We have today finalised our new design and alterations to our super popular Dorking chicken house, we have changed the door opening system and ventilation as well as improving the wood quality and increasing the thickness from 10mm to 12mm. We have also added a small chicken run for those days you can not free range your birds. Can be seen at http://www.pandtpoultry.co.uk/index.php/fuseaction/shop.category/categoryid/10

I am getting asked every day how to contact the BHWT? Well please try http://www.bhwt.org.uk/ this is their main website. My main contact is Lisa Pope but i believe all volunteers are very helpful so done be nervous to contact you local agent, please remember they are volunteers so have day jobs and may take a day or two to get back to you. I know you want your chickens today but you may have to wait until their next rescue date, please do wait if you can as it will be very rewarding for you.

Again please do remember they are not a business, they are a charity and therfore please understand this is done in their free time given to the help of battery hens so responce time may not be same day, please work with the volunteers it will be worth it for you

I am sorry yes our famous 12kg deluxe kits have been delisted due to the problems bringing in all the parts due to the faliures of 2 companies during the recession.

We do however offer a full range of other chicken feeders.

The cold weather is finally due to land this week, the clocks have changed and we all know chicken keeping is not as much fun with cold fingers!!!

But please think of your birds the jobs must still be done, house cleaning, fresh water daily, an extra 1/2″ of bedding in the house for extra insulation each time etc.

But also time to throw out a handfull of mixed corn or cut maize in the morning and afternoon so they can go to bed with full crops to help them get good release of food through the night and of course to give them a little winter fat.

It is also a good time to extra chicken vitamins and I also like to give a nice drop of green / white tea once a week to really stimulate their metabolism - NEVER black tea as this causes runs and once it even caused sour crop.

Please dont ask but my chickens and I have had long discussions over time and we have agreed that they prefer white tea but even though I buy direct from China it is still too expensive so we mix a small ammount of white tea with green. Although my brahmas do not touch it and they want darjeeling - but i have tricked them by mixing green with a few rose petals (this is because darjeeling is a black tea and too fermented for them).

Yes it is official Trevor is mad, the man whom runs P&T Poultry is mad but the good thing about my madness is it works after a dire weather season and 2 huge floods, storms etc my birds look better than ever

Oh yes almost forgot, with the huge rains over the last 2 years i would suggest this winter you up the calcium in the feed or vitamins or give more oyster shell grit and less mixed grit over the winter to really give the hens back what seems to be bleaching away.

‘Will my dog be ok with keeping chickens?’ this is a very common question and one to be honest I can not answer because I do not know your pet.

However it is uncommon for dogs trained by their owner to respect chickens to ever attack them.

My giant dog is a gentle giant, loves humans loves geese, chickens and ducks because I trained him to respect them but he also knows where to stop the geese wandering to and also where and where not to let people go to because he is well trained.

I just assumed this would progress on to all other animals but I soon learnt that when some of the sheep fell I had not trained him as to what they were and to respect them, now he is trained he is good with them as well.

So it is really a case of teaching the dog how to respect the animals you have I am afriad only you and the dog will answer the question but in training them the answer should be they are fine.

The good news I very rarely hear of dog attacks from people whom have both.