Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[HiEverybirdy]

Two hours today. Better weather, very little rain, light wind and even an occasional glimpse of the sun.
Everybody came out, ate some green stuff, but no flat out head for the hills foraging.

I saw this Saturday night. If I had somewhere to keep it safe at the flats and a charging point I could do the field and back on it twice on one charge so the specs say.
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Not quite sure what has gone on here.
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E-bikes are great. A friend in the city bought one years back and was still able to zip around town while healing from a leg break. She has 2 now, and it's a nice time to e-bike it to the bar district a few miles away.

Are they all trying to get into the nesting box with Mow?

 

[BDutch]

I saw this Saturday night. If I had somewhere to keep it safe at the flats and a charging point I could do the field and back on it twice on one charge so the specs say.

I was surprised you are thinking about buying an e-bike. You told us before the road through Bristol is too dangerous to bike. Or did you find an alternative way?

If you know someone who has a garage near your flat, and can share it for a e-bike ?

Or maybe the flat owner is willing to make a charging point. In the Netherlands almost all flats have charging points nowadays for electric wheelchairs, e-bikes and such.

 

[Shadrach]

One and a half hours today. Managed to avoid the rain and at 7C with light winds.
They were all out in the coop run when I arrived! Sylph is crouching for Glais and her comb is going red as is Mow's. Both Mow and Sylph are eating more. Everyone came onto the field for a while and looked like they meant business when they had a look around my plot and a couple of others at the top of the field.

This is what I've come up with for water and feed for the overnight in the coop. I've got four. The bolts will need trimming once I've drilled and fitted. The center bolt prevents the bowl from being pushed out of the ring. Ring and fixings are stainless steel and the cups are are freezer proof.

 

[Shadrach]

The salt remains in the center bottle, doesn't leech into the drinking water.

The salt is in the plastic jug floating in the water. The jug also has water in it. The idea is the salt water doesn't freeze at the same temp as fresh water so, even though they're separated by the plastic jug, it still effects the fresh water by keeping it from freezing. Below about 20⁰F/-6.67⁰C, it doesn't work anyway as salt water also freezes.

Yup, I've got it now.

 

[rural mouse]

Yup, I've got it now.

Those look like a fantastic solution!

 

[Shadrach]

E-bikes are great. A friend in the city bought one years back and was still able to zip around town while healing from a leg break. She has 2 now, and it's a nice time to e-bike it to the bar district a few miles away.

Are they all trying to get into the nesting box with Mow?

The eldest has one but it's a mountain bike rather than a road bike so one has to keep pedaling for the assistance to work. She paid rather more than the cost of the bike in the picture I posted.

I don't think so.

 

[Shadrach]

I was surprised you are thinking about buying an e-bike. You told us before the road through Bristol is too dangerous to bike. Or did you find an alternative way?

If you know someone who has a garage near your flat, and can share it for a e-bike ?

Or maybe the flat owner is willing to make a charging point. In the Netherlands almost all flats have charging points nowadays for electric wheelchairs, e-bikes and such.

Bristol City Council have upgraded the cycle path from the center of town out to Avonmouth.

If you know someone who has a garage near your flat, and can share it for a e-bike ?

Not where I live.

Or maybe the flat owner is willing to make a charging point. In the Netherlands almost all flats have charging points nowadays for electric wheelchairs, e-bikes and such.

Not where I live!
My flat is a council/ social housing flat. There is garage which gets broken into a few times a year, not to mention they have no idea who has the fobs for the door.

It's bit rough where I live.

 

[BDutch]

Not where I live!
My flat is a council/ social housing flat. There is garage which gets broken into a few times a year, not to mention they have no idea who has the fobs for the door.

It's bit rough where I live.

That leaves the option to get a foldable e-bike. But the good ones like Brompton, come with a ‘good’ price too.
Easy to take in a lift.

A few friends of us have those. They make bike trips a few trips a week with them. They take them in the train and bus as luggage. Lots of people here go to work with a foldable e-bike and train too.

An e-bike here is always that you have to use your own leg-power too.

 

[BDutch]

Info brompton e-bikes:
https://www.brompton.com/
Price approx € 4000.

Decathlon has one for € 1000, but I don’t think they are reliable / last a long time.

There are many trademarks/options in between. Ask around, make a test ride, try folding it, if you are truly interested.

 

[Ponypoor]

Metal is an excellent temp conductor. Yes it does freeze more quickly. Plastic insulates a bit. It also flexes a bit.

Water expands when frozen. A plastic milk carton filled with water and thrown into a freezer (for a consistent temp) will expand. The ice will also blow off the lid as it freezes. A metal container of the size will get cracked as the water freezes. Any still liquid water will spill through the crack, freezing and expanding the crack as it does. It's why you only fill the water bottle to 3/4 at most when freezing one for an ice pack.

Metal when cold enough will instantly freeze moisture. The movie A Christmas Story has a kid getting his tongue stuck to a metal flag pole. It happens. It doesn't happen at 32F/0C. https://biologyinsights.com/can-your-tongue-stick-to-a-frozen-pole/

Is it likely to happen to wet chicken wattles inside a coop is a place like Bristol....no, it's probably too warm. Could it happen given the right circumstances (extra cold)? Yes. Even a frozen popsicle can cause the sticky factor (as my brother discovered to his chagrin). The popsicle had been stored at about -10F/-23C.

Metal can also cause frostbite through the conductivity. That's why it's extra important to use gloves when handling metal in water in frozen temps. Those temps are a bit warmer than the freeze the moisture on your tongue, but not a whole lot warmer. A couple degrees below freezing isn't going to do it.

Sorry I do lurk - but had to comment that wet hands on metal barn door handles is not a smart move (ouch)!

I try not to have anything metal in the barn where chooks can sit - except my push lawn mower…… they insist upon sitting on that metal handle! A towel solved the cold feet (and poopy handle) situation.