Cold weather ?'s

[justincorbell]

I may be over thinkin this but i can't help but ask, im a born and bred south east texas fella and these temps are some of the coldest i can recall in my time.

It is forcast to get down to 17 here tonight and i know for a fact none of my mutts have ever dealt with temps this low, they all have fresh hay in their houses and all houses are facing south, what if anything else should i do to help em thru the night, currently i dont not have any place to house them indoors without some serious work on my part (if its needed then i will do what i have to)

Some of ya'll may laugh at this and i kinda am myself BUT i wanted others opinion on this subject, these mutts are south east texas bred as well and we aint used to this nonsense down here!!!

What say you ethd?

[Mike]

They'll be fine...

[Purebreedcolt]

Yep they will curl up and be just fine. If your that worried about them fix them some hot water and dog food make a warm mush out of it.

[Silverton Boar Dogs]

Up here in the panhandle we deal with very low temps every winter. Like Mike said you have them fixed up well.

Here is my winter feeding protocol, just in case it will help anyone out there dealing with these low temps.

We have had a couple of events all ready this year come through when the highs were not over 20 for 4-5 days, with wind and snow.

My chain dogs have standard barrels, all with wind breaks. I fill the bottom of the barrel with wood shavings for good insulation from the frozen ground. I then fill the barrel with grass hay. The dogs will burrow back in the hay and stay very warm.

Feed is important when dealing with very cold temps over long periods.

I normally feed once a day.

On days when the temp stays between 20 and 32 degrees, I feed my normal amount two times a day.

When the temp stays 15-20 degrees, I feed 150% of a normal feeding twice a day.

Temps that stay below 15 degrees, I feed 200% twice a day.

Barrels are checked every night and grass hay added as needed.

Water is an issue at extreme low temps. I add milk re-placer to my feed and fill a 5 gal bucket 2/3 full with feed and then fill the bucket with warm water. I let that sit for 30 minutes or an hour and feed. There is enough water in the mix that they can get alone well in sub zero weather for several day with no open water. And the warm food is a big plus.

Thanks,
Paul T

[hoghunter71409]

I think most of us in the south have the same questions-were just not familiar with these temps.  One additional thing you can do is pair dogs up that will get along.  I sometimes put my dog boxes in my metal building, put a bunch of hay in the box and pair up one male and one female.  Dogs and people can sometimes stay the warmest when paired up.  Works great as long as dogs get along.  I've even loaded then in my truck dog box and put a tarp over them.  Four or five dogs under a tarp in a box will stay warm.

[Bo Pugh]

As long as they got a good dry place with some bedding out of the wind they will be fine. I have my dog houses facing the south i did that when I built my pens and I buy some tarps every year to put in front of my kennels to break the wind off them. And I feed twice as much as normal. And I'm not stingy with the hay I fill their houses up they can't hardly get up in them.

[brad s]

I use a lot of cedar chips in ther houses an keep them out of north wind. Todsy I paired up 4 of my dogs 1m 1f an other male an female together an one male alone with a lamp an 4 6wk old pups together with a lamp and they will be fine. It's warmer in them dog houses than one would think

[Reuben]

I don't like hay or wood chips...too much to clean up ...I have all my dogs in the insulated garage...2 in one wire cage another in his wire cage, 2 in the dog box but in separate compartments and one on top of the box and it is fairly warm in there with the fridge, freezer and water heater generating some heat...that is helping some...

I do remember in the 1960-1980s it used to get pretty and we had to put heat on some water pipes to get the water flowing...also had to start the freeze protection procedures out at the plant...1990s - 2000s rolled around and it gets pretty cold down here once in a great great while...

[MB650]

I can't remember if it was '82 or '83, but sometime in the early 80's it stayed in the teens and 20's for several days and the Lavaca River froze. We picked up a lot of reds and trout out of the river.

[Reuben]

I can't remember if it was '82 or '83, but sometime in the early 80's it stayed in the teens and 20's for several days and the Lavaca River froze. We picked up a lot of reds and trout out of the river.

I was raised by the Lavaca river area in Edna...

[MB650]

I can't remember if it was '82 or '83, but sometime in the early 80's it stayed in the teens and 20's for several days and the Lavaca River froze. We picked up a lot of reds and trout out of the river.

I was raised by the Lavaca river area in Edna...

I am from Vanderbilt on the south end of the county.

[charles]

In the mid to later 80s i remember it dipping in the teens, icing and snowing in the lufkin area several times in the winters. Im glad to see it getting cold and using the heat instead of running the a/c in "winter". Only problem, my pipes froze last night and hasnt thawed yet. Dug out the blister bag n boiled the water on the stove just to take a shower. Usin a blister bag reminded me of hangin 1 off the gun tube of my howitzer, standing on an ammo pallet n showering. First couple times felt awckward stand in front of the gun line with 5 other naked guys takin a field shower but after a wk of humping 155mm rounds, i didnt mind it afterwards, it was nice to wash up

[mod93dirt]

It was officially -2 in Tulsa this morning with the ground covered with snow. By far the coldest my dogs have ever seen and I'll admit I was a bit concerned. If I had something to keep them all inside, I would've brought them in. But I don't so I didn't. I've just been layin the feed to them and stuffed their barrels full of straw.

For curiosity sake I took my IR temp gun outside this morning when I went to feed. All my dogs are in barrels that sit about 6in off the ground, and are stuffed with straw. The outside of the barrels read 4*. The inside walls of the barrels were in the 15-20 range. And the straw was 35-40, except for the two 8 mo old pups. They are in the same pen but have separate barrels they normally sleep in. I guess they decided they'd be warmer together last night and their straw read 46*.  Seeing that made me feel a little better. They weren't real lively this morning, but when I got home from work to feed again and cut them off the chain for a bit, they were full speed ahead. And I think the high today was 18.

[justincorbell]

Yep they will curl up and be just fine. If your that worried about them fix them some hot water and dog food make a warm mush out of it.

Lol im not THAT worried about em

Thanks for the reassurance guys, they were stayin outside anyhow unless i woulda checked this thread and been "that" 1 guy who was leavin em out lol.....

[mod93dirt]

[/quote]

Lol im not THAT worried about em

Thanks for the reassurance guys, they were stayin outside anyhow unless i woulda checked this thread and been "that" 1 guy who was leavin em out lol.....
[/quote]

LOL. That was pretty much my same thought when I asked a similar question about the cold a few weeks ago

[justincorbell]

Lots of good info in this thread, i truely appreciate all the advice/ info. Ive had dogs of one kind or another for quite a few years now and today i was sittin there tryin to remember if i could remember it bein this cold down here before.

Mike and a few of the others in this area will probly remember the snow we got i want to say in either 08 or 09 but i dont even know if it got down  this cold then. I do remember the ice storm we had in the early 90's i believe it was, thats the coldest i remember it ever gettin in our neck of the woods.

Thanks again for all the info and happy huntin folks!

[Bo Pugh]

I think when this summer rolls around I'm going to build me some walls I can put up and take down to enclose my kennels all the way around and run some permanent power over there. Right now only power I got over there is about 600 ft of extension chord to a light on a momma dog and some pups but they are warm in their house

[Bowhunter1994]

They will be fine


Sonny

[Reuben]

1989 it got down to 7 degrees all the way down to deep south texas...

1983 was a cold year...