winter
January
Deep winter. Minus thirty is normal; the chores are not optional.
- ✓ Check heated waterers twice a day
- ✓ Bed down shelters deep and dry
- ✓ Count hay bales; order more now if you're under half
- ✓ Order seed catalogues and dream
Horses burn more calories staying warm. Watch body condition under the winter coat.
winter
February
The cold that tests your fences.
- ✓ Walk fence lines on the snow crust
- ✓ Book the farrier and the vet for spring
- ✓ Plan fencing and shelter projects for summer
- ✓ Start onions and leeks indoors
The best time to plan a build is now, when you can still see where the snow drifts.
spring
March
Mud season begins.
- ✓ Add gravel where animals congregate
- ✓ Clean out shelters as things thaw
- ✓ Order chicks for May
- ✓ Watch for ice under the mud at gates
Keep animals off soft pasture until it firms up, or you'll be fixing it all summer.
spring
April
Everything runs: snowmelt, rivers, you.
- ✓ Fix winter fence damage
- ✓ Watch low ground: Manitoba spring floods come fast
- ✓ Plant the shelterbelt as soon as the ground thaws
- ✓ Deworming and spring vaccinations
Keep animals and hay on high ground until the water goes down. Then introduce horses and minis to spring grass slowly.
spring
May
Chicks, seedlings, and long evenings.
- ✓ Chicks arrive; brooder warm and ready
- ✓ Direct-sow cool crops
- ✓ Fencing season starts in earnest
- ✓ Set up fly control before the flies do
Pound posts while the ground is damp but not soaked. Easier on you, easier on the machine.
summer
June
Build season.
- ✓ Shelters, run-ins and coops go up
- ✓ Rotate pasture to let the first paddock recover
- ✓ Hay fields are growing: book your supplier
- ✓ Plant warm crops
Face every open-sided shelter away from the winter wind, not the summer breeze.
summer
July
Hay.
- ✓ First cut hay comes in: stack dry, off the ground
- ✓ Water, water, water
- ✓ Trim goat hooves
- ✓ Shade, fly masks and mosquito control for horses
Buy your whole winter's hay now if you can store it. Prices only go up.
summer
August
Harvest and heat.
- ✓ Garden harvest and preserving
- ✓ Second cut hay if the year allows
- ✓ Finish building before fall rains
- ✓ Plan the pond or dugout for the dry fall ground
This is the month to bring home a horse: shelter up, hay in, weather kind.
fall
September
Golden and urgent.
- ✓ Install frost-free hydrants and heated troughs
- ✓ Last fence fixes before the ground freezes
- ✓ Clean and winterize the coop
- ✓ Order bedding for winter
Anything in the ground has to happen before the first hard frost. Make the list now.
fallright now
October
Battening down.
- ✓ Deep-clean shelters, add winter bedding
- ✓ Put away hoses; test the hydrant
- ✓ Final farrier before winter
- ✓ Mulch the garden
Winter coats are growing. Don't blanket a horse that doesn't need it.
fall
November
First real snow.
- ✓ Plug in heated waterers
- ✓ Set up a winter hay-feeding routine
- ✓ Check the coop for drafts (ventilation yes, drafts no)
- ✓ Stock up on grit and scratch
Egg production drops with the light. A dim timer bulb in the coop helps, but a rest is fine too.
winter
December
Quiet.
- ✓ Keep paths clear to every shelter
- ✓ Check that water never freezes
- ✓ Watch for ice near troughs
- ✓ Sit in the barn and listen to them eat
This is the part nobody tells you about. It's the best part.
