Signed. My MP must be sick of hearing from me.

Thanks, Manda! They are a bit too big to fit through the mesh, thank goodness, but they are extra-safe as we have the whole thing - apart from the door - covered with an old salmon-net (a very heavy but fine-mesh net) to give them extra protection against the wind and against predators. The chicks w...

Interesting thread. Thanks everyone! Lorna, I will definitely listen out for the gackel call now that I know about it!

Thanks you so much for your advice, Manda! They are moved, and all seems to be going very well so far! It was warmer than usual this morning, so I opened the egg hatch at about 11:30 and left it off, which let in plenty of light and fresh air (not cold!). After a while, when she seemed to perk up, w...

Thanks, Dom! That's good news as it will save us buying replacements!

Thanks so much for the quick reply, Manda! We can't really choose our time, unfortunately, because we're relying on a friend who has to fit it into her schedule. Also, we live so far north that, at this time of year, there actually isn't any true dark, so the hens take themselves to bed pretty late ...

Would rats be able to gnaw through these? I only ask because the advice I have read is to keep chicken food in metal containers to prevent rodent access. It's a bit of a nuisance, actually, as we'd already bought food-grade plastic drums for their food before I read that. I like the idea of being ab...

Just to say that our first coop was an Eggshell one. I really like the look of it and it was a good price, but... The handle screws pulled out of the wood within a few weeks, as the wood is fairly thin, so the screws have to be correspondingly small. You don't really need the handle to be attached i...

We have two chicks! One hatched four days ago and one three days ago. Also, we have a neighbour who has informed us that she plans to have a bonfire within the next few days. (Well, at least she warned us *sigh*) Ours is a small garden so, even though they free range, there is absolutely no way that...

I've never heard of Irish soda bread being made with corn: I thought it was all wheat. I'll have to look out for recipes! Also, you mentioning that put me in mind of American corn bread, which I had forgotten about, so thanks very much for that! All the recipes for corn bread that I know also have s...

GF crumb-coating substitute for fried fish (my own recipe). Ingredients: White fish fillets, fresh or defrosted and drained Beaten eggs Cornflour Seasoning Sift cornflour onto a plate and season. (I just used salt and fresh-ground black pepper, but you may be more inventive.) Dip a fillet in beaten ...

Our first coop was a nice-looking wooden one. Unfortunately, it wasn't very robustly-built, and the roof blew off within a few weeks. After that, we went for an Eglu Cube. Eye-wateringly expensive, but we read a review from someone living in Skye who said it easily withstood 80mph winds. A further b...

Update, as promised (though rather belated: it has been a very busy period). We've just tried 'Le Veneziane' gluten-free tagliatelle. It's amazingly good, and you really wouldn't know that it was gluten-free! All the corn pasta we've tried is better than it used to be 20 years ago - less gritty - bu...

Oh wow! That's lovely!

What a great idea!