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potpoacher

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Everything posted by potpoacher

  1. this little piggy went to market!
  2. perches? why would I have them in a broody coop?
  3. layers pellets. allen and page are normally good for price and quality. they can also be given wheat, but not too much as it doesn't give a good mix of proteins.
  4. get a good strain of light sussex. if you just want them for eggs don't worry too much about looks. I say this because I have bred my own strain of sussex and when you use nicer looking birds you sometimes lose out on the egg laying ability. I hope to be bringing proper standards of colouring into my strain as I have found a show strain which also has high production levels. another breed worth looking at is cuckoo marans, they can be temperamental and they begin to lay later than some other breeds. if you want to breed marans look at the combs on them as you want them to be straight, not cro
  5. she hatched 10 out of 11 the last one just didn't make it out but was fully developed. just praying she wont turn murderous... I still go crazy even though I have hatched and kept hundreds of chickens before!!!!!!
  6. I got one massive shock last night. I was going for a walk at about 11.30 through some woods when there was a whit woo! right in my ear! I looked up and there was a tawny owl about 3 foot from my face!! I knew there was barn owls round here as I regularly watch them hunting and feeding there young, but I was chuffed to see (and hear!) tawnys at very close quarters!
  7. miscellaneous means magpies and stuff!?! yep, that's right its the school holidays and miscellaneous can include lots of things, but with me they have to be a pest or in season. my brother and I shot about 15 pigeons and a couple more of the miscellaneous species yesterday.
  8. 2 rooks 3 pigeons as well as several 'miscellaneous' species!!!!! this was all done from the comfort of a shed or back garden and was great fun! when one of the pigeons fell from a conifer tree a chicken ran up and attacked it thinking it was going to kill her chicks!!
  9. Mmmm odd, who knows maybe post natal depression mate eh ? a pretty serious case of it!!!
  10. it varies quite a bit. sometimes its straight away, other times a week later. I have had hens kill the odd chick before and when I look at the dead chick more closely I often find deformities that the hen has obviously detected. the weird thing is though, this is the first year I have not even helped 1 chick out and have left the hens right alone. other years I have helped out loads and messed the hens around a lot and they are not bothered. weird?
  11. this year I have had all my bantams go broody which is great, but they have just killed their chicks! I am told I am not alone as loads of people have lost chicks this year but you will have to tell me how you have got on this year and how you hatch out your eggs as I don't want another disaster. I have been doing this foe years now and this year has seen good fertility (100 %)and hatch rates (93%) but awful survival rates because the hens have killed them all. I dunno!!!
  12. oh yeah, doh! hadn't thought of guns!!!!!! I do have a mate with some terriers as well. will have a word with him and see if he has a spare moment. thanks for that
  13. I have ratted before with ferrets but they were only small places and had plenty of lads to help out. how do I ferret a bigger place like a barn and catch the rats without dogs? other than the ole 'can n tights' and a multi catch cage trap I cant think of anything else. any suggestions would be great other than 'get a dog' which isn't possible for me. thanks
  14. could you fly 2 or more males in a cast? would the birds have to know each other well or could you fly them straight out of different aviaries. I presume they have to know each other well but just checking!
  15. never trust anyone. I asked a mate too look after the hens once. what happened? 1 dead, no eggs, no water and not a scrap of food! he even had the cheek to hatch the eggs!!!!! If I had to look after another of my mates hens and one of the birds died I would feel awful, even if it was a natural death and I would leave the eggs for him!
  16. I can imagine its good to watch. would they catch larger quarry if working in a cast?
  17. hahaha that made me properly laugh! don't forget though, ferrets and badgers are of the same family
  18. why wouldn't you recommend flying a breeding pair?
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