by Mountain House

Winter serves up frosted-over beauty, for sure, but also plenty of risks. The season doesn’t look kindly upon outdoors people who come to it unprepared or disrespectful of its rigors, and a survival situation this time of year can turn deadly mighty quickly. Here are some basic winter survival tips on how to survive in the woods. Be prepared before venturing out into the white stuff!

In this article, we’ll cover:

• The Basics of Winter Survival

• Winter Survival Shelter

• Situating Your Shelter

• Making a Fire

• Clothing Tips

• Food & Water

• Avalanche Safety

• Stranded in a Vehicle

• Winter Survival Emergency Kit

The Basics of Winter Survival

Whether you’re lost on foot in the frozen outback or stuck in a car on a snowed-in road, the essential elements cold-weather survival are the same. You need to stay warm and dry, which means finding or making a shelter and creating a heat source. These need to be your first priorities, as you have to create an environment in which you can hunker down till help arrives or conditions allow you to get to safety. Frostbite and hypothermia can set in quickly if you don’t.

Staying alive in the winter wilds also means eating and drinking regularly to maintain your energy stores and regulate your body temperature.

Winter Survival Shelter

If you’re a winter recreationist, you’ll want a four-season/mountaineering tent. You can get by with a three-season tent in some climates and during shoulder seasons, but skiers, snowshoers, climbers, and other trekkers out and about in the depths of winter need a stronger, better-insulated shelter up for the demands of severe temperatures and biting winds.

Make your tent platform as flat as possible by stomping and grading it with snowshoes, skis, or whatever other tools you have at hand. If you simply plop your tent down on raw snow, you won’t just be dealing with annoying slopes or lumpiness: Your sleeping position will become cast rock-hard into the icy surface, which makes for highly uncomfortable sleeping over multiple nights. Secure a tent’s guylines with deadmen anchors: stakes, branches, rocks, or other items buried in snow.

In their tried-and-true classic Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills, the Mountaineers organization suggests digging a foot-deep pit in front of your tent door and within the vestibule for the purposes of comfortably putting on and taking off boots as well as cooking within during inclement weather.

If you’re caught in an emergency situation without a tent, you’ll need to build your own shelter. One of the easiest and quickest techniques is to make a snow wall: The United States Marine Corps recommends building a horseshoe-shaped rampart at least three feet high, the open end facing downwind. You can reinforce the wall with branches or ski/trekking poles, and roof it with a tarp or poncho.

Other options include snow caves (which any mountaineer, in particular, should know how to construct), igloos, fallen-tree bivouacs, and snow trenches.

Situating Your Shelter

To improve your chances of survival in the woods in an emergency situation, you’ve got to gauge the lay of the land to effectively site your winter shelter. Don’t pitch your tent or build your snow shelter at the bottom or mouth of a valley, canyon, or ravine, as cold air tends to spill down these terrain features. Avoid setting up shop in places exposed to prevailing winds or avalanches. If you’re jury-rigging your own emergency shelter, take advantage of natural aids when you can: caves, fallen trees, etc. Just make sure your shelter’s well ventilated and secured against collapse.

Making a Fire

Fire-starting materials should be a part of your emergency outdoor supplies at any time of year. In a waterproof container, pack tinder—for instance, a plug of dryer lint, or little strips of rolled-up newspaper bound by rubber bands—as well as several means of sparking flame: matches, lighter, and a flint and striker.

Natural sources of tinder include dried moss and leaf litter, reserves of which you can sometimes find sheltered under the low-hanging boughs of a densely branched evergreen. Around a generous heap of tinder, build a teepee of small twigs and then kindling of small branches. Light the tinder and gently but steadily blow into it to build up the flames. Add larger wood once the kindling catches.

Your Winter Wardrobe: Clothing & How to Manage It in a Winter Survival Situation

Headed into the winter wilderness, you want to be properly layered: long underwear of polyester or merino wool as a baselayer, fleece over that, and then a waterproof and windproof shell. Wear wool socks, a neck gaiter, and a hat; pack a balaclava so you can protect your face against frostbite if temperatures really drop or winds kick up.

If you’re hanging out at camp or stopping along the trail, bundle up: Put a puffy jacket at the top of your pack so you can easily pull it on. If you’re traveling, strip to your midlayer or baselayer to avoid working up too much of a sweat: Drenched in perspiration, you’re vulnerable to hypothermia. Cut down on sweat and evaporative cooling by putting a vapor barrier—say, a plastic bag—over your socks.

Food & Water

Breaking trail, erecting shelters, gathering firewood: You plow through a lot of energy carrying out the tasks of cold-weather survival, let alone simply staying warm. Reach for those energy-rich snacks frequently: nuts, cheese, salami, chocolate, and the like. Given fats pack twice as many calories per gram as carbs or protein, they make primo winter-camping snack food.

Dehydration’s a sneaky threat during winter survival camping. Melting snow’s a go-to option for obtaining drinking water, but if you can find ice that’s a better source, given its higher moisture content. Remember to boil or otherwise disinfect that snow or ice meltwater before using it for drinking or cooking. Besides using a cooking container over a stove or campfire, you can also melt snow or ice by packing it within a t-shirt or plastic bag, tying that parcel to a tripod of branches near a campfire, and placing a container underneath to collect the drips.

If you can find open water, that’s all the better: You don’t have to waste fuel or time melting snow and ice. Be careful fetching it, though, from a creek or river, as streamside snow may hide fragile ice or current.

If you’ll be spending several nights in a campsite—as you probably will be during a survival situation—consider establishing a protected camp kitchen for preparing meals and water in the lee of a snow wall built against the prevailing wind.

A Few Tidbits on Backcountry Travel in the Winter

Avalanche safety demands its own in-depth treatment for which we don’t have the space in this blogpost. It’s vital to familiarize yourself with the basics of traveling through avalanche country, as these snowslides can be a mortal threat on surprisingly shallow slopes. (The National Avalanche Center provides online resources well worth checking out.)

In snow-draped landscapes, ridgelines and windward hillsides may provide easier passage than leeward slopes and valley bottoms, which tend to accumulate deep snow.

Winter Survival If You’re Stranded in a Vehicle

Many a winter-survival situation doesn’t play out on foot in the white wilderness, but in your car along a snowbound roadway. Your vehicle can be stranded anywhere, after all, including right on the Interstate. Let’s say, though, that you find yourself stuck in a blizzard on a remote road (for instance, one you’re taking to a cross-country ski or snowshoe trailhead). What do you do?

The most important piece of advice is: Stay with your car! You have a much better chance of being rescued if you do, for one thing, and the vehicle also serves as a readymade shelter.

Tie brightly colored cloth to your car’s antennae to make it easier for rescuers to find you. At night, keep the dome light on for the same reason.

To stay warm but conserve gas, run the engine for 10 minutes every hour or so. While it’s going, the Federal Emergency Management Agency recommends cracking a downwind window for ventilation. It’s vital to regularly check on your exhaust pipe to make sure it’s cleared of snow; otherwise, you risk poisoning yourself with carbon monoxide.

Stay bundled up, using the extra clothing and blankets in your vehicle survival kit (see below). Floormats and seat covers can provide a little bit of extra insulation in extremely cold conditions.

Stomp out “S.O.S.” or “HELP” or form the words with tree boughs in the snow nearby in a place visible from above.

Before a winter roadtrip, make sure your vehicle’s in good running order and stocked with emergency supplies (both automotive and survival), and—as always—share your itinerary and route so that others back home have a sense of where you might be in case you do get stranded. (That, of course, goes for a skiing, snowshoeing, or backpacking trek as well.)

Winter Survival Emergency Kit

In your vehicle and in your pack, you should have the essentials of wilderness survival on hand at all times in case you run into a sticky—err, snowy—situation. Besides the fire-making materials we discussed above, your emergency supplies should include extra food supplies, headlamps and flashlights with extra batteries, signaling devices (such as a mirror and a whistle), and a first-aid kit.

