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Something frightening them definitely sounds like a probable cause for them all to stop laying at once, as Chris suggests. We had a neighbour for a (mercifully short) while, who kept roaring around near our boundary on a quad bike. That had the same effect.

I confess to not being a duck expert (you could try sending a PM to DorsetDuckOwner?) but my instinct would be A. I'd let them all stay out together & keep each other warm. They've still got the shelter that you've made, should they need it when it gets really cold. They also each have their...

Pet hens are considered livestock. Where we live we're supposed to double-bag them & put them into the general rubbish bin. It would seem more logical to put them in the food waste bin- people eat chicken every day! I must confess that, as they're family, we usually bury them in the garden...

I've had a similar issue in the past, but the problem was mainly that the layers' pellets were short dated & it took me a fair while to get through a sack of layers' pellets when I only had 3 hens. I started making a point of asking for "the newest stock that you've got", which sometimes meant...

My hens love spring onions (scallions), leeks & the like. They seem to instinctively know what isn't safe for them to eat, but my hens have been eating spring onions for years with no ill effect apart from onion breath! Having developed a taste for spring onions was unfortunate when I tried to...

I've heard of people putting special nappies on chickens, so I guess you could try something similar on your guinea hen if she'll let you?? I admit that the poo, especially the caecal poo, is the reason why I don't allow my chickens in the house, unless they're sick enough to be confined to a...

We get jackdaws in our garden; they're quite cute to watch. The only time they cause any trouble is when they build a nest in the chimney & fall down the flue into the log burner. We've still got soot in our lounge curtains from the last time- the dilemma is whether to let them out while...

It took a while for my pullets to get to grips with "training mode 2" where the treadle and the lid both moved a bit. But having given them several weeks to get used to it, they didn't bat an eyelid when I removed the training bolts to make the feeder fully operational & rat proof. Now the rats...

Welcome Trevor & a very happy Christmas.

If you're planning to come to East Kent again, do let me know. If I'm not in the middle of teaching a glass class, I'd love to buy you & Mrs BYM a drink. The same goes for Margaid & HenGen, though it's a long way for you!!

You won't be needing a turkey then 😄

Oohh, Christmas Eve, I should think. Then drinks in our local pub, built in the 1500s from old ships' timbers & with a huge inglenook that you could sit in.

Oh, and it seems that the magnolia colour eggs are from Eleanor, the partridge leghorn. I was wondering, when I got her, what made her a hybrid when my previous leghorns were pure breeds. Clearly she's part leghorn & part something that lays pink eggs! Any idea what the combination could be?

Yesterday when I went to do the poo picking, Sweep (the Speckledy) was snuggled in the coop on top of 3 eggs. I picked them up & popped them into the nest box & she moved in there to sit on them. This morning I was delighted to find a Speckledy egg in the nest box with Tigger's egg. Now I could...

Th That makes me Naughty Butternut. I'm picturing a butternut squash cooked with a whole head of garlic, 4oz butter, some double cream and a large glug of brandy. That should do it! Oh, and maybe some boursin mixed in.

Hi Ricky. While waiting for a reply from someone who knows more about quail than me, is it possible to isolate the sick birds from the others & to treat the ground in the enclosure with ground sanitising powder?

I got the answer last Sunday, when I found a lovely milk chocolate coloured egg in the coop, rounder in shape than the other brown ones & 8g heavier. So now four of my five pullets are in lay & they're averaging 3 eggs per day between them. Tigger the cream legbar hybrid has both next boxes...

The mystery egg was magnolia yesterday, so perhaps some people might describe it as cream? There are some references online to partridge leghorn hybrids laying cream eggs... I'm just hoping that they aren't the speckledy's eggs. If they are, then the Marans is laying "supermarket brown " eggs...

Ne'er a truer word was spoken... This morning I found three small but perfectly formed eggs! Now there's a bit of a puzzle... In September I bought four point of lay pullets - three hybrids (cream legbar, speckledy and a partridge leghorn) and a pure breed black copper French Marans, together...

Wow. That's all you need: Mafioso squirrels... :mad: