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We have to buy water for drinking here, something we hadn't budgeted for when we bought the place. The water is excellent 10Km North, which is where we lived before, but here it exceeds the pesticides limit, so we won't chance it. Costs about €150 extra a year and every year the levels are...

Brazing is similar to soldering @Icemaiden , just using an alloy that melts at a higher temperature than solder. So it is much stronger, but still doesn't melt the components being joined. Typically about 750C, so within the range of a Propane blow torch. They use it to join Copper pipes here...

It may be that France and Germany rear their males on for meat? Unlike the UK the meat birds here are reared to at least 12 weeks. In the case of our neighbour it is 14-16 weeks as he has 4 barns each with free-ranging pastures, so the barns are emptied one at a time (perhaps 500 in each) over 2...

That is an absolute disgrace @Icemaiden . On a positive note there aren't many variations on a wood chisel, so that isn't a problem. There are stone chisels, or brick bolsters, or wood turning chisels and I'm sure you would quickly tell the difference. The most important thing with woodwork is...

We tie fine mesh plastic potato bags over the end of the feed pipes and throw them away when full. We do have a big problem with leaves, which then settle to the bottom and clog the filter on the pump.

I ahd a similar experience @Marigold . Whilst studying 3rd year Thermodynamics and Fluids HND we had to do Mechanics of Machines. The tutor, the head of the subject, was a joke. Spent all his time drawing diagrams that made no sense to me. Result a total fail with 27%. So I had another chance to...

I wish I'd not had to learn German, French, History and Geography. If I needed to know that stuff I'd have taught myself. What I needed to know is how to grow things and fix stuff. So I went on to do a degree full of stuff that's fairly useless (but not all of it because I have survived here)-...

Hello YDL and welcome. I don't visit or post very often so might not be much help. Good inexpensive books to get first are by Katie Thear. First is 'Incubation- a guide to hatching and rearing' ISBN 0-9061-3725-X. Second is 'Starting with ducks' ISBN 0906137-30-6. Eggs are turned 180 degrees an...

Hello Eggcentric and welcome. I used to work in Birmingham, commuting from Lichfield by train and then buses- I remember the 1a and 1c service which should be every few minutes but usually I had to wait half an hour and then 6 would arrive together! Well worth making sure your run is entirely...

Hello Shadrach, from a rather warm SW France- I think you may be closer to us than we are to England. You have a similar arrangement to us, or rather what we had as we are running ours down now. We started 10 years ago and brought 28 chickens to France 7 years ago to live in 8 coops. 7 cocks but...

They only immunise for NV as a showing regulation Bigyetiman- you need to produce your valid certificate for each bird to enter the event. The immunisation is a 'dead' virus, so only effective for a year. As far as I am aware the UK practice of using live viruses on chicks isn't followed...

In France Newcastle virus is immunised by once yearly vaccination because of the consequences. In the UK it results in mass destruction of flocks as there is no immunisation programme. Basically Gardenfarmjunkie76 you will not be able to buy in for ages. Why not breed your own flock and make...

Hello from France and welcome to the forum. We have very few laying hens now as all ours are old. We exported 28 chickens from England 7 years ago, lost another last night so are down to just 5- 4 Wyandottes that are 10 and still giving us the occasional egg and one TNN who is 8 and looks like...

We've been in France 7 years now and the only things I have done are replacing pop-hole pull cords and fitting clear acrylic sliding vent covers to the North side, instead of plywood, which is the one usually fully closed. The climate here means coops take a real bashing and realistically...

Trying to post a better photo but have to admit this is all pretty complicated, which is why I haven't posted any photos for years. It actually worked! Now you can see some of the chicken coops. The slope of the land is a bit less on the ground than the image appears, presumably something to do...

That's a very pretty location Bigyetiman. Guess if we lived somewhere like that we wouldn't be here. I took a photo this morning as the clouds have cleared- very frosty, but views of the Pyrenees are rare outside of Winter. Difficult to take as we face South and the sun was shining off me and...

Hi Deetle and welcome to the forum. Free ranging chickens can be a pain in some respects although the destruction of the local insects, particularly the Box Tree Moth, is needed here. Our TNN's completely free range and have been known to lay in the wood store but generally prefer the coop, but...

The European Whip Snakes have hatched and the little ones, about 9" long, are wandering about. Florence, a free ranging 8 year old TNN, found one and stupidly tried to eat it. I noticed her shaking her head violently and backing away- a closer look and she had its tail in her beak and two coils...

We've been keeping chickens for 11 years now and today saw our first ever case of fly strike. We are very careful to wash bottoms as necessary but this happened just two days after inspection. Ruby, a Buff Orpington (had to be- they are really high maintenance), was brought in last night as she...

All our coops are wood, built in England 'flat-packed' to export. It can get quite hot and very windy so having closeable vents on opposite sides totalling at least 10% of the floor area is essential. We have perspex covers to give them light without wind. To keep the sun heat out I'm going to...