How to Survive in the Woods

1. Build an emergency kit
2. Notify someone before leaving
3. Locate a safe area
4. Find or make a shelter
5. Make a fire
6. Properly utilize layered clothing
7. Find a source of water
8. Purify water
9. Eat and drink regularly
10. Watch for avalanche risks
11. Signal for help in snow banks
12. Stay in your car if possible

Source: https://mountainhouse.com/blogs/winter-sports/winter-survival-basics-surviving-woods

Being a prepper with picky kids is like playing survival mode on hard difficulty. After a year of trial and error with my own selective eaters (ages 6 and 9), I wanted to share what I've learned about building an emergency food supply that kids will actually eat.

The Taste-Test Approach First, I stopped making assumptions about what my kids would like in an emergency. The "they'll eat when they're hungry enough" mentality sounds good in theory, but in a real crisis, you don't want the added stress of food battles. Instead, we started doing monthly "power outage dinners" where we actually prepare and eat our emergency foods. This helped us discover what works and what doesn't.

The game-changer was realizing that different brands have drastically different tastes and textures. Through a lot of research (I found this comprehensive review of emergency food brands really helpful), we discovered that some newer companies are making freeze-dried meals that taste surprisingly close to regular food.

What Actually Worked

• Mac and cheese from multiple brands: Almost universally accepted by kids, but some brands were significantly better than others
• Freeze-dried fruits: These were a huge hit. Strawberries and apples especially taste like crunchy candy to kids
• Breakfast foods: Pancake mixes and scrambled egg products were much more accepted than dinner items
• Familiar shapes and textures: Foods that looked like normal meals worked better than obviously "survival" food

What Failed Miserably

• Any meal labeled "casserole" - instant rejection
• Most vegetables when served alone
• Anything with visible herbs or "complex" seasonings
• Mixed dishes where foods touch each other (you know how kids are)

Making It Fun We turned our monthly testing into a "camping at home" adventure. The kids rate each food on a scale of "yucky" to "actually good," and we keep a journal of their reviews. This not only helps us build our supply but also gets them involved in emergency preparedness in a positive way.

Practical Tips

1. Buy sample packs first. It's better to waste money on samples than bulk foods your kids won't eat
2. Mix emergency foods with regular pantry items during testing
3. Let kids help choose which foods to stock
4. Store comfort foods too - some familiar snacks can make strange situations less scary
5. Practice preparation methods - some kids dislike certain foods simply because they were prepared incorrectly

Building Acceptance Over Time We've found that repeated exposure helps. Foods that were initially rejected sometimes become acceptable after a few tries, especially when mixed with more familiar items. We also learned to doctor up basic emergency meals with shelf-stable add-ins like parmesan cheese, ranch seasoning, or hot sauce.

Storage Considerations Don't forget rotation. Even though many emergency foods have 25-year shelf lives, it's good practice to use and replace them periodically. This maintains familiarity and ensures nothing goes to waste.

Final Thoughts Remember, the best emergency food is the food your family will actually eat. It might take some time and money to find the right options, but it's worth it for the peace of mind knowing your kids won't go hungry in a crisis - or make a crisis more stressful with food battles.

Would love to hear from other parents - what emergency foods have worked for your picky eaters?

Preparing your farm for Winter can be a fun-filled season, but for those who work or live on a farm, winter requires a lot of preparation. Once the mild, autumn weather comes to an end, wise farmers have already accumulated the resources necessary to keep everything running smoothly. Snow and frigid temperatures are known to make harvesting crops and taking care of animals extra difficult, so every farmer in cold climates must be ready. Here are a few farm tips that’ll help make the process easier.

The Soil Before Season

One of the very first farm tips we have is that soil needs to be taken care of before the colder weather arrives. Most animal waste, garden materials, and other organic materials can be turned into compost and added back into the soil. Compost will continue to break down even during the winter season, so once spring comes, the soil is ready.

Flower Gardens and Freezing Weather

Flower gardens should also be taken care of before winter arrives. They must be cleaned and prepared for the snow and below-zero temperatures so they can bloom once spring comes. Winter is also an ideal time to prune fruit trees as most trees go dormant, making the process much easier. It’ll be less hassle during winter since you won't have to deal with falling leaves or endure the scorching heat. Following farm tips like these create a simpler experience that’ll fully prepare you for winter.

Tools and Equipment During Winter

During the cold season, if tools and farming equipment are not properly stored, they may become difficult to use when you need them. Worse, they could be damaged if they're left unprotected from heavy snowfalls and melting ice. This is usually the case for smaller tools. Make sure those lawnmowers, garden hoses, and other farming equipment won't be buried in the snow, so store them in their proper places and be prepare your farm for Winter.

Another important thing that every farmer should take note of during autumn is the fact that most farming tools and plants are on sale. For this reason, every farmer should take advantage of this moment so by the time winter comes, these plants are already in their dormant state. This means caring for them will be less demanding, so you'll only have to wait for them to grow once spring comes.

Your Farm Animals - Preparing for Winter

Animals' needs change during the winter months, so it's vital that farmers be prepared before the season comes. Make sure that your animals' living environment is insulated, warm, and can keep up with the stress and cold of the long cold season.
Another important task is to take care of hoof trimming. According to the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, “Hoof trimming is an essential part of sheep and goat management.

Overgrown hooves may make walking painful, predispose the animal to other foot and leg problems, and competing for feed difficult.” It’s immensely important to prioritize hoof trimming to make sure your livestock is comfortable and healthy. The American Institute for Goat Research explains that hoof trimming goats is a task that can be easily learned but is also necessary for sheep and cows and horses.

Yourself and Loved Ones

While you're taking care of your plants, animals and preparing for Winter, never forget to prepare for yourself and for the people around you as well. Stock up on those winter clothes, and make sure they're easy to locate for you and your family when you need to check things outside.

With the trees and shrubs trimmed, gardens tucked, animals ready, and your house warm for the winter, you could start enjoying these cold moments. There are challenges with each and every season, but with proper preparation and plenty of farm tips, work is much more manageable. You may relax knowing that by the time winter ends, you’ll see your farm flourishing and fruitful.

Source: https://hoofboss.com/blogs/news/tips-to-prepare-your-farm-for-winter

Hello we are getting renovations down to our home and are going to be experiencing some freezing temperatures in an unheated home. We will be turning off the water and draining the pipes to hopefully mitigate any pipes from bursting. Are there any issues with draining the hot water heater (electric) before we drain the remaining pipes? The lowest faucet is not the hot water heater it’s a downstairs bathroom.

Edit: we will be turning off the HWH at the panel prior to emptying. We will turn it back on after the tank is refilled.

If you were truly living off grid, what would be your source of daily protein? Fish? Venison? Nuts? Let me know.

By Kirsten Lie-Nielsen

The snowflakes fall sideways, shoot upward, and jet down. The wind curls around windows and doors, bringing a chill into every building. Getting to the livestock means wading through waist-high drifts, hauling water to refill buckets that have frozen over. Machines won’t start, spigots freeze up, and it’s even cold inside the house. Welcome to winters on the homestead in a seasonal climate. Preparing your home for winter has extra steps when you have a homestead where there’s deep snow. Learn what to do before the cold weather sets in.

Homesteading has its fair share of challenges, and winter weather can be the final straw for many beginning this rural lifestyle. More than one family has had a goal of self-sufficiency in summertime, only to trade the woodstove for on-demand heat when cold weather rolls around. However, winter doesn’t have to be an ordeal to survive; it can be an opportunity for your homestead to thrive, as long as you’re prepared. Here are some tips on how to handle winter in a harsh climate so you can come out the other side ready for springtime.

