Boydy47

Did it come down from 3100 on the second test? Have you run it on quick load to see what pressures you may be getting?

The year we had the mites problem the swallows that nest in mum and dad's stables every year must have had poor house keeping, I'll be sure to let them know, that way their chicks won't commit suicide buy turning themselves out of the nest before they've fledged to escape the mites in the nest! Chap from the local wildlife trust said they were seeing a lot of it when it happened the weather of that year meaning there were a lot more parasites around than normal. Since using Diatom we've not had a problem, touch wood, as it's preventative rather than a treatment; action better than reaction and all that. Apparently it's best to avoid wooden houses with felt rooves as the kites hide between the wood and felt during the day.

Egg production is more linked with daylight than temperature, if you really want to maximise production through the winter then an artificial light in the house on a timer can do the trick; your birds will just run out of eggs quicker!

I would worry more about the arrival of mites than rats or foxes! We have kept Chickens for a few years now but had a break with the arrival of our son and a plague of mites. I had an house that I had painstakingly made out of pallet would to keep costs down in a run mate out of concrete reinforcing mesh! Never had an issue with fox even though semi rural and only ever caught 2 rats in the fenns that have been permanently set for 5 years or so! We had half a dozen birds and in the summer of 2013 they became infested with mites and lice as did the house which I had to burn after several failed treatments, birds were re-homed with friends. Moral of the story, dust the birds regularly and thoroughly with Diatomous Earth to keep the creepy crawlies away. Last summer we were given an old shed that went in the old pen and now have 3 birds which give us 4-5 eggs every 2 days, a 20kg bag of layers pellets is costing a massive £6.60 and fed on that and scraps it lasts us about 6 weeks. So though the initial setup costs can be expensive (in time if not in material) after that it really is a cheap source of protein, at an average of 2.25 eggs per day that works out at 94.5 eggs for say £8.00 when you add in wormer and mite treatment, 50p per half dozen. My son loves them too, Saturday mornings now involve a trip down the garden to first feed the chickens, then the ferrets then the rabbit, with scrambled eggs for brekkie!