[Bev]

Hi All,

Thanks for all your ideas.

RE Buffy eating her eggs. I think it is just because her shells are a bit thin and she broke them accidentally a lot then realised they were a tasty snack. The good news is I have managed to get 4 out of 5 of her eggs in the last 5 days so think we are getting there, the golf balls and china eggs seem to be working. I am giving them 2 tubs of grit with crushed oyster shell and also recycling their egg shells by roasting them and crushing them. They do have layers mash and kitchen scraps and they free range for a couple of hours a day so I don't think they can be short of protein.

She has eaten another mustard and hot chilli powder filled egg! 

I have designed a roll away insert for my exhisting nest boxes but not carried it out yet as I need to go and buy a bit of wood and since the other methods seem to be working for the moment I have been trying to get my vegetables planted.

If I have understood it right all hens carry a low amount of salmonella and if you feed them egg (or is that chicken meat?) the levels rise until eventually you get unsafe levels so I wouldn't feed her egg but thanks for the tip about protein I will definatley watch and see which kitchen scraps she goes for.

RE the rats. I got the council man out the first time and he bought a poison trap which is a black drainpipe sized horizontal tube with a see through thin tube going vertical, he filled it up with poison to the top of the see through tube so you can see if the poison has been taken from a distance. It is behind my compost heap. I have been out today and bought poison which is whole wheat poison as they still haven't taken the stuff that looks like animal feed pellets.

Does anyone know how to safely dispose of the old poison?

Thanks again,

Bev