Look down her throat Chickenfan- cankers appear initially as small cream coloured spots but unfortunately grow and in some cases very rapidly, blocking the throat. It's a sign of age (or stress) and a collapsing immune system which can be treated with vet drugs and also held in check with iced water...

Liked the gold toilet. The poshest one I ever saw was by the Tomas Crapper Company- contrary to popular opinion TC didn't invent the flushing toilet, just the ballcock and the water trap parts. A customer wanted two TC toilets for her reception hall, until she saw the price. Even with my trade disco...

We reared an orphan duckling with chicks. When they were released into the garden they were initially fine together, apart from the duck trashing the feeders. After a few weeks the duck turned very nasty, attacking the chickens and refusing to let them into the coop at night. Needless to say the duc...

Sounds like some kind of tumour Chickenfan? Have you checked her for cankers? We had an Orpington with a growth in her throat and eventually she couldn't eat and struggled to breathe so had to be PTS. All you can do is keep a close eye on her to make sure she doesn't suffer unnecessarily.

Showing no real signs of wear Margaid, but the plastic has relaxed a bit in the heat of early Summer, before the Plane tree was in leaf. Surface temperatures can be over 50C- not something to worry about in the UK. We've also put mesh over the vents because something got in there and spooked them- t...

We have a Solway which I think is pretty durable- well built, strong and heavy. The internal nest box doesn't work- too small and too easy to poo in. Ours came second hand with an external nest box fitted. Sits on the floor in our case as both hens are one-legged and can't climb steps (very happy, c...

Descended from wolves becomes very obvious when you start singing- they will join in immediately to remain part of the pack. As said, they can turn for no apparent reason and can never be trusted. One of my customers had a 'harmless' Staffie- the farmer who rented the neighbouring field let his lamb...

Heard of a Rottweiler that wouldn't let anyone near the chickens, including the owners. Our terrier showed some interest in the TNN free-ranging hens but lost interest when she was shouted at. "LEAVE IT" works well. However a few times a hen has spooked, flown past her and she has gone towards it- f...

50 grammes is almost bantam size. I can remember years back we had a problem with ours laying fewer eggs- turns out they were not eating the layers pellets, preferring to fill up with 'rubbish' they foraged in the orchard. We solved this by keeping them confined to a small run in the mornings and on...

There are two problems I can think of with bigger eggs Henboy- thin shells and prolapses. So I guess it's not a trait that is going to be bred for and that's why 'large' eggs are generally the largest produced. We did have a hybrid that produced extremely large green eggs, typically over 80 grammes,...