hundredandone

LgD. If you think they're crowded then you never saw Hugh Fearnley -W's show about chickens. Let alone battery hens - nobody will let the cameras into a battery egg unit, the conditions are fantastically cruel. Actually free-range hens are not the massive birds that we are used to putting on the table for roast dinner - about half the size or a bit smaller. If I was a chicken....

I called mine sage, onion and gravy. I wonder if that gave the foxes a clue... PGC do PM me if I can help at all. My coop has ahem, flown, but actually it'd be dead easy to knock one up from scrap from a skip or buy the timber if you wanted a pukka job. The rest is cheap. :)) DM is keen to form the ED Hunt. I suggest we hunt on bicycles as my hunter is out to stud just now. Other things we might need... loud voices.. disgraced former tory mp... couple of chinless bankers. A horn. ( Yes, we guessed you would have) We should be able to gather all that easy. Since we wont be hunting with dogs we wont be breaking the law will we

Dont worry CWALD its all for my own benefit. I'm really looking forward to some fresh poached eggs. And if you're excited now then wait till you get some eggs. Maybe we should hatch a plan to form a chicken group. Any other takers??

This must surely count amongst the silliest threads ever. Alongside the fattest darts player or wierdest tv evangelist. Politicians and vanity are an inevitable pair. Lets play least vain politician - and that doesn't mean ugliest although that would be quite amusing. BTW Petra Mandelson is the outright winner no argument.

I cycle in to Croydon from Dulwich. Sydenham Hill certainly has put some size on my thighs. I return via dulwich park when its open (its not open in the morning usually). Does anybody else go this way? btw. southwark cyclists is a yahoo group who do some excellent work in co-ordinating with local government on cycle paths etc and have rides into the country every week end. I reccommend them.

I never heard of rats eating live chickens. I doubt they could do that. Eating scattered feed of course. But there's no special risk. We live amongst rats all the time, though we dont see them often. Its the 2 legged sort we should fear. If the hunt is starting here I dont like horses much but i'd be happy to be a whipper-in if somebody could tell me what to do.

The down side - you do have to clean up a fair bit. They are notoriously messy eaters. They love to eat any young plants they can get to. Constant vigilance is required to keep away the foxes. I used to think that fox hunting was as the quote goes the unspeakable in pursuit of the inedible. Now I recognise it as vermin control gone all wonky and wierd with horns and red coats (I know i know they're scarlet to the hunters) and stirrup cups and god knows what else. But if you've got a nice flock of chickens and the fox comes and kills them for fun - they dont actually eat them unless they're very hungry - you would be cross. And thats about it. I just got a bit fed up when people left them out of the run and I had to clean up my fourth batch of chicken carcases. The up side. The eggs are exactly the same as supermarket ones. On the outside (but warm and unstamped). On the inside the yolks are huge and tasty. Crack them in a pan of boiling water and they blob into a real poached egg - one of the many lost eaty things for townies like us. That is why chav hasnt bought the coop from me she just rents it and I will be along to collect a few fresh fresh hens eggs from time to time. Dont even betray yourselves by thinking in money terms. These eggs are worth 10 times the mass produced ones. And another thing. Having been dragged up in the country I am not misty eyed about meat. I would unhappily slaughter and butcher a pig for my table. But the cover up of factory production of food in this country is a genuine scandal we are all (well virtually all) complicit. Hens get the worst deal of all animals, battery reared in disgusting conditions. So every hen that sees the sun is a tiny victory for humanity. I've jumped off my soap box now. See you soon chav.

I'm a bit late to this debate, but I am able to throw a brick in the pond now and again. Britain in common with most W European countries have signed a treaty with (who else) the US that prohibits legalisation of most 'recreational' drugs. This is one of the reasons that cannabis is only decriminalised, not legalised. The reasons why the US pushed this agreement are debatable, but I have heard it argued that the people who lobbied hardest for the treaty were close to organised crime. I'm not usually a conspiracy theory person but this I can believe. The German experiment to dispense drugs to addicts seems like only common sense and works well. I understand a pilot is running in the UK, but it only treats v few. Meanwhile I really dont think legalisation is a realistic option whilst the Mail and Sun are popular papers.

Hi. I have kept chickens in E Dulwich and have a run available foc. (as well as advice) the eggs are beautiful. Are you interested

In defence of TILT -there's onlty one thing worse than a landlord who always has the builders in (its called maintenance)and mows the lawn/ trims the hedges..... The only thing that this part of E Dulwich needs is better communication (I mean it would be nice to be closer to the trains)One day maybe... btw we forgot the tesco express or was that on purpose.