Is there such a thing as "too cold"? Or am I just too soft?

[Cecosugi]

I'm in mid Missouri, and we've had some sustained cold weather. Below zero for 36+ hours, and hitting below zero several other times. I think the lowest we ever got was -16. That's horribly cold, for me.

Because I have 2 presumed pregnant mini donkeys and a 6 month old mini donkey, when I saw the forecast for that sustained cold, I got busy and made an indoor area. I got stall mats, a heat bulb for the overhead light fixture, some gate panels. I felt like I was nesting, haha. Got it set up, see picture below. I got some straw for bedding on top of the stall mats. Their normal area is what I would call a "lean-to". It's on one side of our metal pole barn, roof and all sides covered except 1 (south facing). This seems like a good set up, but I felt like I should bring them in. Is that stupid? I don't want to do something that creates a bigger problem for them (i.e. not able to handle temperature fluxuations because I haven't let them tough it out). Is that even a thing? Yes, I'm second guessing everything.

I arbitrarily set my line in the sand at zero. Zero and below, they go in. Above zero, they stay out. I don't know why. I make the rules, and that's what I picked. If you put yours inside for temperature, what is your temperature cut off?

So they were in for about 36 hours during the sustained cold with 6" of snow dropped, which feels like way too long. But it was freaking cold. When I finally let them out, when the temperature got to zero, they ran around (mostly the young 'un), but when I went back down to the barn for the last time in the evening, when I opened the door from the barn to the lean-to, they came walking right in and went straight in to the area I had made for them. Then they stood there, as if to say "You want me out? Make me." And little Valentino piped up "Yeah, what she said." It wasn't supposed to be below zero, so I had every intention of leaving them out that night, until the next below-zero, which was forecasted for 3 days later. But I didn't really want to take on the mean girls, you know? So I acquiesced. The next day, out they went, like it was their idea. That night they stayed out. It was well above zero. The next night (which was last night), they again came in the door with a "don't tell me no" attitude. Well... okay. It was going to get to 1, but who am I to set a number in stone?

I can't tell you how glad I am that they were in, since Cheyenne had her baby, and it was 4 degrees. That would not have been pleasant. It's about 30-32 inside the barn, so it's not balmy, by any means. Now the vet has told me to keep her and the baby in for 36 hours. It's due to be -1 tonight (which is a warm up from our previous forecast of -10), so I would have kept them in tonight anyway.

What is your "cold" rule? Do yours come in at night? By "in", I mean 4 solid walls, mostly insulated, and a roof. There are drafts, of course, it's not a house, but it's "in".

 

[1roadtoad]

I have 2 mini donks and 2 mini horses. They all go into their barn every night of the year. I use to let them out at night in the summer many years ago, but we have a few black bears, a pack of coyotes and a family of bobcats that live in the woods around me, so I just decided that they will come in every night, every day. Then I won't worry. I also let them out during the day, every day. I pretty much let them out at 7 AM and bring them in at 7 PM. Occasionally, in the winter, I may not let them out until 10 or 11 if it is extremely cold. Example, tomorrow, it is supposed to be -13 or so here in NW Connecticut with the wind chill. I will probably wait to put them out until mid morning and bring them in when it gets dark around 4:30. It is very rare that I do this, because they hate to stay in and I feel it's healthy for them to be out in the sunshine even when it's cold. When they are outside they have sheds built on the side of the barn, similar to your set up. I don't blanket my animals as they have very heavy winter coats and to date, I have never seen any of them shiver. I have never used a heat lamp, so I have no experience to share about that. The heat that my 4 little equines generate actually raises the temperature in their 20 x 30 barn by 5-10 degrees.
You mentioned cameras in one of your posts. I too have cameras in my barn and around my property just to make sure all is well and give me piece of mind. There are a lot of mini owners on this forum that know way more than I do about the "actual" needs of these little ones. I just usually go with my gut and hope for the best.

 

[Cecosugi]

I have 2 mini donks and 2 mini horses. They all go into their barn every night of the year. I use to let them out at night in the summer many years ago, but we have a few black bears, a pack of coyotes and a family of bobcats that live in the woods around me, so I just decided that they will come in every night, every day. Then I won't worry. I also let them out during the day, every day. I pretty much let them out at 7 AM and bring them in at 7 PM. Occasionally, in the winter, I may not let them out until 10 or 11 if it is extremely cold. Example, tomorrow, it is supposed to be -13 or so here in NW Connecticut with the wind chill. I will probably wait to put them out until mid morning and bring them in when it gets dark around 4:30. It is very rare that I do this, because they hate to stay in and I feel it's healthy for them to be out in the sunshine even when it's cold. When they are outside they have sheds built on the side of the barn, similar to your set up. I don't blanket my animals as they have very heavy winter coats and to date, I have never seen any of them shiver. I have never used a heat lamp, so I have no experience to share about that. The heat that my 4 little equines generate actually raises the temperature in their 20 x 30 barn by 5-10 degrees.
You mentioned cameras in one of your posts. I too have cameras in my barn and around my property just to make sure all is well and give me piece of mind. There are a lot of mini owners on this forum that know way more than I do about the "actual" needs of these little ones. I just usually go with my gut and hope for the best.

This is all wonderful info, and very encouraging to me. Thank you!

So you have 4 in a 20 x 30 enclosed space. I have 2 additional small metal buildings being built, and they are 24 x 25. So that is very helpful. My idea is to rotate some grazing areas, and have options for overnight, depending on where there are on the property. I will have them spray foamed some time this summer. That way, we will never EVER have another cold winter here. Haha, insurance.

Yes, it would be great peace of mind if they were inside at night. That's how I feel about my lamb/goat/chicken coop.

For the past 15 months, I have had a woman rotationally grazing my land with her sheep herd. They have a pathetic excuse for a shelter, that won't even cover them all at the same time, nor does it have sides to block the wind, rain, or snow. She has worked really hard to get a flock of sheep that are hardy grazers, parasite resistant, that will thrive without hay or shelter. It's quite killing me, though, because I am not built that way. I'm very impressed with all of her hard work, and I love her dearly. She moves them every day, and comes out twice a day, before and after work. She's very dedicated to her end goal. But it's not compatible with my heart. I'm sure she thinks I'm crazy for putting my animals inside, ever.

So thank you for sharing your method, and the reason behind it.

 

[LostandFound]

Well I can make you feel better about the sheep...mine had a lovely shelter and flat out refused to go into it except in the worst heavy rain. And even then they would just put their heads under it most of the time. Most of the time my minis are out during the day and in the barn at night. I usually don't care how cold it is, they go out. This year I'm being a baby about it and only letting them out a couple hours if it's 15 or under. For 2 reasons. The first is that they are all partly clipped, a modified trace clip for most of them. And second is that their water doesn't really freeze in the barn and I'm tired of frozen buckets.

 

[Cecosugi]

Well I can make you feel better about the sheep...mine had a lovely shelter and flat out refused to go into it except in the worst heavy rain. And even then they would just put their heads under it most of the time. Most of the time my minis are out during the day and in the barn at night. I usually don't care how cold it is, they go out. This year I'm being a baby about it and only letting them out a couple hours if it's 15 or under. For 2 reasons. The first is that they are all partly clipped, a modified trace clip for most of them. And second is that their water doesn't really freeze in the barn and I'm tired of frozen buckets.

Haha, this does make me feel better. I just hate to see them wet.