There have been a number of reported cases of Cockerel owners being issued with ASBO's for noise violations. Most recently the Barton family, who have a rural home in East Hampshire, were served with a noise abatement order after Colin, their cockerel, was deemed to be a nuisance and to be annoying neighbours with his early morning wake-up calls. The Bartons run a smallholding on nine acres of land with five horses, two dogs, two rabbits, a hamster and nine chickens, as well as the noisy cockerel. Mrs Barton was quoted as saying: 'What else can we do? 'We live in the country and cockerels crow and cows

Conservationists have warned of the loss of Britain’s traditional orchards. Recent figures from The National Trust indicate that up to 60% of orchards have been lost since the 1950’s due to changes in land use and the increase in commercial fruit growers. This had led to a dramatic loss in important wildlife habitat in addition to the danger of losing traditional and local varieties of fruit including apples, pears and cherries. Particularly concerned about the loss of habitat for some of Britain’s important and valuable wildlife, The National Trust has launched a £536,000 scheme to encourage the rever

Smallholding For Sale in Bulgaria Lovely little house in a rural village only 30 minutes into city. On the edge of the village, next door to shop/small bar and opposite bus stop into Stara Zagora. There is one large room (although floor a little rotten), a small kitchen room with indoor sink and tap and another room in decent condition. The house is dry and solid but there is no indoor bathroom. Requires re-wiring, septic tank, plumbing and general renovation. There is also a small basement. There is a barn to the rear but the roof has partially collapsed on this and there are other small outbuildings.

Fibre Cement Sheeting Southern Sheeting Supplies is the South-East''s largest stockist of MarleyEternit Fibre Cement Sheets & Accessories. Used extensively throughout the Agricultural Industry Fibre Cement is the modern replacement for the traditional Asbestos Cement sheet. Benefit of Fibre Cement include: ● Vapour Permeability Reduces Condensation ● Very High Corrosion Resistance ● Completely Weatherproof ● Asbestos Free ● Maintenance Free ● 30-year Guarantee ● British Made They stock: ● Full PROFILE 3 Range ● Full PROFILE 6 (Big 6) Range ● Extensive ACCESSORIES

Mitsubishi Compact Tractor Mitsubishi compact tractor. 20 h/p, 4 wheel drive, power steering, three point linkage, 540 & 1000 pto, agg tyres. This is a new tractor for sale at £7800 plus VAT. Available in North England. This Gofarmer advertiser sells 18 h/p 20 h/p 26h/p, 30h/p & 35 h/p Mitsubishi tractors If you want a demonstration & live within a 80 mile radius of Northallerton, then he will be happy to come to your farm More details under the farm machinery section on www.gofarmer.com

Pedigree Down Dorset Ram Lambs High quality pure pedigree Dorset Down ram lambs. Quiet and biddable. Very strong parentage. Dorsets make great terminal sires with lambs finishing fast off grass to produce excellent well-flavoured meat. Available May 2010. Price: £150 Location: United Kingdom (Somerset) Delivery: Collection or local delivery at £1 per mile. Featured on www.gofarmer.com in the livestock section

Farm Focus - The Reindeer Centre at Capralama Farm The Reindeer Centre began some 8 years ago with a handful of Reindeer being brought over from Sweden. After a successful breeding programme, the centre now has over 100 Reindeer. The Reindeer are all English bred and farm reared. Some are reared by hand to ensure they are extremely well handled and at ease for their public 'meet and greets'. Sandra and Mike Fagg have famed for more or less all their lives and already had quite a collection of livestock - goats, pigs, llamas, wallabies, mara, meerkats, sheep, ducks and chickens. They ran a poultry and wat

Gofarmer Business Focus Bod Ayre Seaweed Products Böd Ayre Products in Shetland was started by Michael and Margaret Blance – they had converted their farm to organic, and required an organic fertiliser. Seaweed was traditionally gathered after gales, and put onto the ‘midden’, along with muck and any other waste to allow torot over the winter. In spring this excellent mix was spread onto the land. After research, Böd Ayre worked closely with the Scottish Natural Heritage, resulting in a sustainable management plan for harvesting the seaweed. The freshly hand cut seaweed is taken to the factory

The unravelling of the Hereford Cow’s genome and the publication of its gene sequence could lead to serious transformation in future farming practices, scientists say. After a six year discovery, the cow genome has now joined the likes of humans, primates and rodents with all 22,000 genes being fully mapped. Proving to be far similar to the human genome than that of rodents, scientists are expecting genetics to take a major role in future bovine livestock breeding. And mapping the genome could have further benefits too. With their genome closer to us than lab rats, many of which have products tested upon them i

For every chicken keeper, trying to stop your egg layers going broody can be a constant battle. Whilst man has done their absolute best to create a species that continuously supplies us with eggs, it is in the hens deepest biology to procreate, and this means incubating. On an industrial scale, with farmers who have no time for broody hens, chickens will simply be discarded, but for those keeping poultry in a smaller or more free range setting, there are ways to break the cycle. The battle against broody hens starts when selecting the breeds you wish to keep. Many feathered feet varieties will be likely to att