Decide which ways to heat your home before winter

The first thing to prepare is your heat source. Decisions regarding heating choices should be made well before winter. You may opt for a central heating system common in modern homes. A popular choice for homesteaders is heating with firewood. A woodstove allows a homestead to be off-grid, and firewood can be harvested and processed by the homesteader without ever needing to leave the property. However, it’ll require more planning before cold weather than other heat sources.

First, select a woodstove and procure some firewood. To harvest your own firewood, you’ll need access to forest land, the ability to cut down and pull trees out of the forest, the machinery to cut and buck logs, and about a year to dry green wood into burnable wood.

You can also purchase your firewood already seasoned, or purchase green wood already cut and split and invest only in time spent drying it. There’s also the option to buy tree-length wood, removing the need to haul trees out of the forest.

Each of these options will eliminate certain steps in the firewood-gathering process, but whichever one you choose, you must understand how much wood you’ll need to survive winter.

How many cords of wood for winter?

The quantity of firewood you’ll need will depend on the size of your home, the type of wood you’re burning, and the size of your woodstove. A rule of thumb is to obtain 2 to 3 cords of wood (about 128 cubic feet)per 1,000 square feet of home space to stay warm throughout 12 weeks of winter. The efficiency of your stove is important, and even more important is the insulation (or lack thereof) on your home. Some homesteaders live in older farmhouses, which may have little or no insulation, so more firewood is a better plan than less.

Protect Your Property from Harsh Weather

Make sure your buildings are structurally sound before winter sets in. In fall, inspect all buildings and repair any big issues. Particularly, you’ll want to check for cracks and other places where wind and snow can get into a building.

Consider winterizing projects, such as reglazing windows and repainting the outsides of buildings, or do quicker repairs to keep snow out if major construction isn’t possible. For example, keep out chilly temperatures and bad weather by putting up plywood over holes in buildings and adding a layer of plastic inside windows.

When preparing your home for winter, winterize your farm equipment before it gets the cold weather hits.

Properly winterized equipment ensures your tools will function through winter weather and that you’ll be able to get right back into the swing of things when spring arrives. Clean and oil machinery, check grease fittings, and be sure tires are inflated and in good condition. Bring this equipment to an easily accessible area, turn it on, and confirm it’s running well before it’s needed.

If possible, store indoors any equipment that won’t be used during winter, or cover it. This will help reduce wear and rusting. You can add fuel stabilizer or drain the tanks on summer equipment, and then put it in a place where it’ll be out of the way.

When it comes to choosing what equipment to have on hand for winter, consider a tractor with a bucket attachment for snow removal. This is equivalent to a plow, but with many more uses. If you have a tractor, buying a bucket attachment is a sensible choice, as it can be used for deep snow removal as well as digging, moving, and scooping sand, dirt, manure, and other materials year-round.

Winter often brings deep snow

Winter sometimes means a few inches of snow will accumulate here and there, but it more often can mean feet piling upon feet. When that happens, snowbanks begin to encroach. So, start by knowing where you plan to put snow, and make sure the snowbanks will be away from fence lines and equipment. Give yourself more than enough space for snow piles – too much is always better than too little.

Snowmobiles can also be useful, especially on a larger farm, for hauling water to far corners of the pasture and getting over snowdrifts to check on livestock or distant buildings. Consider adding one to your farm if you’re in an area that experiences lots of snowfall.

Preparing your home for winter also means preparing livestock

Winter takes a toll on even healthy animals, so I want my livestock to be in the best physical shape before the cold weather starts.

Long before the days get shorter, start putting up hay for winter. Second-cut hay will offer higher protein than first-cut hay and is a preferred feeding choice for many livestock if it’s available in your area. Putting up enough hay for the entire season before winter means peace of mind, since you can never be certain about a feed store’s hay availability through the off-season.

Many annual vaccines are administered to our livestock in fall. Sheep receive annual Clostridium perfringens type D (CDT) vaccines and selenium, vitamin E (BO-SE) if they’re not pregnant. Cows receive a number of vaccines, including leptospirosis 5-way. What’s necessary for you will depend on your animals and geographical location, so make sure your livestock are up to date on all relevant injections, and consult with your local livestock veterinarian.

It’s also not a bad idea to stockpile grain and minerals for your animals before winter. Road conditions could make it difficult for you to run to the feed store, and unlike in summertime, foraging isn’t an option during the harshest winter months. You can store extra grain in a secure room, or pour it into metal barrels with lids to keep rodents away when preparing your home for winter .

How to keep water from freezing in cold weather when preparing your home for winter

When preparing your home for winter, water can often be the biggest challenge. Therefore, have a backup plan in case anything goes wrong with your primary water source. For example, on our property, we have a drilled well but also access to an old farm spring, which we’ve used a few times during winter when plumbing issues have made the well water temporarily unavailable.

Many times, water buckets and troughs for livestock can freeze in cold weather. You can thaw water buckets using electric heaters, but this does present a fire risk. In an old barn full of hay, we avoid water heaters entirely. Instead, we use rubber buckets, which are easy to break ice out of. Wrap insulation around buckets to delay freezing, or use a small pump in larger water troughs to keep the liquid moving and prevent freezing.

Don’t forget the little things when facing cold weather

Finally, consider your creature comforts when preparing your home for winter. Invest in a good pair of ski goggles for snow-clearing and doing chores in harsh winter winds. Make sure you own several pairs of boot cleats for navigating icy days. And stock up on socks, long underwear, and insulated clothing. The saying goes, “There’s no bad weather, just bad clothes,” and it’s true.

It’s easy to become overwhelmed with cold weather on the homestead, but with some planning and preparation, winter can be an enjoyable season. You might even find some time to relax and enjoy sitting next to your crackling woodstove!

Source: https://www.grit.com/farm-and-garden/preparing-home-winter-zm0z23ndzatro/

should a self relying person invent their own moral and ethical rules?

if they do so, how would they tackle the complexities that would arise?

for example: if person X devices a new moral code of conduct that no one but they themselves will follow, and it goes on something like, "Stealing is a right thing to do, whenever I get an opportunity to do so, then i should try stealing, or maybe something that's on the extreme end like, " I should kill people if they pick up a fight or do anything that pisses me to hell.

Now, should the person continue on with their choice, or stop the whole self relying stuff?

(please don't assume I m trying to do the same above or anything even close, I am new to this idea and I simple want to understand it, chatgpt is no good, so I had to ask here.)

(and I m from a non English background so excuse me for all the mistakes I have committed, but I am trying to develop writing skills side by side)

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Growing vegetables in winter

You don't need any special equipment for growing vegetables in winter but it helps if you have a greenhouse or cold frame, as these will protect more tender plants from frost. If you don't have a greenhouse or cold frame you can still grow hardy crops like Brussels sprouts, winter cabbage, leeks and parsnips, but if you want to try growing more tender crops, make sure you're on hand with fleece or cloches to cover the plants when cold spells are forecast. These leafy crops won't necessarily grow in winter but, as soon as temperatures increase again in spring, they will put on growth and give you a very early harvest of leaves when there's little else available.

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When to plant winter vegetables

Most winter vegetables, including winter cabbage, turnips and leeks, are sown in August and September, when the warm soil and good light levels ensure good germination. Some, such as parsnips and Brussels sprouts, are sown in spring (they take a long time to crop but are usually considered worth it).

Leafy crops such as chard, parsley and rocket are sown in late summer to autumn, and can overwinter with some protection.

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Turnips

Maincrop turnips are fantastic winter vegetables and can be added to soups and stews and even Sunday roasts. Sow in August for a winter crop, thinning seedlings to 23cm apart. Harvest as and when you need them, ideally when the turnips are around the size of a golf ball.

Turnip 'Golden Ball' is an ideal winter root vegetable as it is perfect for roasting and grilling, and bears large, smooth roots.

