cold baby

[kimlucky13]

I have a 5 1/2 old mini filly, I live in Ohio and the weather has finally decided to become winter,

it has been in the mid to low 40's during the day and getting down to the low to mid 30's at night.

I have had a barn on order for FOREVER and it it suppose to be coming next week (of course next

week it is suppose to be in the mid 50's) will the baby be OK, outside with her mom until the barn

gets here? I do not want her getting sick and it will take 7-10 days to order her a blanket.

Thanks

Kim

 

[Gracie]

As long as they have some shelter they should be fine. And out of the wind.

I have heard of some folks in EMERGENCYS cutting up sleeping bags or blankets and making makeshift temp blankies... Thats a thought if you are worried.

 

[woodnldy]

If she hasn't been clipped recently she should be fine. Mine have hair coats that would make a polar bear jealous. They don't want in the barn for anything but feed.

 

[barefoot]

I'm in Ohio too. It has been rather bitter these last two days hasn't it. BRrrrrr! I have a six month old and she has a nice fuzzy coat and is fine. I do have very open , kinda three sided stalls (with half doors if I need them), that I leave open so they can get out of the wind. But you know she is standing out alot in this anyway. They were wet last night and she was still dry under her top coat.

I would be wary of blanketing and her losing her resistance to the cold. I don't think it would matter the odd night or nasty rain.

Even with shelter my guys will choose to stand out in it.

My vet said they only time they have a hard time is when we get the freezing rain with nasty winds. Its the combination they they can have a hard time with.

Extra hay will help keep there furnaces burning.

Emma

 

[sfmini]

Another problem with a blanket is that if it gets wet, she will get cold. Don't worry, these guys can withstand very cold weather and will voluntarily stay outside in it. Here is a picture taken a few winters ago, and yes this is in Ohio.

 

[Floridachick]

Do they have any shelter?? What are they using to stay dry?

 

[MInx]

I wouldn't worry too much unless it's windy! Wind is hard on young ones I fear..otherwise she will stay pretty warm with her mom..how large is the filly? How about one of your large sweatshirts cut to fit? As mentioned must stay dry though.

Good luck..bet she'll be just fine.

Maxine

 

[Marty]

If you touch her ears and they are cold, that means she is cold

 

[zoey829]

Good tip about the ears. I just got a mare and she has a 6 wk old colt. Now six wks is very young. I bring them in at night but during the day he seems fine. He has a fur coat that is like a cotton ball.

 

[Miniv]

As others have posted.........The most important thing is that you have a shelter from the wind and precipitation than anything. If they have full coats -- natural coats -- and the shelter, they should be fine.

MA

 

[kimlucky13]

Do they have any shelter?? What are they using to stay dry?

I actually bought a child's raincoat yesterday and cut the arms and the hood off of it, but after reading everyone's posts about not blanketing her I didn't put it on her. As I said in my initial post, the building is coming next week and we haven't had a lot of wind. I just wanted to make sure she was going to be ok until my building did get there. I'm just a worried mom I guess. ha/ha

thanks for everyone's help

Kim

 

[backwoodsnanny]

Is she shivering? When our Lotto filly got here from Oklahoma the temp change bothered her alot and why wouldnt it they were having temps in the 90 -100 range ours were 60 at best during the day and 40 at night. She had been recently clipped so would shiver until we put a blanket on so what we did was blanket her at night and take it off during the day now shes doing fine She still doesnt have the buffalo coat of some of ours but she surely is growing a coat fast now. She was inside the barn every night too but really was cold. I have others who are in paddocks with run in shelters and they simply dont use them as much as I thought they would. Just keep an eye on her she will let you know if shes cold.

 

[barefoot]

Just thought of something else the vet once said to me. That when the temp. is really low beware of making them stand in their stalls. Moving around keeps them warm. So if you have a sick horse that you need to stall, then they may need blanketed.

Emma

 

[backwoodsnanny]

Thats true too if you get her to run a little it helps warm them up sometimes a warm stall isnt as good as a run around the paddock to warm a cold baby.