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I've always thought that cankers in the mouth were a fungal growth, but apparently that isn't the case at all. They are the result of a parasite attack, the organism causing it is Trichomonas Gallinae. It is therefore contagious, but fortunately it has poor resistance to an external environment...

May be worth sharing this recent experience. We don't use feed additives at all believing that the pellets contain all they need. But this isn't necessarily the case in an older bird that may need a boost of something. I have read that a chicken eating excess grit or soil is suffering from a...

We've ordered some of these because we have a major sparrow problem and the run isn't big enough for a Grandpa's treadle feeder. They are very cheap at £5 each plus £3.50 postage -but it is only one component in the feeder assembly -you have to get the rest together yourself. Anyone have any...

We have three Buff Orpington sisters, now nearly 5 years old. Each one has in turn has had a digestive impaction characterised by a full crop in the morning but not eating and very little poo. The first was Verity. Her problem appeared to be caused by a cherry stone jammed against worms in the...

We've just been over to a local breeder and bought three Marans at around 25 weeks old. €20 each we thought was a good price. Three different colours, although there are far more Nationally with over 1000 registered breeders, being noir (black), bleu (blue) and coucou (cuckoo). Now the first...

We have a problem here, the coldest place in the house is about 22 degrees (unheated) whereas in the UK we stored our eggs in the cellar at 12 degrees. We run a complicated system. Non-hatching eggs are not a problem, but potential hatching eggs are kept for 7 days before being eaten. At these...

We have a problem at the moment. Our pet cock Bottom is far too old and is probably infertile at 6 ½ years -although he is still keen! His son Basil, who is 4 ½, is suffering with mobility. He is too big to catch and tread the hens with any reliability. If he does try too hard there will be risk...

We have a TNN 'baby' at 22 months. She is laying only wind eggs at the moment. We've had about 8 so far. Each one has what looks like a piece of flesh at the centre, but one had a tiny egg yolk, about the size of a pinhead, in it. I am wondering if her ovary is 'falling apart' and if she will...

I have long suspected we have Mycoplasma within our flocks, but apart from the odd sniffle it has never surfaced until now perhaps. Reading on the subject confirms what I have thought -keeping your flock healthy and stress free seems to prevent it from surfacing. That means good diet, regular...

It's hot here at 37 degrees. But the humidity is unusually very high as well- thunderstorm weather! All our chickens have plenty of shade and plenty of water. The soil baths have been watered and so have the runs when we see them panting. The enclosure allows as much breeze through as is...

Well I wasn't expecting this. Just took the thermometer off the sunny window sill outside and it said 52. Now the weather forecast has issued a warning for thunderstorms with high winds (can exceed 130mph) coming in from Spain. The one we had last week dropped 40mm of rain in an hour apparently...

I've been doing some experimenting to try and build a red mite trap. First thing I needed was an infested, but empty, coop. During the course of this I've discovered a few things worth sharing. Red Mite are not attracted to just body heat, contrary to what I have read. Using a heated mat at...

Came as quite a surprise to me to discover bullfighting in this part of France -I thought it was only Spain. Anyway it is this weekend so we've been to peek at the goings on with the 30,000 that descend on us once a year (town population 6000). This is the first year they have provided camp...

My memory seems to be failing me today. One of our little Leghorns (Daisy) appears to have some degree of internal infection and we are treating her with Baytril. The bottle I have is for oral use at 10% strength. I seem to remember that it is administered at 0.1mL per Kg bodyweight, once a day...

Following on from comments on the previous thread. The Hoopoe nest in our wall contains two chicks at the moment. At 20 days old we thought, when the following video was made. Only the larger one is seen. The less developed chick, perhaps 3 or 4 days behind, only gets to eat when its sibling is...

In the UK we had problems with whitefly in the greenhouse. I read they could stand heat and also read they could stand high humidity. But by way of an experiment I subjected them to both at the same time, flooding the floor with water and shutting all the vents. The temperature rose to 50...

Two weeks ago it looked as if we were going to be overwhelmed by red mite. The first coop we took out for creosoting was almost at the point of burning! We had red mite in three others and it looked like they were spreading out of control. We hit them with contact biocide and Nettex but it was...

Of course we don't buy eggs but was curious to see a sign explaining the French system of egg standard. There are 4 categories- 3, 2, 1, 0. They are defined thus:- 3 -caged hens at a stocking density not more than 13 per square metre. I defy anyone to find an egg box marked category 3. I picked...

I guess to class them as Leghorns they would need to comply with breed standard Dinosaw. The hens should have a floppy-over comb that doesn't flop so much as to obscure vision, but unfortunately in my experience can be prone to frostbite. Suppose the term 'utility modified leghorn' may apply...

Our hens seem to have gone broody all at the same time, which is strange. Some of them do it silently, hoping you don't notice? No clucking or raised feathers, they just sit there looking as though they are just going to lay an egg, but taking ages about it. Noticed the other day though that if...