Chickens all wrapped up for the big freeze

With temperatures expected to drop as low as -9C tonight, these chickens will truly be cock of the farmyard as they sit pretty in their very own woolly jumpers.

Thanks to an appeal in the Express & Star just before Christmas, donations of dinky knits for ex-battery chickens have flooded in to Green Meadow Animal Sanctuary in Pattingham, South Staffordshire.

More than 50 individual woolly creations from as far away as Canada have been sent in. Owner Daphne Wain had appealed to knitters after a delivery of 14 ex-battery hens that, due to their previous conditions, had very few feathers and muscle wastage.

This meant they were not even able to move around to keep warm during the cold winter nights. She said today: "I'm so touched. One lady, from Canada, has been wonderful – she has sent eight so far."

And the jumpers have certainly come at the right time with temperatures forecast to fall to as low as -9C (15F) tonight and snow possible at the weekend.