Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Canadian Wind]

it never gets that cold here, but I understand.

If we get down into the mid teens (about -9C) it's a rare event. Most of the time it doesn't get colder than 20F here, and our winters generally stay above 25F.

15F = -9.4C
20F = -6.6C
25F = -3.8C

I think our average winter temps are around that -15c; mind you, that is *average*, so gets higher and lower than that depending on the month!

 

[Shadrach]

Is she the one who has been photobombing your roost pictures?

She is.

 

[Shadrach]

When you do find a good pair, I hope you'll share the link! Been looking for a good pair like you described for years.

Same. You just can't do chores with large mitts on, and I also prefer doing certain things with bare hands. Like filling water bowls for the rabbits. Nothing worse than wet hand coverings in the freezing weather! Then again, wet hands in winter isn't fun either.

Gloves tax:

View attachment 3991699

Mopsy the Punk Chicken! I burst out laughing every time I see her like this. Moulting is so degrading!

I've tried a few makes of gloves and none of them did what I wanted; not warm enough, too bulky, too expensive...
The eldest who is a keen mountain biker and suffers from cold hands gave me a pair of these last year.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hot-Hands-...d=1732047906&sprefix=hot+hands,aps,235&sr=8-5

They worked really well. I have hand warmer pockets in my jacket and I put the bags in the pockets, did what I neded to do with bare hands and stuffed my hands back in the pockets. Worked better than any of the gloves. Bear in mind I'm not talking minus stupid degrees, a couple below freezing is common enough and hovering around three and four degrees during the day is common.

There's a catch. Twenty pounds for 25 days mounts up over the UK winter. I would want heated hands for at least three months ideally.

I took a gamble and bought these. Nothing bleeding edge in the technology and in theory they should work and be reasonably reliable. If they last a month I've broken even. If they last the winter they're a bargain.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rechargeab...1-1-f1821008-9dea-4812-b2b6-4a6e4a4f2d55&th=1

The eldest and I are similar in that get us cold and hungry and we get noticably cranky to homicidal.

 

[Shadrach]

-1C today. It snowed, then rained; that turned to sleet.
The last goose got killed by a fox. It was only a matter of time and if C had got their shite together it would have been somewhere else by now and probably still alive. I won't post pictures. The fox bit the head off.

Nobody was interested in venturing far from the coop. Mow and Fret did a grass forage dash and that was about it. Henry was already on the ramp before I had finished cleaning up.

 

[Canadian Wind]

Poor goose. Makes me so angry!!!

 

[MaryJanet]

-1C today. It snowed, then rained; that turned to sleet.
The last goose got killed by a fox. It was only a matter of time and if C had got their shite together it would have been somewhere else by now and probably still alive. I won't post pictures. The fox bit the head off.

Nobody was interested in venturing far from the coop. Mow and Fret did a grass forage dash and that was about it. Henry was already on the ramp before I had finished cleaning up.View attachment 3992119

FFS. That poor goose.

 

[RoyalChick]

-1C today. It snowed, then rained; that turned to sleet.
The last goose got killed by a fox. It was only a matter of time and if C had got their shite together it would have been somewhere else by now and probably still alive. I won't post pictures. The fox bit the head off.

Nobody was interested in venturing far from the coop. Mow and Fret did a grass forage dash and that was about it. Henry was already on the ramp before I had finished cleaning up.View attachment 3992119

Well that was a sad wasted life.
Poor lonely goose.

 

[BDutch]

It was only a matter of time

so sad.
Hopefully C never, ever, gets any poultry or other animals in her entire life.

 

[Shadrach]

It's not that the poor goose got predated, it can happen to any of us no matter how well we look after our birds. C did get the fence fixed up and got the hedge cut back to make things more difficult for foxes.
It's the waste. It was fairly obvious that the geese were not safe in the run and I think they would have a better chance in the open. He was due to be rehomed and by C's own admission they just hadn't got round to chasing the prospective new owners up, or rather hadn't given them a fixed date to pick the goose up more likely in my view. The original idea was to eat the boys once the girls had gone. Goose Christmas dinner would have been nice.

 

[no fly zone]

C is just awful.