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Celeriac

Celeriac is closely related to celery and has a similar flavour. It can be used as a purée or roasted and served with other root veg. Sow celeriac in seed trays or modules in April, and plant out from May, spacing plants 25-30cm apart in rows 30-45cm apart. Celeriac will be ready to harvest from October but will taste better if exposed to frost. In colder regions, cover the plants with horticultural fleece to stop the ground freezing and make harvesting easier.

Celeriac 'Mars' bears large roots that can be overwintered in the ground as long as they have a little protection, and stores well.

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Brussels sprouts

Sow Brussels sprouts in seed trays or modules from March to May and plant out when large enough to handle, spacing plants 60cm apart with 75cm between rows. Firm plants in well and stake them to prevent wind rock. Harvest from October. As with many winter crops, it's said that Brussels sprouts taste better after a frost.

Brussels sprouts 'Brodie F1' is the supermarket's choice, bearing super sweet buttons that are easy to harvest.

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Purple sprouting broccoli

Purple sprouting broccoli overwinter and crop very early in spring. Sow from March to May and plant out when large enough to handle, spacing them 50-60cm apart with a similar distance between the rows. Harvest your spears when the flowers have developed but are not yet open. Remove the central spear first to encourage side shoots to develop.

'Purple Rain' is a British bred variety that doesn't need a spell of cold weather to produce tasty sprouts.

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Chard

Sow in September, in rows 40cm apart and approximately 1.5cm deep. Cover seeds with soil and water well. Thin seedlings to 25-30cm apart. You should be able to harvest young chard leaves from October but then it will stop growing until temperatures increase again in spring. Cover with a cloche or horticultural fleece when frosts are forecast.

'Bright Lights' is a particularly ornamental variety, bearing stems in red, yellow and white.

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Chicory

Chicory can be cooked or eaten raw as a winter salad. There are three different types: 'forcing' chicory, grown for plump hearts that are good for blanching, red chicory or radicchio, that's great for colourful salads, and 'non-forcing' or sugar loaf chicory that can be cooked in a variety of ways or eaten raw. For a winter crop, sow non-forcing chicory in July and August, sowing thinly 1cm deep in rows 30cm apart. Thin out seedlings to 25-30cm apart between plants and keep weed-free. Cover with a cloche in autumn to extend the season.

Chicory 'Rossa di Treviso Precoce' bears long pointed green foliage that turns red as the weather gets colder.

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Winter cabbage

Winter cabbages include red cabbage, which works well in winter dishes but can also be pickled, and savoy cabbage, the perfect accompaniment to a Sunday roast. Sow in spring and thin or plant out to 45cm apart, with 60cm between rows. Use fine mesh to protect from flea beetle, white fly and white butterfly caterpillars. Harvest as and when you need to.

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Mizuna

Mizuna has a peppery flavour well suited to salads and as a garnish. Sow in August, in a greenhouse or cold frame for harvests throughout winter. Thin plants to 15cm apart and 23cm between rows. Alternatively sow on open ground and cover with a cloche in autumn to extend the harvest.

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Kale

Loved for its dark green leaves, kale makes an excellent addition to winter stir fries, salads and roasts. Sow in spring and thin or plant out to 45cm apart with 60cm between rows.

Kale 'Nero di Toscano' is a particularly attractive and hardy variety.

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Parsnips

Parsnips are a winter root vegetable that work well in soups and stews and are delicious roasted with a Sunday roast. Sow thinly in spring, and thin to 15cm spacing in rows 30cm apart. Keep the area weed free throughout summer and harvest from autumn. It's said that frost improves the flavour of parsnips but you might want to cover the ground with fleece to stop the soil freezing and make harvesting easier.

Parsnip 'Tender and True' bears long, slender roots that are perfect for roasting and mashing.

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Winter vegetables: pests and diseases

The advantage of growing crops in winter is that there are very few pests about – most are hibernating. Turnips, Brussels sprouts and other brassicas harbour a variety of insect pests until temperatures fall, including flea beetle, 'cabbage' white butterflies and whitefly – you may find whitefly persists into winter. Whitefly and flea beetle are usually nothing to worry about, while cabbage white caterpillars can strip plants of their leaves. However these will grow back in spring before the butterflies emerge from hibernation.

Pigeons can be a problem in winter, however, and it's a good idea to net your brassicas – particularly kale – to protect your crop.

Brassicas are also susceptible to diseases such as club root, a fungal disease that lives in the soil. If you find swollen roots then avoid growing brassicas in the soil for at least seven years. On acid soils, an application of garden lime can reduce, although not completely eliminate this disease.

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Advice on buying winter vegetables

• Ensure you have the right conditions to grow winter veg – including soil type, shelter and sunshine if needed
• Invest in cloches, fleece and cold frames to make the most of your winter crops
• Always follow the instructions on the seed packet

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Source: https://www.gardenersworld.com/plants/best-winter-veg-to-grow/

by Alex Maxia BBC

In Gothenburg, Sweden

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On Monday, millions of Swedes will start receiving copies of a pamphlet advising the population how to prepare and cope in the event of war or another unexpected crisis.

“In case of crisis or war” has been updated from six years ago because of what the government in Stockholm calls the worsening security situation, by which it means Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The booklet is also twice the size.

Neighbouring Finland has also just published its own fresh advice online on “preparing for incidents and crises”.

And Norwegians have also recently received a pamphlet urging them to be prepared to manage on their own for a week in the event of extreme weather, war and other threats.

During the summer, Denmark's emergency management agency said it was emailing Danish adults details on the water, food and medicine they would need to get through a crisis for three days.

In a detailed section on military conflict, the Finnish digital brochure explains how the government and president would respond in the event of an armed attack, stressing that Finland’s authorities are “well prepared for self defence”.

Sweden joined Nato only this year, deciding like Finland to apply after Moscow expanded its war in 2022. Norway was a founder member of the Western defensive alliance.

Unlike Sweden and Norway, the Helsinki government has decided not to print a copy for every home as it “would cost millions” and a digital version could be updated more easily.

“We have sent out 2.2 million paper copies, one for each household in Norway,” said Tore Kamfjord, who is responsible for the campaign of self-preparedness at the Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection (DSB).

Included in the lists of items to be kept at home are long-life foods such as tins of beans, energy bars and pasta, and medicines including iodine tablets in case of a nuclear accident.

Oslo sent out an earlier version in 2018, but Kamfjord said climate change and more extreme weather events such as floods and landslides had brought increased risks.

For Swedes, the idea of a civil emergency booklet is nothing new. The first edition of “If War Comes” was produced during World War Two and it was updated during the Cold War.

But one message has been moved up from the middle of the booklet: “If Sweden is attacked by another country, we will never give up. All information to the effect that resistance is to cease is false.”

It was not long ago that Finland and Sweden were still neutral states, although their infrastructure and “total defence system” date back to the Cold War.

Sweden’s Civil Defence Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin said last month that as the global context had changed, information to Swedish households had to reflect the changes too.

Earlier this year he warned that “there could be war in Sweden”, although that was seen as a wake-up call because he felt that moves towards rebuilding that “total defence” were progressing too slowly.

Because of its long border with Russia and its experience of war with the Soviet Union in World War Two, Finland has always maintained a high level of defence. Sweden, however, scaled down its infrastructure and only in recent years started gearing up again.

“From the Finnish perspective, this is a bit strange,” according to Ilmari Kaihko, associate professor of war studies at the Swedish Defence University. “[Finland] never forgot that war is a possibility, whereas in Sweden, people had to be shaken up a bit to understand that this can actually happen," says Kaihko, who's from Finland.

Melissa Eve Ajosmaki, 24, who is originally from Finland but studies in Gothenburg, says she felt more worried when the war broke out in Ukraine. “Now I feel less worried but I still have the thought at the back of my head on what I should do if there was a war. Especially as I have my family back in Finland."

