Browns and Greens

Modern pan? If so the surface is textured and eggs will find every bump. Nothing wrong, it just takes longer. A few months of cooking gradually fills it in.

Squeaky is worth separating from drying, by the way. A clean squeak is normal for real soap and isn't the same as the tight, stripped feeling. Most commercial bars avoid the squeak with added ingredients, so it feels alien at first.

Both normal for the first month or so. A new layer's plumbing is essentially being tested — tiny eggs, double yolkers, wrinkled shells, occasional shell-less ones, all standard while the system calibrates. Egg size climbs steadily and usually settles around week 30.

The one worth watching is repeated shell-less eggs after about six weeks of laying, or shell-less eggs from an established hen. That's when you start looking at calcium absorption, and specifically at whether they're actually eating the oyster shell rather than just having it available.

Mark the level with a pen on the side of the dish and check in a week. Six birds where only two are laying won't get through much — most of a flock ignores it until they need it, which is exactly how free choice is supposed to work.

230C in the oven is a bit low for some oils to polymerise properly. Rule of thumb is around 30C above the oil's smoke point, and a full hour, then cool in the oven. Under-baked seasoning stays soft and lifts.

Confined them for three days on your advice and got two eggs on day two. Then found eight under a rhododendron. Thank you.

Also stop using the stick blender the moment you add fragrance, full stop. Even for well-behaved oils. Once fragrance is in, hand stirring only — the blender is what turns a slight acceleration into a lump.

£45 for an unmarked vintage 10 inch is a fair-to-slightly-high price, not a rip-off. If it's in good shape and you like the feel of it, buy it. Unmarked ones are cheaper precisely because collectors don't want them, which is perfect for someone who wants to cook.

Add clutter to the run. Pallets leaned against the fence, a couple of logs, an old chair — anything a young bird can get behind so she breaks line of sight with whoever is chasing her. Open empty runs make integration much worse than it needs to be.

If you have an outdoor burner or a barbecue side ring, that's the easy answer. Far more heat than an indoor hob and you're not filling the kitchen with smoke.

Worth saying explicitly since it worries beginners — a bar with ash is completely safe to use. It's the same compound as washing soda and it rinses away. Plenty of people just don't bother removing it on bars for their own use.

Also check your bedding depth and how often you're turning it. Droppings under a roost are a big moisture source in a small coop. A droppings board you scrape every morning removes maybe half the water going into that air.

One thing to actually check before you invest the evening: put a straight edge across the cooking surface. Old pans sometimes warp into a slight dome in the middle, which you won't see from the outside and which makes eggs slide to the edges forever.

Gave them another six weeks and they're noticeably harder. Ordering sodium lactate for the next batch.

This is such an obvious idea and I've never seen it suggested before. Started a log.

And use proper two-step latches. A fox can work a simple sliding bolt, and racoons where you have them absolutely can.

Storage argument goes to silicone too — it rolls up or nests. A wooden box takes the same shelf space empty as full.