thanks smiler.

Dear Laners, poor Nellie has passed away, she literally fell off the perch in the coop last night and didn’t recover, very sad, she seemed so unwell, I didn’t think she would make it, but we were hoping for the best. We gave her a burial in the garden and said a few words.

Hi there Laners, can you help? Nellie one of our shavers is just sitting and sleeping all day, has been now for at least 2 days, not eating, very watery droppings, all water really, she seems colder than the others, she has just finished moulting, she looks great with all her new feathers, but she's...

Hi there laners, well you know, I try, I keep upgrading the facilities, however on occasion I have to go and earn some money, which of course means being away from the hens for the day, as it turns out I’ve been busy the past 2 weeks, and in that time the girls have moved nests, were down to 1 egg...

they look like well loved hens if ever I saw, nice 1 stace

Hi , well just to fill you in on Nancys’ broody phase, I saw her today out of the nest, so I quickly jumped over the fence and fished out as many eggs as I could before she spied me, there is an abundance of eggs, I took nine, there were four more I couldn’t reach in time, all very good eggs, I ...

Eventually she made her move, down to the bamboo fence, one last stratch around to make it look like she wasn’t doing anything, then she popped through a hole in the fence and heading from the neighbours back porch, where they have their outdoor furniture arranged under cover, I lepted the fence, ...

cheers guys, down the lane has been an inspiration from the begining, not only for my blog, but also now for my lifestyle, so thankyou too.

Hi Everyone, just a quick note to say thankyou to you all for visiting the chicken keeper, the site got it’s 2000th visit today, quite pleased, as I’ve only being concentrating on it since november last year. I hope you enjoy the continued ramblings on the lives of my small flock. Thanks again.

Hi there , low and behold as I looked out of the window down into the garden this morning, there she was, I called to her with the same sort of tone you would use after loosing a friend at a festival , ‘ Nancy!!! , there you are ‘. It was great to her well, if a little hungry, two days missing i...

Hi there laners, well grave news I fear, Nancy has gone it seems, she has not return to the coop now for two nights, she came back breifly the first day, but no sign of her at all yesterday, she didn’t leave a note or forwarding address, quiet rude. It has been suggested to me that she has gone br...

New Zealand has it's own brands of course, but the ones I find the best, come with a small packet of crushed seashell it in to add calcium to their diets important for their eggs.

well, that's interesting, it is still very much summer here, and we found Gloria's new nest, 4 eggs, Daisy is still being secretive, but i think you may have something about the change of feed, plus they won't have been getting our scraps after dinner.

thanks for your advice again:)

Hi there , it appears our girls are drying up, I feel for our chicken sitter who has only had the pleasure of two eggs all week, not much of return for 5 days caring for the girls, we knew Nellie had stopped before we left, due we now realise to moulting, big pile of Nellie feathers under the deck. ...

Yes Laners, rats, so far I have seen the local stray cat take one from the garden, big enough to feed her family, i myself caught one that was burrowing under the black plastic that covers an area under the deck, to stop the weeds coming up, next bit not for the squeemish,close eyes now, I clubbed i...