​

The guides include instructions on what to do in case of several scenarios and ask citizens to make sure they can fend for themselves, at least initially, in case of a crisis situation.

Finns are asked how they would cope without power for days on end with winter temperatures as low as -20C.

Their checklist also includes iodine tablets, as well as easy-to-cook food, pet food and a backup power supply.

The Swedish checklist recommends potatoes, cabbage, carrots and eggs along with tins of bolognese sauce and prepared blueberry and rosehip soup.

Swedish Economist Ingemar Gustafsson, 67, recalls receiving previous versions of the pamphlet: “I'm not that worried about the whole thing so I take it pretty calmly. It's good that we get information about how we should act and how we should prepare, but it's not like I have all those preparations at home”.

One of the most important recommendations is to keep enough food and drinking water for 72 hours.

But Ilmari Kaihko wonders whether that is practical for everyone.

“Where do you stash it if you have a big family living in a small apartment?”

​

Source:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjr4zwj2lgdo

by Niki Jabbour

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I live in a region where winters can be long, cold, and very snowy. But, I still enjoy a homegrown harvest from my vegetable garden year-round. The key to a successful winter harvest is to know the right vegetables to grow in winter and pair them with the right season extenders. That means growing cold tolerant crops in structures like cold frames, mini hoop tunnels, greenhouses, or polytunnels.

Learn how to pick the best vegetables to grow in winter:

If you’re new to winter vegetable gardening, start with just a few crops and a cold frame or mini hoop tunnel, experimenting with what works best in your region.  Climates milder than my zone 5 Nova Scotia garden, may find success with a simple length of fabric row cover floated over crops on PVC or metal hoops. You can make your own fleece tunnels or buy a tunnel kit for mini hoop houses for quick assembly.

I need more protection in my region so I add a layer of polyethylene film on top of my fabric tunnels to shelter kale, collards, leeks, and hardy salad greens in winter. In colder zones, gardeners should use insulating structures like cold frames and stick to the hardiest vegetables (kale, scallions, mache, and tatsoi for example) to ensure success.

It’s also important to understand that the growth of most vegetables slows once the day-length shrinks to less than ten hours a day. For me, that happens in early November so I need to make sure my winter vegetables have reached a harvestable size by that time. At that point, my cold-tolerant vegetables stay tucked in their season extenders waiting for me to harvest.

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Eight of the best vegetables to grow in winter:

There are many cold hardy vegetables that can be enjoyed during the cold winter months. I’m not trying to grow tomatoes, peppers, and basil in unheated structures in winter. Instead, I’m growing cold tolerant crops like root vegetables and leafy greens.

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Kale

No self-respecting winter garden is complete without several varieties of hardy kale. In fact, as the temperature drops in late autumn, the flavor of kale improves. We grow kale two ways – as a mature crop for soups, sautés and chips and as a baby green for tender winter salads. ‘Winterbor’ is a beautiful and delicious kale that grows three feet tall with deeply curled blue-green leaves.  I also enjoy growing ‘Red Russian’, a classic variety with vivid purple stems and gray-green leaves. This is the variety we like to use for kale chips.

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Lettuce

For years I’ve tested dozens of varieties of lettuce in my winter cold frames and tunnels. Lettuce is definitely one of the very best vegetables to grow in winter. I’ve had great luck with hardy varieties like ‘Winter Density’, ‘Red Salad Bowl’, and ‘Winter Marvel’. But, I have recently been experimenting with Salanova® lettuce varieties and I am in love! These baby-sized lettuces form dense rosettes of tender green, red, or burgundy leaves. They’re beautiful, tasty, and have performed extremely well in my unheated winter polytunnel.

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Carrots

We affectionally call our winter carrots, ‘candy carrots’ because they’re so sweet after a couple of hard freezes. Like kale, beets, leeks, and many other crops, their flavor improves after a few frosts in late autumn. We sow seed for our winter carrot crop from late July through early August, and deep mulch the bed in late November or early December with shredded leaves or straw. This insulating layer is topped with an old row cover or bed sheet to hold it in place. Whenever we want to harvest, the fabric and mulch are pulled back and we dig as many sweet roots as needed. Best bets for winter harvesting include ‘Napoli’, ‘Mokum’, or ‘Bolero’.

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Asian Greens

Asian greens are another plant on the list of best vegetables to grow in winter. There are so many awesome types of Asian greens available to gardeners through seed catalogs. We grow different ones in spring, summer, autumn, and winter, and I’ve found the best ones for cold season harvesting include pac choi, tatsoi, mizuna, and mustard greens. These are very fast to grow and offer a range of foliage textures, colors, and flavors.

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Scallions

‘Evergreen Hardy White’ is a cold season superstar in our winter frames and tunnels. This extremely hardy variety produces long green tops with tender white stalks. I direct sow the seed in September, and the first harvest usually takes place by mid-November. With protection we harvest flavorful scallions all winter long.

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Mache

Also called corn salad or lamb’s lettuce, mache is one of the top vegetables to grow in winter.  The plants form two to four-inch diameter clusters of leaves that are harvested whole by slicing the stem off at soil level. After a quick rinse, the rosettes are tossed with a simple dressing and enjoyed as a salad green. ‘Vit’ is my variety of choice and is direct seeded in late summer. Mache self-sows easily, almost too easily, so pull any leftover plants in spring if you don’t want mache popping up throughout your garden.

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Spinach

Spinach thrives in the cool, shorter days of autumn and well into winter. I sow the seed in my cold frames and polytunnel in mid to late September, as well as in a few open garden beds. Those beds will eventually be covered with polyethylene topped mini hoop tunnels when autumn switches to winter. Try ’Giant Winter’, a variety bred for winter harvesting or ‘Tyee’, ‘Melody’, or ‘Winter Bloomsdale’. I’ve had good success with harvesting all of these throughout winter.

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Arugula

Arugula was the green that first introduced me to the possibilities of winter harvesting, and all these years later it’s still one of my favorite cold season crops. There are two main types of arugula you can harvest in winter; wild and garden. The garden varieties like ‘Astro’ are very quick growing and have strappy leaves. Wild arugula is slower growing, but more cold tolerant, with deeply lobed leaves. It also has a more robust flavor. We seed arugula every few weeks starting in early September to ensure a non-stop supply of this peppery green in our cold frames and polytunnel. The harvest begins in October and continues until we run out.Harvest as a baby crop or allow the leaves to grow full-sized.

Other vegetables I harvest in winter include Swiss chard, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and broccoli. Plus, many herbs can be enjoyed during winter. My favorites include thyme, parsley, mint, oregano, cilantro, and sage.

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Source: https://savvygardening.com/vegetables-to-grow-in-winter/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZxxA689GHY&t=529s

Personally, I like the Corona fixed blade saw. Most of the Arborists in my area use Corona fixed blade saws.

This was a very controlled and objective test, like all of his are....take it for what it's worth....

I suppose I have multiple questions, really, about logistics of basically returning to a primal living style.

[In North America] (US & CA) is it 'illegal' to settle in a spot long-term as per the "14 day" rule on campsites, even if youre in the deep wilderness where nobody else is around (so you're not "hogging" a spot or anything) and if so, would it actually matter if you did that, if you're unlikely to ever see anyone else to begin with?

Would it be illegal for any reason to live in the wilderness long-term if you're always moving around and not breaking this rule? (For instance would you need to have a 'legal residence' somewhere)?

Would anybody make a fuss if you didn't have a legal residence or over any other issues, and try to track you down or something in the wilderness?

Having weathered more hurricanes than I care to count in Southern Mississippi, I've learned a thing or two about emergency food preparation. After Hurricane Katrina changed everything for us in 2005, I discovered that freeze-dried food storage isn't just about survival – it's about maintaining some normalcy when everything else is chaos.

