>Well, it depends on how good your barn is, and how cold it is
>outside. I could imagine a barn that was originally built to
>be 'good enough' but is getting old and hasn't been re-chinked ending
>up inadequate if you have prolonged temperatures below -30C with high
>winds. Most cattle would be OK, but I imagine if you had some that
>were poorly it could do them in.
I bet there's a story about someone who neglected his barn and the consequences thereof. Told regularly every autumn as a reminder. Will still happen occassionally though. Remember once the first decent snow has fallen a lot of the chinks will be blocked up because the building is half buried.
>Although, in all honesty, I'd expect that the bigger problem in those
>conditions is getting enough water to the cattle, and keeping it
>thawed enough for them to drink it. Based on KoDP type numbers, a
>clan will have on the order of 1000 cattle. If you have to chop a
>hole in the stream because even the well and the rapids are frozen
>up, and carry them all the water bucket by bucket (or else melt
>enough snow), while a several day blizzard populated by vadrudi is
>blasting you, well, love cattle or not, I can see the clan deciding
>that it can better afford to lose some cattle than any more clansmen.
Melting snow isn't going to be a big problem - assuming your barn is reasonably draftproof the heat generated by the livestock will easily melt what's required. I remember being amazed at how much heat even half a dozen horses and cattle produced, on a mild winters day the shed was hotter than was comfortable (at a guess about 35C). I'm sure the Heortlings pack the animals in tighter than that farmer did.
>Next on my list of winter calamities would probably be the roof
>collapsing under a heroic snow fall. Cattle could be crushed under
>the roof/snow, or just die from lack of shelter if you don't have
>room for them in the other barns.
That's what the big halls are for, the people shove up together and make room for the livestock. Remember a clan won't keep all their cattle together, an ordinary carl will winter his two plough oxen and a couple of milk cows and maybe share a barn with a couple of relatives so that's a dozen animals to find room for.
-- Donald Oddy http://www.grove.demon.co.uk/
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