Cold

[TCRanch]

Neighbor had one yesterday in the brief period of sunshine we had. Mama was gittin after it cleaning it up when I drove by. He said, "hope that calf makes it, I've lost 3"

What do ya do when ya have no shelter I guess.
Broke ice a couple hours ago, could a fooled me.
View attachment 2283

Most my neighbors & friends are calving - and have had numerous calves inside the house, mud room, truck, workshop, etc. No preemies for me! Yet.

 

[greybeard]

Light snow this morning, then stopped and around 4pm the sleet and freezing rain started. My wife's black car is almost solid white from the sleet.

Things you can't buy last night and today around here. Sold out.
Dexcool antifreeze.
Winter formula windshield fluid.
Stock salt and even icecream rock salt.
Generators.
Propane. (nearest 2 propane providers big tanks are below 5%)
Any kind of heater.

By morning I expect US 59 will be closed down as well as just about all FM roads.

The only 'snow plows' our county owns are road graders and wheel loaders.

So far, my power is still on, but I don't expect to remain on much longer. Generator is ready but it won't run everything.

 

[Lee VanRoss]

I tried going through all entries and may have missed any reference.
Several years ago I had a geothermal unit installed (Mirror Fount) and it has been a life saver.
The only problem I have is if I do not have enough stock drinking water to keep the chamber warm.
I can and have added additional insulation including over the valve cover and that is a big help.
10 below this morning and working fine with 15 6-7 wt calves. It is a 2 hole and one ball was froze
which is not unusual with a small amount drinking. If the valve does freeze there is a nearby
hydrant and I simply run a short hose to the chamber , turn the water on and run water in the
chamber which will thaw the valve in short order. I would suggest if you do install a geothermal
that you have a hydrant for emergencies otherwise it involves thawing the valve in ways that may
be less handy.

 

[DLD]

It's stupid cold here, but so far so good I guess. Frost free faucets wrapped with heat tape froze up today, tanks with heaters are mostly froze over, but it's thin and easy to break. Hopefully enough in the tanks to last the few head in the lots til it warms up. Thankfully, all of the cows have access to a running creek with a couple of springs that are still open today, And extra thankfully we won't start calving for 30+ days yet. And best of all the end is in sight.

Today's snow (so far at least) hasn't been quite as bad as predicted here, but we have another one to go. I hate it being this cold, but at least ours is all snow - i hate ice even worse. My prayers are with everyone dealing with this unprecedented weather.

 

[ccr]

DLD, when you say frost free faucets froze up, do you mean they were turned off and when you went to turn it on it was froze, or do you mean it was on and froze up?

 

[Brute 23]

Its raining straight ice here and starting to accumulate.

 

[DLD]

ccr, they're turned off and won't open. I know I can probably thaw one of them out fairly easily - usually a couple of gallons of hot tap water poured over them and they're good to go. That one was fine til today. The other one I've had to thaw every day for the last week and I'm not as hopeful about it. I will try to thaw them tomorrow, but if it's too big a deal we can get by without them for a couple days. It's supposed to be a balmy 25 here Wednesday, so I figure it should be a little easier than.

 

[ismith]

ccr, they're turned off and won't open. I know I can probably thaw one of them out fairly easily - usually a couple of gallons of hot tap water poured over them and they're good to go. That one was fine til today. The other one I've had to thaw every day for the last week and I'm not as hopeful about it. I will try to thaw them tomorrow, but if it's too big a deal we can get by without them for a couple days. It's supposed to be a balmy 25 here Wednesday, so I figure it should be a little easier than.

Took 2 days and 50 lbs of charcoal to thaw mine.

 

[wbvs58]

What do people do if the power goes out and they have no propane heaters or no wood fire, how do they keep warm? Do people get found dead in their house? Most people are not as practical or resourcefull as farmers.

Ken

 

[callmefence]

 

[Brute 23]

We are having the rolling blackouts now. I really question if they actually work. Every ones heaters and stuff will be working twice as hard to catch up after it. The temps didnt drop to bad in the house. I boarded up my north windows and doors with my hurricane boards and put blankets over all the windows from the inside. If we lose it for very long I have a pair of hunting bibs and a jacket that are made for keeping warm while sitting on your butt. You cant put them on unless it's less than freezing out and if you walk or do any kind of activity you will sweat.

 

[greybeard]

We are having the rolling blackouts now. I really question if they actually work. Every ones heaters and stuff will be working twice as hard to catch up after it. The temps didnt drop to bad in the house. I boarded up my north windows and doors with my hurricane boards and put blankets over all the windows from the inside. If we lose it for very long I have a pair of hunting bibs and a jacket that are made for keeping warm while sitting on your butt. You cant put them on unless it's less than freezing out and if you walk or do any kind of activity you will sweat.

Same rolling blackouts started here around 5am.
Just means I will have to wear more clothes in the house and throw on more blankets tonight.

Snow has nearly stopped now and it should be moving on East within an hour. I think we got mostly sleet freezing rain instead of snow and no where near what the weather guessers said. Maybe they meant 5/8" and not 5-8".

 

[Texas G@l]

Took 2 days and 50 lbs of charcoal to thaw mine.

2 of our frost proof hydrants are frozen up ....haven't even tried to intend them yet. Luckily they aren't essential just handy.

Thermometer on the porch says it's zero but it stopped snowing overnight.

 

[kenny thomas]

For you with frost free problems try this. Take some insulation and wrap it a couple times and then some black.plastic around that. Duct tape or just tie it on good. Might have to replace it each fall but cost almost nothing. Any sun will heat the black plastic also and the insulation will hold the heat in.

 

[Boot Jack Bulls]

Good trick for defrosting a frost free hydrant (or automatic waterers for that matter) is to use a hair dryer. They move a ton of air, don't generally melt plastic, and most people have one hiding away somewhere. For hydrants, I put a plastic barrel with ends cut out over the hydrant, point a hair dryer down into it, and cover with a blanket (just not the intake on the backside of the hair dryer obviously!). I do the same on the auto waterers, just pop the top near the valve and float and let the hair dryer do the work.

So far, we have had zero freeze ups, and it was -25 degrees here again this morning. The first weekend in October every year, we put new heat tapes on all hydrants, and all our auto waterers get new heat tape, new reservoir heaters and a new light bulb, and get back filled with gravel about 1/3 of the way up the outside of the unit (for most auto waterers, wind leaking in under the shroud is the main reason for any failures).

 

[MurraysMutts]

I tell ya... I'm sick of it already.

I'm amazed my outside hydrant is working. It has no wind block either!! Keeping the hose rolled up and in the bathtub until needed. Hauling 5 gallon bucks really stinks!

 

[Brute 23]

My brother has had no power in Houston area since midnight. That many people with out power or heat in the burbs is bad news.

 

[MurraysMutts]

Weve got a genny but I have no idea if itll start in this mess. Hope we dont need it. I dont know how I'll get it from the barn to the house!

 

[Texas G@l]

We took the generator at the barn that runs the well for a test drive on Saturday along with the one at house. They both started. Praying we don't need them. I'm thankful we missed the ice, just snow and cold here.

 

[DLD]

We've been below 10 degrees since Saturday evening (hit -6 this morning) and have probably 30 more hours of it to go. Went below 32 a week ago last night, and now they're saying it'll be Friday afternoon before we can get back above freezing. It's for sure a record breaker here, and honestly, most folks around here just aren't set up for it. I'm just thankful it's going as well for us as it is.