Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[ChaosMom]

Change of fruits. We grow more grapes for wine, apricots and tomatoes, partly instead of crops that love colder weather.
We always had the possibility of frost in blossoming fruit trees because weather was unpredictable in the past too. Professionals use sprinklers to cover the blossoms in freezing nights. Ice protects the start of the apple, pear and cherry fruits if its getting cold.

If I recall correctly, that’s what they’re starting to do. But the problem here is that it’s no longer cold enough. Unless the winter average temps go down again, existing orchards are… firewood? They still have their land, but now they are having to replant.

I imagine they’ll keep the old trees going for X number of years with lesser harvests as the new ones get established. I so admire family farmers. I haven’t the guts to take on a fraction of what they do.

 

[MrsNorthie]

I have 4 Nesteras, and I have not found that necessary. Look carefully at the coop and one side will have ventilation gaps all along the top under the overhanging roof, and the other has two closable round vents. I've removed the covers from the latter and they are permanently open. No issues with condensation or frostbite. Nor with the storms that blew threw, including Darryl, that felled really big trees round here.

The summers in the Carolinas are quite a bit warmer, and can be really humid so air flow is extremely important. We have a lot of high ventilation, 2 mid height windows that are covered on 2 sides with hardware cloth and 6.5' X 4' coop door that is a frame, covered on both sides with hardware cloth. When it get's above 80F, we have a fan at the top of the coop door that we run to keep air moving. The air can get really still and heavy here.

In the winter, once it starts getting cold, we cover the door and the mid windows with plastic on the outside, and partially cover the high vents. They still get air flow but it is balanced to keep the ambient temps comfortable.

 

[Shadrach]

Two hours today. 9C and dry.

 

[ChaosMom]

The summers in the Carolinas are quite a bit warmer, and can be really humid so air flow is extremely important. We have a lot of high ventilation, 2 mid height windows that are covered on 2 sides with hardware cloth and 6.5' X 4' coop door that is a frame, covered on both sides with hardware cloth. When it get's above 80F, we have a fan at the top of the coop door that we run to keep air moving. The air can get really still and heavy here.

In the winter, once it starts getting cold, we cover the door and the mid windows with plastic on the outside, and partially cover the high vents. They still get air flow but it is balanced to keep the ambient temps comfortable.

When it’s behaving itself, summer here typically has highs in the mid-70’s to low 80’s, with decent breezes and not-bad humidity. Then there was last summer.

 

[MrsNorthie]

Love the rooster vocalizing here:

I'm not sure if it's supposed to be encouraging or a "hurry it up!" communication to the hens in the nesting boxes.

I love how the boys all take turns standing guard over the ladies in the nesting boxes, just to make sure they are doing it right. LOL

 

[MrsNorthie]

When it’s behaving itself, summer here typically has highs in the mid-70’s to low 80’s, with decent breezes and not-bad humidity. Then there was last summer.

I live in South Carolina, we are in the "Upstate", we have had a few days that hit triple digits, but luckily it doesn't last long. We normally have some breeze, but there are days, mostly late evening and night, where the air just dies.

 

[ChaosMom]

Oh boy! FedEx is fixin’ to lose more hardwire cloth in Charlotte.

- but why two separate shipments??

 

[ChaosMom]

I live in South Carolina, we are in the "Upstate", we have had a few days that hit triple digits, but luckily it doesn't last long. We normally have some breeze, but there are days, mostly late evening and night, where the air just dies.

How did you do in Helene? We made two separate runs to Greenville for supplies and to bathe and, ya know, flush toilets. I-26 south (ok, East) was our only way out for a good while, at least until they cleared I-40 eastbound from the landslides at Old Fort. We were so grateful for the Upstate SC hospitality, when y’all had gotten pretty hammered, too.

They were going to open I-40 westbound to Tennessee back around Christmas, until part fell back into the river gorge again, a week before reopening. They reopened one lane each way today. I don’t know how on earth they will work accidents.

 

[fuzzi]

I live in South Carolina, we are in the "Upstate", we have had a few days that hit triple digits, but luckily it doesn't last long. We normally have some breeze, but there are days, mostly late evening and night, where the air just dies.

I lived in Spartanburg for 11 years. It got hot, but generally was more of a dry heat. It's so humid here in eastern NC that AC is important, really necessary. None of us have the inclination to shut everything down during the heat of the afternoon and just sit on the porch.

 

[ChaosMom]

I lived in Spartanburg for 11 years. It got hot, but generally was more of a dry heat. It's so humid here in eastern NC that AC is important, really necessary. None of us have the inclination to shut everything down during the heat of the afternoon and just sit on the porch.

I lived in Houston for a few years in Houston as a kid. I don’t ever want to live in that kind of climate again, and I don’t want the chickens (feathers!!!) to, either.