And here we still are! Hanging on for grim death - such a shame more of us don't contribute any more.

Personally I don't think you would notice any difference. If your chooks get a balanced diet (ie access to grass, bugs, weeds etc) then they'll do fine on your local stuff. If you feel strongly about GM then that is a different matter altogether.

I think if you try to confine her she will become stressed and it could exacerbate things. I don't think antibiotic cream is going to be effective either. You will just have to try the waiting game if you don't want to go down the vet route. If you eventually do want to try a vet, make sure they are...

It probably won't be allowed for long but I did as you did CP and ordered it on line - it was supposed to be delivered on Wednesday but we are snowed in here with chest deep drifts so my rats will just have to stay hungry.....

It's just another tax.......

Yes that's a fox - as soon as you see it has no head, you know it's a fox. Hope you said 6 foot is no way high enough for the fence and they should be shut in at night. Foxes are particularly fond of duck and goose - will choose them over chickens. Electric fencing may be the way to go.

No, well the course is free I believe but you have to pay for the exam and therefore the certificate, which is the only way you can get the rat poison. £50 + vat

From March 1st 2018 you can only buy enough rat poison to kill one rat (and the cost for that one rat packet has skyrocketed) unless you have that damned certificate. Look out for huge increase in rat population.

People say good things about Smilebox....don't upload my photos so can't say categorically, but friends like it.

They think you are going to spread rat poison like a muck spreader so that lots of other wildlife will access it.

The hole in the egg may be because she is young and the shell she is producing hasn't quite got going. Give her a couple of weeks and see if it improves, if not, there are products out there that purport to strengthen shells.

I have since had a look at farming forums and it seems you can buy 1.5kg before they need to ask for something. A lot of grumpy farmers as you can imagine. It needs a LANTRA certificate to get more, not a smallholder's licence, which doesn't seem to exist. Shop lady didn't know any better. There see...

Went to buy a bucket of rat poison today to be told "only if you have a smallholder's licence"! I am limited to 200g at a time so pay exorbitantly for the privilege!

Rant over.

Probably at least 24 hours to let them know that this is their home now. You may still have to chivvy them in at the end of the day for a while. Good luck and happy hen keeping!

This can sometimes be the result of partial blindness.