During those long weeks after Katrina, when power was out and supplies were scarce, my family was thankful for every meal we had stored. But we quickly learned that not all emergency food is created equal. The commercial freeze-dried meals from Mountain House that we had stored were a godsend – especially their beef stroganoff, which became a comfort food during those trying times. However, some of the cheaper alternatives we'd stockpiled sat untouched because, frankly, they were nearly inedible.

For those just starting out, I highly recommend checking out comprehensive reviews at https://consumerrating.org/emergency-food-supply/ before making any major purchases. This site helped me avoid some costly mistakes when I was rebuilding our emergency supplies after Katrina.

This experience taught me that while commercial freeze-dried meals are convenient, they're not all worth your hard-earned money. Mountain House remains a top choice for taste and quality, but they're expensive at roughly $10-13 per pouch. ReadyWise (formerly Wise Food Storage) offers more affordable options, but in my experience, their meals can be hit or miss. Their breakfast options are decent, but some of their entrees lack the flavor profile that makes you want to reach for seconds.

Augason Farms and their warehouse sales has become my go-to for bulk storage. Their prices are reasonable, and while not every meal is restaurant quality, their soups and breakfast items have gotten my family through several smaller emergencies since Katrina. During Hurricane Ida, their cream of chicken soup became an unexpected favorite among my kids.

But here's something I wish someone had told me years ago – you don't have to rely solely on commercial options. After experimenting with my own freeze-dried ingredients, I've found that creating custom meal packages can be both cost-effective and more enjoyable. I now keep basic freeze-dried ingredients like chicken, vegetables, and fruits from various suppliers, which I can combine with my family's favorite seasonings and recipes.

During Hurricane Sally in 2020, we actually preferred our homemade freeze-dried gumbo mix over any commercial option. There's something comforting about familiar flavors during stressful times, and being able to control the seasoning and sodium levels makes a huge difference.

That said, I still maintain a supply of commercial meals for immediate emergencies. When you're dealing with storm damage and stress, sometimes you just need to add hot water and have a meal ready in minutes. It's about finding the right balance for your situation.

For those just starting their emergency food storage journey, I recommend beginning with a variety pack from Mountain House or ReadyWise. Sample different meals before committing to bulk purchases – trust me, this will save you money and storage space in the long run. Then, as you become more comfortable, consider incorporating some DIY elements using freeze-dried ingredients from companies like Thrive Life or Augason Farms.

Remember emergency food storage isn't just about having enough calories to survive and it's about maintaining some quality of life during difficult times. Whether you're facing a hurricane in Mississippi or preparing for other emergencies, having food you actually want to eat can make a world of difference in maintaining morale.

After nearly two decades of hurricane seasons, I've learned that the best emergency food plan combines both commercial and homemade options. It might take some time to find the right balance for your family, but the peace of mind is worth the effort. And when the next storm comes (because in Mississippi, there's always another storm coming) you'll be glad you took the time to prepare properly. Please heed my advice and experience. ✌🏻

Some aspects of wilderness survival, camping, studying and so forth, does this make sense? Could this increase self reliance in some ways, and when would it be worth it?

Winter is coming. Though we may feel like the warm, sunny days will last a little longer, the first frost and early darkness have a way of sneaking up on you.

And if you have a homestead, your winter preparation is a bit more involved than the average home or landowner. Even if you live in an area with mild winters, you must prepare your home, garden, and animals for the changing of the seasons.

Grab a planner, get organized, and prepare for winter on your homestead.

Preparing Your Home for Winter

Heating

For most people – homesteaders or not – the single most important aspect of winter preparations is heating. If you use electric or gas heat, your job is to simply check the furnace and turn it on.

If you have a wood stove, however, you have to check to make sure it’s in good condition and ensure you have enough firewood. Get a sufficient amount of firewood chopped and stacked, then store it in a dry place with easy access. You may want to invest in a wood storage bench that you can refill with chopped wood regularly.

Food

Preparing food for winter is extremely important with homesteading. If you try to produce as much of your own food as possible, you should begin drying and freezing food to last the long winter months.

If you choose, supplement your stock with dried goods like rice, oats, lentils, beans, and frozen meat. Then, if there’s a bad winter storm, you know you have plenty of food to get by.

Insulation

Before winter hits, do a check of your windows and doors to see if they have tight seals. Drafts can lead to a lot of cold air coming in and your heated air going out, but a little extra insulation can keep it cozy.

Passive solar heat is helpful for keeping your home warm in winter. The southern- and western-facing sides of your home will bring in some sunshine, so keep those curtains and blinds open!

Supplies

Getting your winter supplies ready is a must before the frost hits. Grab your winter coats, gloves, scarves, boots, headlamps, and any other winter supplies you need and keep them near the entry to your home.

Preparing Your Yard for Winter

The Harvest

Part of your winter food stores should come from the last of the winter harvest. Even if the first frost has hit, you can harvest medicinal roots and greens after the frost.

You should also save seeds from your crops before the frigid winter sets in. Leave some plants in your garden and let them mature, then harvest and dry the seeds for a truly self-sustaining garden in future seasons.

Fall and Winter Crops

If you live in an area with a mild winter, you may be able to grow cool-weather plants. It takes a little work, but you can grow beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, celery, and collards in cold weather. In fact, some of these plants will grow more flavorful in the cold.

Garden Beds

Depending on the type of garden you have, you may need to take extra steps to put your garden to bed. With a no-till garden, you can leave the garden and soil undisturbed and just cut the veggies at the soil line.

Compost everything – except nightshades – to reduce the risk of soil-borne diseases and fungus. Then, give the garden a layer of compost, leaves, and mulch.

Yard and Shrubs

If you have a lawn, trees, and shrubs, they need care before winter. Instead of cleaning up all your fallen leaves, rack them into your flower and garden beds and mulch around your trees and perennial plants. This will not only feed the soil but provides protection from the harsh winter weather.

You will also need to bring in your yard furniture and supplies, including your grill, lawn chairs, patio furniture, and children’s toys. You should also turn off your sprinkler or irrigation system.

Winterize your equipment, such as the tiller, lawnmower, or tractor, by running the fluids down, having them serviced, and storing them in a covered area. You may want to add a vehicle cover for extra protection.

Preparing Animals for Winter

Feed

All of your animals should have a stockpile of feed and hay to get through winter. Even if you have access to a feed supply store, having ample extra feed ensures that you won’t be short if there’s a bad storm or moisture or rodents destroy some of your supply.

Secondly, put out your heated waterers, heated buckets, or trough heaters and make sure the cords are in good shape.

Chickens

Chickens need some extra care in winter. Deep clean your coop and put down a heavy layer of bedding. All soiled bedding can be recycled to the garden to protect and fertilize the soil.

Throughout the winter, do chicken health checks to look for mites or other parasites. Damp conditions can lead to skin conditions or frostbite, so your chickens should have regular checkups.

Goats

Goats should also have a deep cleaning and extra bedding before winter. They don’t need extra heating unless you have kids, elderly goats, or goats with a medical condition. Before winter hits, have your vet come out to check on the health of your goats.

Hooves are important to watch through winter. The snow and rain can create damp conditions that will rot hooves. Goats may be prone to respiratory conditions like pneumonia during the winter.

Rabbits

Rabbit hutches should be insulated well to hold in the heat. You can use thermal blankets to block any drafts during severe snowstorms or extra cold days, but otherwise, insulation is sufficient.

Unlike larger livestock, it’s difficult to heat rabbit water bottles. You will need to switch their water out throughout the day to avoid it freezing.

Bees

If your homestead has bees, they will need some extra care and attention leading into winter. After that, they basically care for themselves.

Each winter, take off the supers and put each hive down to one box, which will have some frames of honey. Place some pollen patties and fondant on top of the hive body in a feeder.

