The UK is frozen solid!!!

[rabbitsfizz]

OK, we had some snow and the UK ground to a halt.

It will sound hilarious to those of you that have deep snow and cope, but we just have NO way of coping. Even parts of Scotland, where they are ready for it and get it every year, are not coping.

I am frozen solid, at home and at the horses, and, thanks mainly to idiots on the road who cannot drive (!!) am having no end of trouble getting out to do the horses. Luckily I have a river, and all horses except Rabbit, have access to the river, which does not freeze, but just keeping Rabbit, the cats and the birds in warm, unfrozen water, is a nightmare. We have nobody selling heated buckets over here, perhaps I should start a franchise? Any and all hints and wrinkles for frozen Britain would be gratefully received by your inexperienced "cousins".

And can the LB UK ers just check in too??

 

[Suzie]

Jane, I have been watching this on the news and I do feel sorry for you. Because I live in the "south", we have been getting bitterly cold weather we are not used to either and I feel your pain. Because it is so rare to have these events, the people in charge just can't plan for this and they are "caught with their pants down" so to speak.

I am glad your horses have access to running water, that is a help I am sure. I can only say grab another blanket and pray this passes soon. That's what I have to do. Last winter I was "trapped" at home for a couple of weeks because of the weather. Luckily for us, the electricity stayed on and we could make do until the state got the roads cleared and it was safe to venture out.

I have gotten water up in a big container and added a basketball to it while still liquid. I was told the basketball would "roll" continually and keep the water from freezing solid. It was okay, but won't replace a heated bucket in my experience, but might help you some.

Here's praying for a warming trend for you.

 

[bannerminis]

Well I am in Ireland and most of Ireland has had more snow then they have seen possibly ever but by some miracle it has passed us by but VERY cold. I think there was some part of Ireland that got down to -17 last night and this morning at 8.30 am it was -6 and only expected to make -3 today.

My big battle is the buckets of water and I am out breaking the ice witha broom handle and then scooping out the ice with a colander to save my hands. I fill with warm water so it doesnt freeze instantly.

Rosie my eldest mare (20 next yr)is feeling it in her joints and moves round like a snail. She is getting some pain relief but is eating all round her so its not putting her off her food which is a relief.

Farrier was out yesterday and was delighted with the condition of her feet so her lamanitis is under control.

I feel very sorry for those battling the snow and trying to get to animals. I believe we will have some sort of a thaw at the weekend.

 

[uwharrie]

I feel your pain. We have been getting sub freezing weather here in North Carolina. Not typical for this early in the year. And though it has only been traces we have already had three snowfalls. ( again not typical)

Hubby build insulated boxes to put over the water tubs ( we used large "muck" buckets for in the paddocks) The boxes don't keep the water from freezing completly but it does well enough that there is only a think film of ice. We fill them up each evening with water that is around 55 degrees that seems to help as well.

The good news is it is supposed to get up to 46F today! Wow a heat wave!

 

[jacks'thunder]

Uhh I'm so sorry guys! I HATE to be cold but unfortunately I'm used to it! My tip for water buckets is bring hot hot water from the house. I use a kitty litter jug with a lid, it keeps the water from sloshing all down my leg. I also use a school bus tire beater! It's like a baton but wood. I use that on my stuborn buckets. Also an ice fishing scoop which if you don't freeze much you probably won't have one

but any long handeled slotted spoon would work. I also find a smaller bucket is easier for me to un freeze and move around, so I have broken out the 5 gallon buckets! Unfortunately in the bitter cold I do scoop out buckets 3 times a day! Hope that helps! I used to get so mad at those frozen solid buckets! I'd pick up the 5 gal bucket and toss it as hard as I could to try to get it to break!!! Some times it would loosen, some times it would come back and hit me in the leg and some time it would not budge! Alittle hot water, wait a few, alittle tap from my tire beater all around the edges, and like majic my evil enemy of ice slides right out!!!

I can't imagine what the neighbors thought with me throwing buckets and yelling at them every morning!!!! What a sight!!!! LOL!!

Did I mention.... I HATE to be cold!!!!

 

[Becky]

I feel for you, I really do! There's nothing worse than having to care for livestock with snow on the ground. No, heated buckets there? Wow! I don't think I could live without heated buckets and tank heaters in the winter.

I hope the winter weather eases up for you and improves soon!

 

[Matt73]

Uhh I'm so sorry guys! I HATE to be cold but unfortunately I'm used to it! My tip for water buckets is bring hot hot water from the house. I use a kitty litter jug with a lid, it keeps the water from sloshing all down my leg. I also use a school bus tire beater! It's like a baton but wood. I use that on my stuborn buckets. Also an ice fishing scoop which if you don't freeze much you probably won't have one

but any long handeled slotted spoon would work. I also find a smaller bucket is easier for me to un freeze and move around, so I have broken out the 5 gallon buckets! Unfortunately in the bitter cold I do scoop out buckets 3 times a day! Hope that helps! I used to get so mad at those frozed solid buckets! I'd pick up the 5 gal bucket and toss it as hard as I could to try to get it to break!!! Some times it would loosen, some times it would come back and hit me in the leg and some time it would not budge! Alittle hot water, wait a few, alittle tap from my tire beater all around the edges, and like majic my evil enemy of ice slides right out!!!

