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You can tell if they've eaten enough by checking the crop at bed time. It should be firm, but not hard, and fill the palm of your hand quite well. In the morning it should be empty. If you check a few hours after bedtime it will feel smaller and harder, as some of the contents will have moved to...

Thanks folks. She's managed to find them a home at Kingsbury Children's Farm. Hopefully it's a good place for them and they'll be helped with integrating into the flock there.

Not sure why. Best guess, some over officious inspector didn't like them. Thanks, I'll give FB a poke and see what groups I can find.

Hi folks, been a while since I came by here. A friend of my sister has a new landlord (local council, instead of housing association) and they've given her 28 days to get rid of her two bantam(?) silkies (not seen them myself, just got a frantic call from the sister today). Just wondering if any...

I gave my girls too much shade. Maggie and Michonne had put themselves to bed before 7pm. It doesn't even get dark here at the moment until 10pm!

Sneaky ninja chicken. I've got a rabbit with ninja skills. You think he's in the living room but no, he's sneaked between your legs and run upstairs. Ten minutes later you'll hear him pawing at the door to get back in. We used to think he could walk through walls, because I'd find him outside...

I had a little solar powered fan in the roof when the rabbits lived in the shed, but the -6 and three feet of snow last winter killed it dead, so now it's just a vent.

That's 38c. I'd be dead. My heating rarely gets set above 17c. At 23, 24c I'm uncomfortable outside even in the shade. I'm pretty sure my family are descended from cave dwellers or something.

It rained a little today. I am so fed up of watering the garden. Eugh. I work in a kitchen, but spent most of today reading my book because we had a grand total of 8 customers in 6 hours. My chucks have a paddling pool and I extended the tarp on their run for extra shade, put ice bottles in...

My rabbits free roam the garden all day, but for the first week or so I only let them out when I was there. I'd stand in the kitchen and watch, out of sight. For maybe a week the cats would investigate, following the rabbits around. Milo is big and dumb and he'd just ignore them. Sophie would...

Some cats will kill seagulls, some cats can't even catch mice. But it's always better to be safe than sorry and err on the side caution. Don't let them range unless you can be there. Or at least can see and hear them through a door or window.

I gave my girls a little paddling pool with a frozen bottle of water in it this morning. Weather says 30 in Edinburgh, but I think it's maybe the mid 20s at the moment.

I see the people struggling to keep coyotes, bears, and pumas out of their coops and think "yeah, really glad I only have foxes to worry about!"

Oh no :( You did a brave, good thing. It's sad that the chick couldn't be helped, but you did what was necessary to prevent it suffering.

Daryl...

Mine have learnt the sound of the back door opening. Soon as it goes I get "bawwwwwkkkk" from Maggie. "Let us out to plaaayyy!" They can't even see me, they just know that door opening = human coming outside = probably getting let out = HURRY UP!! I've been bringing Michonne and Daryl in the...

Prey animals, which chickens are, particularly social prey animals, will hide illness until they're very, very sick. It's not only a way to get picked out by a predator as an easy target, but will also get you pushed down the hierarchy. It's why it's important to watch them as much as possible...

If a fox is desperate it will work at getting that meal. A late spring, a harsh winter, in an urban area an upgrade in bin security... these things can lead to desperate foxes. So if you're in an area where foxes have easy access to food and are never utterly desperate then they'll give up easy.

@JemimaP it's a faecal test. Detects intestinal worms; https://www.westgatelabs.co.uk/services/poultry-bird-keepers/worm-egg-count-service/ I went through the vet so they also tested for bacterial stuff like salmonella.

@beans2 I've been mixing a poached egg (just quicker than boiling) with some coconut oil, oats, and a little limestone flour and feeding it to her and one of the others who is also on the thin side and has had a couple of thin shells since the heatwave. They love it. She's really perked up over...