Recent content by MalSabreur

It's a humane dispatcher. You screw it to a wall or door at a comfortable height for you. The birds neck goes in the u- shaped piece. You put the lever across the neck, holding the body under one arm. Pull down on the lever hard, dropping the body at the same time. The neck breaks cleanly and...

"Napoleon" and "Josephine". It has to be, really, doesn't it!

I use one of these. It's fast, efficient and I know I'm going to kill the bird cleanly and humanely.

You can can't you! I like to see how other poultry keepers do things. It's always good to find something you didn't know.

Just a quick update on Project Barbezieux. We had 2 chicks, a boy and girl hatch from the first batch of eggs I ordered. Not great I know, but they've come from Germany and had been roughly handled. Anyway, 2 is a positive result and bodes well for future orders. I'm a happy bunny. I have...

Hemp seeds WILL sprout. Or a proportion of them will. Chuck them in a bucket of water and see which ones float and which sink. I forget which is which, but one is viable and the other isn't. My dad used to do that and grow the plants as a "tonic" for his racing pigeons. Also, I used to work in...

OH! SPROUTS! I thought you meant Brussels Sprouts!🤣 Great if you want lots of fart eggs!🙄 Hens are omnivores verging on the velociraptor so a vegan diet isn't good for them. Also, here in the UK it isn't just illegal to feed your hens table scraps, it is illegal to feed them ANYTHING that has...

I'm in the UK but our daughter and her family live just outside East Gosford. They have recently moved to a 17 acre farm and I'd like to get them set up with quality chickens. I specialize in the heritage French breeds and would like them to have the same as I know just how good they are...

Silver Appleyards! The Holy Grail of table ducks(along with Aylesburys!) I understand they are really good layers too. We want some of these eventually. There's a lovely spring fed pond on the farm that would be ideal, - even we eventually put trout in it! Please DO breed them, they are getting...

Try to get hold of some Ixworths, - either hatching eggs or a breeding group. They are excellent eating and lay well. As with most native heritage breeds, they are generally pretty robust health wise. The only problem with them, if you can call it a problem, is leg colour. A pure Ixworth should...

I downloaded it. I've been looking for it online but can't find it anymore. I find it very useful as it allows me to keep everything in one place.

You could try a strip of sellotape over it THEN wax, but if there's blood it doesn't look good.

Several years ago, my wife and I had gone to visit a friend in the next village who had a rare breeds farm close to Crowle Moor on Axholme in N. Lincs. Her dog noticed something in one of the pens, which turned out to be a half starved fox cub that was eating out of the chicken feeder. The hens...

Despite having lost all my lovely birds to foxes, I still don't feel inclined to jump on a horse and hunt them down with my trusty pack of hounds. Foxes do a good job in the countryside, and if they manage to get my hens, then it's MY fault. The way we're set up now, if a fox DOES take a bird...

It's not quite that simple Shadrach. The RURAL populations are in decline, but the URBAN foxes are on the increase. They are now pushing further out into the countryside because of population growth due to the food resources we provide. These, as with the neutred and dumped ones, just don't seem...