I can't imagine what the neighbors thought with me throwing buckets and yelling at them every morning!!!! What a sight!!!! LOL!!

Did I mention.... I HATE to be cold!!!!

That's just what my routine was, too, until I discovered the joys of heated water buckets

Sorry that you and the animals in the UK, Jane, are suffering

 

[Charlotte]

Oh Jane, I feel so bad for you. I have been watching the reports of the extreme winter weather over there wondering if people with animls to care for were managing ok.

I used to live in far north Illinois here in the states. It is beautiful there in the winter....and HORRIBLE! Every winter I would wonder why anyone would ever have setteled in that part of the country. Winters were brutal with deep cold, heavy snow and high winds making huge drifts. Taking care of the horses was an exhausting all day chore. I had stock tank heaters, but even those tanks would freeze over many times. I had no heated buckets then.

Now in much warmer Oklahoma I have heated buckets for everyone! They are worth their weight in gold to me! I don't even want to think about how many gallon milk jugs of hot water I carried to the barn.

I bet you could get rich quick if you started selling the heated buckets!

Please be careful when you get out. You have to stay safe to keep the fur kids safe.

Take care,

Charlotte

 

[Songcatcher]

I hope things are warmer for you soon. In my area we don't experience the extreme cold they do farther north. Luckily, we do have heated buckets and tank heaters when necessary.

 

[~Lisa~]

Giving Jills idea.. take your HOT water out in a gas can it doesnt slosh all over you and I will pour the hot water into the bucket with just a tad of the ice water in it.. cools off very quickly for them to drink and does take a while to freeze- something insulated might help like a cooler

I spent my fair share of years going out all hours of the night with hot water and breaking ice. Got heated water buckets in the barn this year and now only the pasture does not have it. In fact I am on my way out now with a gas can of hot water for the one horse in the pasture right now

 

[Sonya]

In the winter when the water was shut off in the barn because of the cold, I filled up water cooler bottles at my fire hydrant spigot, but it was over 100 yards from the barn (you know those 5gal ones that go on top of water coolers, you can buy them at any home improvement store, they have reusable caps that snap on), then I would haul them down to the barn in a wheelbarrel, no spilling. I had heated buckets so them freezing wasn't a problem, I also had a heated troth. I did not replace my water daily like I did when I had constant access to water at the barn. I would do it every other day, using a skimmer to get any shavings/hay/etc...out of the buckets on the days I wasn't replacing.

 

[StarRidgeAcres]

Jane, Assuming you can get to a hardware store, do you have these things over there that are packets (about 2" and 3") that are used to put into gloves and shoes to keep fingers and toes from getting frostbite? They "activate" usually with a vigorous rubbing or "breaking" of the package. When I was without electricty for days last year I used two or three each in the bottom of a dry 5gal water bucket then put another 5gal bucket stacked on it and then put the water in the top bucket. It's not perfect, but it lasts overnight until you can pull out the top bucket (which is now starting to get frozen water) and replace it with another bucket filled with water from the house. Just a thought.

Here is a link to the exact product I used, but there are others I'm sure.

Hot Hands

 

[~Lisa~]

Parmela that is a brilliant idea and one I would have never thought of..thanks for sharing

 

[Katiean]

We have been unseasonably warm until this week. Two nights ago I was going to go to the store for bread and milk and my truck door was frozen shut. I got the passenger side open but my door wouldn't open. It took me about 5 mins. and covered with snow to get into my truck. Today I went out to feed and my gate was frozen shut. What I do for my frozen tanks is use hot water (I carried out in a 5 gallon bucket) to make a hole in the ice. Then I have a broken hoe (blade snapped off so it is just a hook at the end). I hook the end in through the hole and lift out the ice. Broken garden equipment is great. Then I refill with hot water I carry 5 gallons at a time.

 

[shadelady]

I feel for you Jane. We have about six inches of snow with more forecast tonight. All the water is frozen. I have to say that all our horses look and feel extremely well, even little Winner who only arrived from the US a few weeks ago ( just before this weather hit !) I am run ragged with work at the moment ( being our buisiest time of the year) so my poor OH is doing most of the work by himself, and I worry about him slipping and hurting himself, he has already fallen once and damaged the ligaments in his shoulder, he is not getting any younger but he is doing an awesome job

. Roll on the spring I say.

 

[jess]

I rarely use hot water to fill the water buckets..Strange but true the hot water will freeze faster then cold water. I remember doing an experiment in science class in high school where we filled ice cube trays with hot and cold water and the hot water froze faster..Ever since then I've always used cold water.

 

[hobbyhorse23]

Goodness Jane, I can just imagine how bad that must be! Our area is the same as far as grinding to a halt when even a little snow hits so I feel for you. I think given the facilities you have there, the best thing you could do would be to put Rabbit's water bucket inside a larger box or bucket packed with straw as an insulator and maybe add some sort of floater thing to help keep the water moving so it doesn't freeze as fast. Can you bring hot water to give him a warm beet pulp mash a couple of times a day so you know he's getting liquid? It's so hard with those old guys who slurp their food! I wore myself to a nubbin trying to keep Spyder fed and hydrated during that massive snow we got in 2008.

Shadelady, I'm sorry to hear Derek hurt himself. Give him a hug from me and Breanna!

Leia