Then, the bees will produce winter bees that are larger and more robust to care for the queen. Their job is to keep her warm, which is why it’s best to reduce the size of the hive and the space to heat. If you’re in a really cold climate, add a hive cover.

Other Animals

If you keep other animals on your homestead, such as llamas, pigs, horses, or exotic animals like deer and quail, the basic rules still apply. Prepare for winter by cleaning out these animals’ shelter and providing adequate bedding, stocking up on feed and hay, and adding heated waterers.

Otherwise, the care of these animals comes down to preference and your climate. For example, some people prefer to blanket horses and llamas over winter, but you can leave them to grow a winter coat.

Preparing for Winter Emergencies

Unfortunately, winter can come with nasty weather and severe storms that can lead to power outages or road closures. With all your animals and yourselves to feed and care for, you should have an emergency kit.

• A three-day supply of water for each person and animals
• A three-day supply of non-perishable food
• Baby and pet supplies
• Extra blankets, coats, gloves, hats, and boots
• A first-aid kit
• A week’s supply of medications
• Personal hygiene items
• Flashlight with extra batteries
• A multi-purpose tool
• Copies of personal documents like birth certifications and medical information
• Extra cash
• Snow shovels and snow removal equipment
• Sufficient heating fuel
• Emergency kits for vehicles
• Emergency contact information for family members
• Battery-powered generators

Frequently Asked Questions

How Can I Grow and Store a Winter’s Worth of Food?

When you’re first starting out, you likely won’t be growing at the scale needed to last through winter into the next growing season. It may take a few seasons before you have enough growth and an efficient process for winter preparations.

What Food Should I Store for Winter?

Take what you can from your harvest and freeze it, dry it, can it, or preserve it. Along with the produce from your garden and local foraging, you can purchase staples like potatoes, meat, and vegetables to freeze. If you raise animals for food, have them processed for winter. Remember that you can freeze dairy products like milk, butter, and yogurt.

Is Homesteading in Winter Hard?

The hardest part of winter homesteading is feeding a wood stove and watering some of the animals. Otherwise, if you’ve prepared well, winter homesteading isn’t much different than the rest of the year.

Get Ready for Winter

Once you’ve prepared your home, yard, and animals for the incoming winter, spend time enjoying the last days of autumn with your family. Then, you have all winter to get your plans ready for spring planting and a fruitful harvest.

Source: https://fairwaystables.com/homesteading/how-to-prepare-for-winter-on-your-homestead/

By chemical products, I mean things like vinegar, alcohol, lye, soap, varnishes, fertilizer, adhesives, creams, minor illness remedies, paint, cosmetics, cleaning products, and so on - generally things that are usually bought at a store, but can also be mixed or brewed at home.

For uses, something that looks like the following guides on this reddit
https://www.reddit.com/r/selfreliance/comments/15utf3b/guide_7_uses_for_hydrogen_peroxide/
https://www.reddit.com/r/selfreliance/comments/146bisq/an_az_of_incredible_uses_for_everyday_things/

E.g., "pharmacognosy", "herbal medicine", "traditional medicine", and books referred as "herbals" for useful medicinal plants, household remedies, the best extraction method for a specific plant/affliction, and best method of application.

I just mostly want to know any relevant keywords I can use to more effectively search resources on my own.

Thanks!

Article by Chelsea Gregori

Chicken keepers wonder every year how to keep chickens warm in winter weather. Cold climates aren’t something I’ve been familiar with growing up in Florida, so moving to Kentucky brought a new experience when the sunny days turned to cold temperatures. Although I wasn’t a new chicken owner, I was worried about the chickens the first winter I was here. 

Always keep an eye on the forecast for cold weather to be as ready as possible for extreme winter weather on your homestead. Are the single digits accompanied by a winter storm, bringing heavy snow or ice? 

You’ll need to check the projected high and low temperatures, but more importantly, the wind chill. Cold winters can also bring strong winds. This can make it feel much cooler outside than your weather app claims in the colder months.

Here are some tactics, tools and actions you can do and take to keep your chickens warm this season.

Tips for keeping chickens warm in winter weather and extreme conditions.

Chickens are capable of regulating their body temperature with their downy feathers so it’s very unlikely they’ll need additional heat once colder temperatures arrive. Regardless, it’s still good to be aware of their comfort levels and know what to do if unusually severe winter temperatures in the coldest months make an appearance.

How do you know if your chickens are cold? If your flock of chickens are all huddled in one corner, they might be trying to generate warmth. Your chickens will puff their feathers out to trap body heat, as well, when they’re cold.

Keep a close eye on your flock during extreme weather conditions. Be prepared to address anything that looks off. 

These 17 tips on how to keep chickens warm in winter weather will help you keep happy and healthy chickens this winter season. And the good news is you’ve probably already done most of them since many of the tips are generally the best way to take good care of your entire flock, anyway.

Keep a healthy flock

Some chicken farmers don’t believe in providing supplemental heating if you have a healthy flock. There are truths to that. 

For example, chickens molt in the fall to prepare their bodies with warm, fluffy new feathers just like wild birds do. A chicken’s feathers provide much heat and extra insulation on cold nights.

These new feathers act as natural insulation when the cool weather comes. Additionally, you’ll see a decrease, or complete halt, in egg-laying in the winter. During this time, chickens are channeling all their energy into staying warm and giving their egg system a rest. You’ll see a change in egg production a few times throughout the year when raising chickens.

If for some reason your flock didn’t molt this year, or maybe partially molted for whatever reason, and you have extreme cold days headed your way, then you might want to take extra precautions and provide supplemental heat. If a partial molt has occurred and you know your chickens typically molt completely this time of year, make sure to check their overall health for parasites (you can start by checking their chicken poop).

Provide them with unlimited, extra feed

Chickens will burn calories quicker while trying to stay warm. Consider using a gravity feeder to provide your flock with consistent nourishment and a good quality feed. Providing grain all 24 hours a day can supplement these lost calories. 

Some folks also like to hang vegetable piñatas, provide black oil sunflower seeds or even give warm mash of fermented feed and scratch grains.

Your flock will eat more in the winter, especially if you don’t increase their protein intake. If for some reason the weather cools and your flock won’t eat, you might inspect them for illness.

As always, make sure your livestock has fresh water in a clean water bowl (or container of your choice). If your chickens have a chicken run, make sure they can access their food and water during the day. If you don’t want to have to hassle with pouring hot water over their frozen drinking water in the morning, you can place the reservoir in their warm coop. Be sure it’s far enough away from the roosts, and not roost-able itself.

My husband put a heat bulb in a cinder block hole, put a smaller/thinner cinder block on top and his 5-gallon chicken waterer on top of that and it never froze. It even provided warm water for his flock! 

It was a super easy way to prevent the water from freezing when we were away for a few days. His flock laid fresh eggs all winter and his chicken house stayed comfortable during the cold winter weather.

Increase protein intake

It’s a good idea to increase protein intake during the cool months when raising chickens. Providing amino acids helps to maintain egg production and support new feather growth. If you can’t provide free feed for your flock, consider buying nicer feed with a higher protein count.

You can also provide a small cracked corn snack at the end of the evening and suet cakes. For the DIYers out there, you can make your own suet cakes for your flock while you’re snowed in the house!

Thermo emergency heat blanket

This might be one of my favorite suggestions from a social media group. If you’re worried about your flock and need a list minute type of fix, tent a thermo emergency blanket somewhere in the coop. This provides a warm place for them to go, with ventilation on both sides.

Additionally, it’s not a fire hazard in any way! Just make sure it’s secure so it doesn’t fall over anyone and suffocate them. If you don’t have any emergency blankets handy, try using a thick tarp.

Heat lamps (with caution)

I hesitate to suggest using a heat lamp because it can be extremely dangerous fire hazards. With that being said, I do know that folks still use them. In addition, I occasionally use them as well.

