thankyou for that i was worried that the high content of chicken *muck* might have been too strong even for potatoes !

i have moved my hens to a different part of the garden as it was waterlogged and very smelly i wondered how long(if it ever stops raining)how long it would take for that part to be alright for planting potatoes i have turned it over twce and thought of adding some grit to help open the soil anyideas...

yesterday i got 8 rescue chickens i was surprised how well feathered they are it was funny to watch them scuffling in the earth they obviously had never seen this funny brown stuff i gave them some spinach and cabbage and they wouldn,t touch it for ages they all laid yesterday and today will they st...

once a month i use a steam cleaner into all the edges and cracks it seems to help with the red mite problem!

yes it is worrying isn,t it but i guess nature knows best!

thankyou Kitla i shall try that tomorrow!

i have a broody hen sitting on 6 eggs i have been putting food in beside her and she is eating eat ,but she doesn,t seem to be drinking any water any advice please!

i did something similar with an old stone sink works a treat!

maybe she was just practising!!

Oh Yuk!!! will look tomorrow
is there anything else would make the bald patchesround their necks and bums?

thankyou i have sprayed them under the wings a few weeks ago with a propriety spray would they be visible easily?? will look in the morning

Lately i have noticed 3 of my hens have bare patches around their bottoms !they have been moulting heavily too can you tell me what to look for for red mites did notice a few black beasties when cleaning out their coop butused Diatom and Jeyes fluid to clean it i let it dry well before letting them ...

strange isn,t it we are in the same country and we haven,t had rain for weeks my apple tree is drooping and i have had to water my baskets twice a day the chooks are making dust baths all over their run as the ground is so dry i don,t think they like this heat pity we hadn,t had this weather in July

just had to share this with you one of my light sussex has had a baldy bum since we got her some times it looks worse than others she also has a bald bit on the back of her neck i put that down to jedwards attention i treat her with anti peck spray she lays an egg every day so it doesn,t seem to bot...

wecome Kate so sorry to hear about your loss i lost my son too illnes and found great consolation in caring for my chooks also 2 mad Gordon setters (1 pregnant ) love all your preparations i too have a covered run with some slabs but now wonder if it was such a good idea as the slabs get very slippy...