well the cold got my silkie

[CountryMom]

Quote:
As I recently tried to make northerners understand in our Texas thread, our animals and people in the south are not accustom
or climatized as those living up north. I grew up south of chicago and was reminded last year in March at my Mom's funeral in IL that you are climatized to your location. Cattle actually have much longer hair and better undercoats as well as the horses i saw. And buildings for animals are built stronger and more insulated. We can not do that down here for fact that our animals would die in 100 + temps like this past summer. My horses and cattle have short coats. Our area has had calves and colts freeze to the ground during nights of freezing temps. Yes, they died. And horse and cattle with frost bit ears. Knew one horse that lost the tips of his ears off one year. Our humidity in the south is nothing compared to up north.....and I know that first hand. It is stiffling.

Whether or not the cold did do this poor silkie in is something we may never know, but the possibility is real. And the danger to us in the south and our animals is definitely of great concern. As is if we moved one of you or your animals down here in the worst heat of our summers. You would suffer a lot....and heat exhaustion would be of great concern. Were as us coming north in Summer is actually cooling. I worked horses and cattle along with my family in 110+ weather this summer. I doubt most northerners could stand days on end to that if unaccustom. Not being mean, just trying to make a point you can understand.

I am very sorry for the loss of your silkie.

 

[bubblebean11]

I have several different colors of silkies with heat lamps on and I lost 2 of my white ones. They are the only ones that seem to have a problem. I don't know why.

 

[CountryMom]

Quote:
Under shelter??? They need to be sheltered from the winds also, so some type of closed building would be the best. It does not have to be heated or insulated, just draft free and preferably with some straw thrown in for them.

Here it can stay at -40 for days on end and we rarely get above the freezing mark for at least 3 - 4 months every winter and our chickens don't die from the cold. To put it in plain english - animals can cope with cold better then humans just by the way their body is made and how they generate their own heat. What I'm trying to say is not to worry about them freezing to death as long as they're out of the wind.

You have to realize that most southern shelters are build very open because the heat of the summer would kill the animals otherwise.

 

[Katy]

I guess I should be happy I live where we get both extremes......bitter cold and windchills plus 100+temps with high humidities.

 

[CountryMom]

Quote:
Try living 60 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico. No ocean breezes here but can be very tropical with the humidity. Norhing like the humidity I have felt in Ill/MS/OK areas. It isn't easy to explain unless you have experienced it. And not easy for me to handle when I first moved here.