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Hello Tamz08 and welcome. Sounds like your setup and experience is similar to mine, except we haven't any geese. We had chicks this time last year but struggled to keep them (and us) warm during the long cold Dordogne Winter. Perhaps we'll hatch in Spring and then struggle to keep them cool in...

Hello Poots and welcome to the forum. I'm as impressed as Marigold as I still struggle with posting photos and my avatar needs updating because Claude's son Jean-Claude is even more handsome. A fine looking trio of birds. Two hens and a cockerel I guess.

Hi Lorna and welcome to the forum. We have had holidays in Cornwall and Devon but are now a fair bit further away from the Midlands. I was in Newquay in the Summer of 1976 when everything was totally scorched including me. Newquay Steam Lager rings a few bells.

We had two Blue Laced Wyandottes showing the same symptoms. Solid crop, not eating or drinking, no poos other than a tiny trickle which smelt terrible and some loss of weight. They were both moulting. Tried treating for crop impaction without success. They were both being bullied and hiding in...

Hi Flintspark (Barb) and welcome to the forum. NZ is one of the places I've always wanted to visit. Gave serious thought to emigrating there 40 years ago. Spent 5 years working for a NZ guy called Alan Gibbs -we were designing (badly) an amphibious car called the Aquada. Now I design and build...

Amazing photos BamBam. But my connection isn't fast enough to load them all. Guess I've got more to learn from you than you have from me.

Hi Tatty Head and welcome to the forum. I lived in and around Derby for many years (25?). I was there last month to see my Dentist. Hope your chickens get better soon.

Hi Ontombose and welcome to the forum. Pretty addictive hobby you are embarking on. Morehens disease is contagious.

Hi Bigray and welcome to the forum. I'm from roughly your area. Lived in Derby for years and worked in Sandiacre. Large garden is great. First thing would be to check the security against foxes or dogs. Then make sure the neighbours won't have a problem because even hens can be noisy sometimes.

Hi Grampazipperneck and welcome to the forum. Whereabouts in the world are you?

Hello Nacarona and welcome to the forum. We had a female Mallard rescued as a 2 day shivering chick who we called 'Lucky Duck". She flew at just 10 weeks which was amazing to see (a few crash landings)!

Guess it will be very different for you Clansman. But as you have kept a private flock before you will know the score -at pure breed prices you don't diagnose by post mortem. Chuck has White Leghorns, but not sure how far away you are. RIR's are nasty in my experience and the Pure breeds are not...

I've been experimenting with a DIY process for drying unseasoned timber to use in the wood burner. It must be lower than 20% humidity otherwise the flue soots up. 25% of the water content is 'cellular entrapment', which means you have to break the cells open to get the water out. This is...

We had a coop made of that imported wood. It came free with three hybrids; the original owners realised immediately that the run was too small and started building a bigger one. But two weeks later the husband developed a chronic allergy to chicken feather dust and they had to go. The coop...

Hi Jacqfrost and welcome to the forum. First thing I would say would be to double your expenditure on a coop and buy something re-saleable. I am not keen on Bluebells -funny natured things and ours was a problem. Perhaps think of a plastic second-hand coop (wood has pest issues).

We had a very minor infestation in one coop (couple of thousand max). They appeared second generation as they were all very small so their parents arrived a couple of weeks ago I would say. The coop they were in was creosoted internally 18 months ago, but was still partially effective as the...

Good point Alice. Lucky you could find someone to look after them. We didn't holiday for four years because we had too many chickens to entrust someone with. In the end we took them all (28) on holiday with us permanently. They are all pets to some extent -one lives in the house.

Hi Tanglechuck and welcome to the forum. Pure breeds will give you eggs at around 26 weeks. The size and quantity will depend on the breed and strain so this is an important question to ask. We have Leghorn bantams which lay 200+ a year at between 46 and 50 grammes. We had a 12lb black Orpington...

We have a spanish semi-automatic incubator from Ascott which, because we used it without a surge protector socket, had the thermostat circuitry melt down. It's a good solid unit and has had many successful hatches. We replaced it with a Covatuttu24 (€170 -ouch!), another good unit, until I could...

Our pet (animal domestique over here) cockerel Bottom, a 6 year old Buff Orpington, has been ill almost constantly for the last 9 months. He started with an ILT flareup caused by the stress of the move. Then respiratory problems due to damp. Then Carbon monoxide poisoning. Then a massive rapid...