A few Winter tips.
You've probably noticed it gets dark in an evening and it's a good idea to install some lighting so you can see. This is best and most economically done by installing it on your head. You can use a head torch such as the LED Lenser head torch. These are great, allowing hands free use, high powered, lightweight and cheap to run if you invest in some AAA rechargable (GP 1000mah ) batteries. They last upto 50 hours use supposedly, and although I've never checked this, they certainly last a long time on one charge. They are so useful for lots of jobs, for example should you in an emergency need to deliver a baby on a dark night. I use mine every night though not of course always for delivering babies but mostly for locking up my chx. see
http://www.tooled-up.com/ManProduct.asp?PID=132241 . The LED LASER three LED model is the one to go for. A great stocking filler.
Have you ever settled down on a dark cold rainy night to watch your favourite TV programme and then thought "did I close the pophole"? If you can see the house from the back door and the pophole has a drop down door you can fit a rigid wire to the door and take it up through a vine eye on the roof. Fix something visible to the top of the wire to act as a flag such as a high visibility strip or bicycle reflector and with a torch you can check if the flags up or down without putting on the waterproofs and wellies. Another reflector fixed to the roof might be required to act as a reference point if the house is a long way off. If you have a porch over the pophole entrance, the wire can be used to raise and lower the door too.
To combat mud, use a duck board mat in front of the pophole and provide a covered "porch" tunnel in front of the door, if it's an ark type. Helps to keep the entrance dry and mud out of the house
Use duck boards made from pallets sawn in half (lengthways) and painted with a preservative as a walk way for chx and you. Composted tree shreddings are useful to cover the muddy areas. Cheaply available from tree surgeons. Don't neglect those autumn leaves for this purpose either.
Empty or take inside drinkers at night to prevent freezing. Make dark (black) polythene covers for then using dampproof course sheeting or similar heavy duty polythene taped up with duct tape or similar cloth reinforced sticky tape. Use these to absorb the heat from the sun during the day and it also helps to insulate them and hold the heat in to some extent.
Don't use open flame heaters in the house as these are fire hazards with chx and they don't need heat in any but the most sever weather. An old waterproof horse rug thrown over the roof keeps the rain and condensation off, making the house warmer, and helps with insulation and protecting the house.
Corrugated bitumen roof panels set on a wood frame on short posts (don't forget to set them at an angle to shed rain) make good rain shelters. Adding a wall on the windy side and a curtain of weed fabric cut into ribbons along the other sides makes a good wind and rain break. Hang your feeders under them to keep dry, so make them high enough to do this.
Best wishes
HF
