It's so cold in the South that families are bringing their farm animals inside

• As cold weather continues to batter the South, some farms are bringing their livestock indoors.
• Twitter users shared pictures of some of the farm animals they brought inside.
• In many cases, animal owners are also struggling without heat and power inside their homes.

Small farms and animal rescues across the Southern United States have begun bringing their livestock and farm animals into their homes in order to save them from the piercing cold.

While many large-scale farms are well equipped with adequate shelters, food, and heating supplies for their animals, smaller farms and independent owners are struggling to ensure that animals stay alive.

One Twitter user shared a photo of a tent she said her friend's chickens were sleeping inside.

—Kristen Fisher (@kristenafisher) February 17, 2021

Blue Heron Farm, a dairy farm in the Houston area, posted an image of one of their goats hanging out in a mudroom with a farm cat.

—Blue Heron Farm (@BlueHeronFarmTX) February 17, 2021

And here, a cow hangs out by the fire.

—Susan S. McKay (@pdcmedical) February 17, 2021

The owner of Tiny Hooves Rescue and Petting Zoo in Temple, Texas, shared a TikTok video of her living room, where a coterie of pigs and goats were hanging out in front of a fire.

"We're not doing well, we're really not," Shelby Michalewicz said. She added that her house had been without power for three days.

@tinyhoovesrescuetexas

Freezing to death. some of us quite literally. ##texasblizzard ##freezing ##winterstorm ##historical ##centex ##Temple ##nopower ##noheat

♬ original sound - TinyHoovesRescueAndPettingZoo

A Twitter user in Tennessee brought her duck into her family's bathroom.

—Bekah (@bekahs_backyard) February 17, 2021

And another person posted a photo of their mother's car filled to the brim with sea turtles. The cold snap is dangerous to the local turtle population in south Texas, as the turtles become numb and lose consciousness if water temperatures drop below 50°F.

—Lara (@lara_hand) February 15, 2021

People dealing with the cold snap are encouraged to bring their animals indoors, and if that's not possible, to make sure that they have adequate food, shelter, and water (those living in the extreme cold should check to make sure that water doesn't freeze.)

It is illegal to leave a pet outside in the cold in Texas, though the law is less clear on livestock and farm animals. In 2016, more than 20,000 cattle froze to death during a freak blizzard in the Texas panhandle.