One of the most common veterinary complaints of backyard chickens is snicking, sneezing and coughing.
Respiratory disease often presents itself with one or more birds sneezing / snicking. These birds can have a runny nose and foamy running eyes. In severe cases these birds can have swollen sinuses (presents as swelling around the eyes), stop eating and in extreme cases die.

There a number predisposing factors for respiratory disease in chickens: as with any animal stress can cause an underlying disease to show itself. This stress could be extremes of temperature and humidity, high stocking density, being transported, being taken to a poultry show and new animals being introduced to an existing/established flock.

Lets face it, most chickens look the same; they are either a brown or a speckled bird with little or no intelligence.  They lay eggs and you eat them on a Sunday.  OK, so perhaps for those of us who do actually have an interest in chickens this is not the case, but for your average city family this is about the limit of their knowledge of different breeds.

However, if you go to any poultry show one of the most instantly recognisable breeds, even to those unfamiliar with poultry, is that round powder puff of a chicken that looks like it’s covered in fur rather than feathers.  Anyone can spot this popular breed and even its name gives you an idea of what it looks like – the silkie.

So you have just won best in show or a top award at the poultry show, full of pride and justifiably so, you want a commemorative photograph of your prize bird and pull out your phone or handy camera and snap away.

All seems great until you get home and view the pictures on your P.C when suddenly that magical moment is lost when you realise the head is cut off or the image is blurred and out of focus, not in frame, the bird is looking the wrong way, there's a sign in the background or somebody's face is peering through the bars on the other side of the cage. Even if you remove the bird from the cage, there can be shadows from people or objects nearby and a myriad of other things in the background to distract from the bird you want to capture.

One of the joys of keeping chickens is to see them wandering around the garden going about their chicken business (or destroying your annual bedding depending on your point of view!), and there is nothing more satisfying than watching a group of stately Orpingtons sailing across your lawn like a determined armada . They become pets, companions, a source of amusement and a provider of food for our tables, so naturally you want to look after them.

It makes sense then to provide protection for your chickens. You should be aware that by law you must provide your poultry with security from predators and danger; meaning you should not let your birds roam all day to annoy your neighbours and cause traffic chaos, while at night (and during the day) you need to make sure that the fox cannot get to them; remember too that if your pets cause damage to a third party then you will be liable!

I had a chance to meet Veronica Mayhew at the National Poultry show in Stoneleigh and was able to find out a little more about her business (or rather her passion) for what I would describe as 'poultry antiques'.

Veronica sells antiquarian, old, out of print and new books on poultry - ducks, geese and turkeys, but also includes pheasants, peafowl, guinea fowl, quail and more. Other subjects she covers includes farm livestock, pigeons, cage-birds and domesticated rabbits and rodents but there's far more to Veronica that meets the eye!

I had the pleasure of photographing some of the top birds on Championship Row with Rupert Stephenson at the National 2010 for poultrykeeper and Fancy Fowl Magazine. The editor of Fancy Fowl, Grant Brereton brought the birds up to be photographed and did a great job at getting some of the birds to stand in the correct way before we took our photos. It sounds easy enough but believe me, some were much harder to photograph than others but thanks to the dedication of everyone and the help of some of the owners, we got some cracking pictures to share with you. 

We didn't have time to photograph every bird on Championship Row. It takes time to get the right photo and we do try to take photos of other birds too if people bring them up. I have emailed photos through to most people now but if you had photos of your bird taken and would like a copy then please drop me a line, we don't charge for photos.

 If you didn't have your photos taken then perhaps we can see you at the Federation? Rupert will be there Saturday and Sunday and I will be there on Sunday. See you soon!

The British Waterfowl Association (BWA) held their 23^rd annual National Championship Waterfowl Exhibition at Solihull Riding Club on 7^th November and once again, put on an exceptional display of around 700 ducks and geese.

There were some exceptionally good birds on display again this year and there were some good quality birds to be found in the sale pens too.

David Hawkesworth was the Championship Judge and by 2.30pm, the Champions Row was filling up with the judges making their final decisions. A beautiful Brecon Buff Goose owned by Mary Reeve took Champion Goose or Gander and Champion Duck or Drake went to Team Wakenham with their Black Magpie Muscovy that went on to take the most prestigious Supreme Champion award. Stefan Windle’s White Indian Runner Duck was chosen by the judges as Champion Drake and went on to take Reserve Champion.

Read on to see photos of the Champions!