UK Member Please Say HI

[Perris]

lucky you! we only had the lightest of showers. Now it's clouding over in time to spoil the eclipse, after 6 wks of wall to wall sunshine - aagghh!

 

[CCUK]

lucky you! we only had the lightest of showers. Now it's clouding over in time to spoil the eclipse, after 6 wks of wall to wall sunshine - aagghh!

I forgot about that. It's the blood moon tonight!

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Ugh! Sun is out again and it has crept up to 25c.
Got a good down pour this morning at the farm. Turned the fields into little lakes!

Even a little river!

 

[504707]

I am loving the rain!
My hens are still striking, it has been a month since I had proper egg bounty Don't know what to do really.
In other news, chicken math strikes again - went to a car boot sale and got 2 bantam and 3 green layers eggs, but I have a question connected to that.
The lady who sold it to me said she has a lot of birds and she was selling the eggs at the car boot. I thought that to sell to the general public not at your farm you have to have a producer code and all that jazz? You know, weight grading, quality marking.... She even had free range written on the board. The eggs had the lay date on them in pencil and that was all!
What would you do if you came across a seller like that?

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

I believe if she has less than 50 birds she’s ok to sell at market as long as the boxes are correctly labelled?
I copied this from another site ~

You are right in thinking that registration with DEFRA is compulsory if you keep more than 50 birds of any type – but there are separate regulations for selling eggs. You don’t need to register with the Egg Marketing Inspectorate to sell to neighbours, as long as eggs aren’t graded for quality or weight and you have less than 350 birds. To sell at local markets, registration is required if more than 50 birds are kept, egg-boxes must be correctly labelled and individual markets may also have their own rules. When supplying shops and restaurants, egg-producers must be registered with Egg Marketing regardless of the number of hens they keep. Eggs are then graded, scanned for defects and weighed at an egg-packing centre. You can apply to set up an egg-packing centre at home, but will need the necessary equipment. Registration is free. For full details see www.gov.uk/guidance/eggs-trade-regulations. Eggs should not be described as ‘free-range’ or ‘organic’ unless they meet the required criteria.

 

[504707]

I believe if she has less than 50 birds she’s ok to sell at market as long as the boxes are correctly labelled?
I copied this from another site ~

You are right in thinking that registration with DEFRA is compulsory if you keep more than 50 birds of any type – but there are separate regulations for selling eggs. You don’t need to register with the Egg Marketing Inspectorate to sell to neighbours, as long as eggs aren’t graded for quality or weight and you have less than 350 birds. To sell at local markets, registration is required if more than 50 birds are kept, egg-boxes must be correctly labelled and individual markets may also have their own rules. When supplying shops and restaurants, egg-producers must be registered with Egg Marketing regardless of the number of hens they keep. Eggs are then graded, scanned for defects and weighed at an egg-packing centre. You can apply to set up an egg-packing centre at home, but will need the necessary equipment. Registration is free. For full details see www.gov.uk/guidance/eggs-trade-regulations. Eggs should not be described as ‘free-range’ or ‘organic’ unless they meet the required criteria.

There was literally no labeling, no BBdate and were advertised as free range.
And to quote gov.uk: ... you must display your name, address, the best before date and advice on how to keep eggs chilled after purchase.

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Maybe she should not be selling at market then

I sell from home on my front porch but I have less than 350 birds, they are not graded or tested for quality. They are in plain boxes and I don’t claim them to be free range. All very simple with an honesty pot that says £2 a dozen.
But my hens have dropped off on the laying at the moment. Prob due to the heat & I have had a very grumpy broody hen who had been upsetting the others when they went in the coop. Growling, screaming & screeching from the nest box at them! Think I’ve broken her now but she’s still not very happy!

 

[Perris]

What would you do if you came across a seller like that?

I would refer such a seller to the gov website on regs (as listed above, www.gov.uk/guidance/eggs-trade-regulations) assuming they were ignorant of them, and hope to get a polite not abusive reply!

 

[CCUK]

I've now whitewashed most of the inside of one of my coops. I can't stand it anymore! Red mites are this continual pain in the jacksie! I've tried and done everything apart from blowtorching them. No matter what they seem to come back in strength! I had a small bag of lime that I actually got for the feed but didn't use so I managed to do most of inside one coop. I'll get another bag tomorrow or Monday and do the rest. I'm even mixing ant powder in the shavings now. I've never known it so bad..

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

I know just what you mean, a nightmare
Mine too is a constant battle with them. Yes the creosote worked but it just moved them to different areas. I’m still spraying the coop at least every other day if not everyday when I spot them. You just have to keep batting on, I’m throwing all I can at them! I’m on the verge though of binning the coop!