. We do not advise using propane heating units where there is bedding especially the portable units unsupervised. #lways read the directions and do not ignore the recommended 9;0>? distance between a heater and wood, plastic or anything flammable. If you are considering installing a permanent heater in the barn, we recommend the infrared heaters installed by a /ualified 7@#! person. If you are storing hay inside, on our website we have information for preventing barn fires and hay stack fires. Water tank heaters for livestock should be properly grounded, especially with the plastic tanks. 3he size of the heater will be determined by the size of the water tank and the outside temperature during the winter. or the large +56? gallon we recommend the +566 watt size 1++ amps A ++6v2= the smaller B6 gallon tanks 19C: high2 may be able to have a smaller size heater in our area. We do not recommend the floating tank heaters for the plastic water tanks, even if they have guards. 3he tank heaters which attach to the top of the tank we also do not recommend, as they do not work when the water level is low. .ne of the most common winter problems that we see in large and especially small animals is lack of fresh water daily. Dehydration occurs and then an apparent sudden death is what is noticed. If you have a pond of fish we recommend using a bubbler to keep the water open. We are fortunate that we do not have the subzero weather

for many days in a row in !olorado. When the temperatures are below 05 degrees ahrenheit you should consider the heated water system. When temperatures are below 96 some supplemental heating for small livestock can be considered for a few hours a day, and longer in subzero weather. #t ;96 all poultry, small livestock and large livestock should be monitored twice a day for signs of sickness and hypothermia. 3he Staff at the Eelson Foad @eterinary !linic 060;4B*;@G3S www.nelsonroadvet.com