Heat lamps provide sufficient amounts of warmth. This is why they’re so popular when raising chicks. If you do make the decision to use a heat lamp in an enclosed space, do it responsibly. Check that there is the smallest risk of fire possible.

Your heat lamp needs to be away from anything flammable and secured to a base. If you have a small, enclosed coop I do not recommend taking the risk of using a heat lamp.

Heat plates

A great alternative heat source to heat lamps, a heat plate or heat mat could be an option.  Depending on the size of your flock and chickens, it might be the best route to take.

The warmth of a heat plate is more centralized, making them a difficult option for large flocks and coops. If you have multiple heat plates, suspend them higher off the ground. This way your flock can walk underneath for heat.

I always recommend using a heat plate when raising chicks.

Crockpots for warming water

Another internet find, folks have been bringing their crockpots to the cool weather rescue. I don’t suggest leaving a crockpot plugged into overnight in the coop (fire). But during daylight hours under supervision, this is a great idea.

All you do is plug in your crockpot, add water, and turn it on! It’s best to use a low setting so your flock doesn’t hurt themselves. In a pinch, this would be a great option to help keep chickens warm in extreme weather.

Here’s a quick old-timer tip from Google (can’t say if I recommend this or not as I have never tried it out):

“According to old-timers, cayenne pepper can be added to your chickens*‘ feed in the cold months to help warm up your* chickens and boost egg production. … Cayenne also helps with circulation, which can prevent frostbite in the winter.”

Bring them inside in a tent

Not for the faint of heart, but for the true chicken lover. This unique approach is sure to put your chickens in warmer conditions.

Bring them inside and put them in a pop up tent for the night! You might need more of a dome tent for larger flocks.

Just add some bedding and a roost and you’ve got a basement coop! This option is a great option if you’re dealing with the other end of the weather spectrum – fire and smoke.

Seal off drafts very well while still assuring good ventilation

This is something that every henhouse needs, no matter the weather. Plan to seal any drafts and possible leaks in your coop before exposing your chickens in the winter or adding artificial light.

Chickens need great ventilation while minimizing or completely eliminating any drafts. Drafts can chill even the fluffiest of chickens and poor ventilation can lead to respiratory problems from ammonia fumes. 

Ventilation

Make sure your winter chicken coop has a top vent, and sufficient pine shavings, wood shavings or wood chips. Warm air rises, so you want to make sure when the heat rises that enough of it stays in to warm the coop, but also escapes to prevent dangerous fumes.

We want ventilation, not air leaks. This is especially important if you plan to practice the deep litter method. Always add dry bedding and monitor how much moist air is being generated from the heat.

Drafts

The type of material your coop is made out of is important because different materials have different amounts of thermal mass. Clear plastic will have a low thermal mass (will not absorb and store heat well) while tougher materials (think brick or concrete) will have a high thermal mass.

If you’re thinking “this was a great article until Chelsea just told me to build a brick chicken house”, please know that I AM NOT suggesting that. But I AM suggesting that you evaluate the structure of your hen house if you live in a cool climate. 

For example, we have a plywood structured hen house, vented at the top, but it is raised off the ground (as seen in the picture below). Even though the roosting bars are high off the ground and we have sufficient bedding, the cold ground can still work against heat retention.

In the winter, we add a tarp to prevent wind chill and cold air coming up through the floor. Similar to why mobile/modular homes have under-pinning, and why the floor is freezing when they don’t! A hay bale or straw bales would also work placed around the bottom of your raised coop. 

Deep litter composting

Another controversial topic, deep litter composting is an old tradition used by many farmers to this day. By practicing deep litter compost, you’re practicing a form of hot composting involving chicken manure.

If you do it successfully, your deep litter compost should provide natural, non-flammable heat and a warm bed in your henhouse and provide great garden material come spring.

The most important thing to keep in mind with the deep litter method is the ratio of carbon versus nitrogen. Whenever you add nitrogen (green materials), add at least 3-4x that amount in carbon (brown materials). This way you don’t end up with a soupy, stinking mess on the ground (or rodents).

Create a sunroom to trap heat

Another pre-winter project, but still a great suggestion. Consider adding a sunning room off the side of your coop to trap heat!

If you pursue this adventure, keep in mind you still must maintain good ventilation to prevent ammonia buildup. Fresh air is crucial for the health of your chooks. Depending on the side of your flock, consider building a room with a glass or sturdy plastic ceiling.

You can insulate the walls and add a small door for easing comings and goings. If constructed well, this room will be able to hold some amount of heat. Providing warmth for your flock.

Provide sufficient bedding

Bedding is another form of insulation in a coop, and it’s not very easy to add too much. Most northern folk in the winter add a little extra cushion, regardless of the forecast.

Adding extra bedding to the coop is an affordable, simple thing to do to keep chickens warm in winter weather.

Insulate nesting boxes

If on the off-chance you have a broody winter hen, you can consider insulating their nesting box. By using materials you probably already have, you can provide extra warmth for mama and her eggs – for free.

Use cardboard, newspaper, and even extra straw in the nesting boxes for extra warmth.

Provide windbreakers

Your chickens still need sunlight in the winter. In fact, some folks supplement light during the shortest days of the year. The jury is still out on whether that is 100% healthy or not. The best thing to do is do what’s best for your flock.

Either way, your chickens should have the option to get outside during the lighter hours of the day. Providing them a windbreaker means they can seek shelter from strong winds while still having access to fresh air. The walls of your coop will work well depending on which way the wind is blowing.

You can stack bales of straw on top of each other or put up a tarp. Whichever method you choose, make sure the strawbales are secure and the tarp is, as well.

If your chickens are reluctant to go outside the hen house, try putting bedding on the snow outside. Chickens have snow blindness and sometimes need a little “push”.

It’s recommended to shovel an area first, and then put bedding down. This gives you peace of mind protecting their feet. It also gives them something to scratch at to generate body heat!

Provide adequate roosting

All chickens need to be able to roost. You should teach your chickens to roost when they’re still in their brooder. Depending on the roost setup, roosting builds strong leg muscles and a pecking order.

Additionally, when chickens roost in the evening, it allows them to get close to each other. By roosting closely to one another, they’re able to generate and share heat.

When providing roosts, you want to use the most beneficial shape. By choosing a flat-surfaced perch, your chickens can sit down completely and cover their lefts and feet with their fresh downy feathers.

Put petroleum jelly on their combs and wattles

If you’re worried about serious frostbite, adding a thin layer of petroleum jelly to your flocks combs and wattles might help. Depending on who you talk to, chickens are either very prone to frostbite or very cold hardy.

Either way, it’s best to be informed about frostbitten chickens. Be sure you educate yourself on frostbite in backyard chickens and what to do about it.

Get more chickens

When all else fails, just buy more chickens! More chickens mean more body heat, right? 5 chickens roosting will generate more warmth than 3, so why not have 15 chickens? We all know chicken math is real. 

BUT SERIOUSLY. A few chickens huddle together will produce a lot of body heat. If you have only a few chickens and have been interested and can afford more, then this would be a great reason to do it.  

If you only want, or can only have, a few chickens and you live in a very cold climate, then you may have to utilize more than one of these tips to keep your flock warm enough in the winter. 

Are you worried about how to keep chickens warm in winter weather?

It’s always great to have information and tools in your toolbox during extreme weather. From frostbite to preventing eggs from freezing, the winter months can bring quite the challenge and it’s crucial to keep our flocks happy and healthy. 

Make it a habit to check chickens’ combs, chickens’ feet and the light bulb you might have added under their water reservoir (or anywhere else in the coop). Even chickens with large combs and feathered feet can become victim to frost bite and should be inspected. 

Stay informed and stay aware, friends. How do you keep your flock warm in the winter?

Article Source: https://growwhereyousow.com/how-to-keep-chickens-warm-in-winter/

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