Hello,

Controversy surrounded this years Pancake Competition, but it wasn't doping allegations or illegal frying pan dimensions that forced the judges decision. The judges had a very easy time awarding the gold medal to Paul Hardy as his was the only official entry! So congratulations Paul you are the Pancake flipper of 2006, a great victory!

Spot the Pancake
However, because we love pancakes we have decided to keep the theme going for a bit with an extra competition. It's called Spot the Pancake.  We have removed the pancake from the image at the bottom and all you have to do is email johannes@omlet.co.uk with your best guess of which square the centre of the pancake is in.  The first three correct entries will each win a fabulous pack of meal worms for their chickens. Good Luck!

This year there is a special emphasis on colour. Brilliant we thought, the perfect opportunity to answer a question on every eglu owners lips,  "does the colour of my eglu affect how many eggs my chickens lay?

To answer this question of national importance we need your help!  Taking part is really easy just visit this page, where Professor Penelope has prepared a lab sheet for you to fill out.

And Finally,
We have one more small announcement to make... Omlet USA is now live and if you live in America you can now order an eglu and chickens to be delivered direct to your backyard from our base in Iowa!  The new website is www.omlet.us we hope you enjoy it, any comments as ever gratefully received.

Enjoy the newsletter and good luck in the competition!

The Omlet Team

Spot the pancake - can you guess where Mr George has flipped his pancake?

The default winner of this years controversial Pancake competition

James seems genuinely surprised to see the silhouette of a chicken in his pancake

For all those people who didn't enter - this is how to cook a pancake!

Star Photos

Why did the chicken cross the road to enlightenment?

Vogue invited four of the world's top models to pose for the camera.

Bill and Ginger discuss tactics before being tested in the maze.

You can see more photos in the gallery

Barbara's Weekly Diary!

There's no denying it. Chickens are the pets to have. Browsing the magazines in the newsagents, you can pick up agardening magazine or even the odd cookery one and find regular articles about the benefits of keeping a few hens in your back garden. Looking around the books section in garden centres, amongst the horticultural volumes and cookery books, you can usually find at least 5 books about backyardchickens there too. On the internet there are dozens of forums dedicated to chickens and there is an incredible wealth of information forbeginners and old hands alike.

I was researching breeders clubs a little while ago and soon found that the appeal for all things feathered isn’t limited to the UK. America in particular as well as Australia, Holland, Germany and France all have specialist clubs for the various breeds of chicken and interest there is as high as it is here for our little feathery friends. I discovered that in the States, there is a group of over 200 chicken enthusiasts who arrange to meet up at least once a month in coffee shops, backyards and parks to talk about their pet chickens. Members of the Omlet forum have also had informal meetings on a smaller scale but which have proved immensely popular and this is something which will no doubt continue and grow over the years. The bond of friendship between chicken keepers is a warm, friendly one which just goes to show that nice people keep hens!

Barbara

"easy peasy!" A triumphant Bill and Ginger navigate the maze to claim their prize.

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What's on the forum?

The forum celebrates 1000 Members!

Lizzy and Cathy cement themselves in the forum Hall of Fame as the 1000th members of the forum but their fame is short lived when another member mistakenly deletes themselves....

"Hello, We are Lizzy & Cathy, the 1000th member and this is our first post on the forum! Our mum Linda got us into chickens and stuff when she joined and we recently got some chickens ourselves. Thank you Lara! Mum has been telling us that everyone has been celebrating us being the 1000th member, sorry we are a bit late to answer but we had some trouble getting logged on! hehe! All we wanted to say is hello to everyone and let you know we are here!!" Lizzy & Cathy x x

"Hi .... and congrats on being the Milleni-eglu" - SarahJo

"A Big Congratulations from me to Lizzy & Cathy 1000th club member" - Lesley-Jean

"Whey Hey Fame at last. 1000th - you will be made a fuss of on here" - Kooringa    

"You're made a fuss of what ever number you are - you're special " - Mel and Paul

"OK so we are not the 1000th member anymore we are 999th now because someone before us deleted themselves!" - Lizzy & Cathy

"Sorry - that might have been me I registred twice and I think Kate deleted my unused username. " ali-s

"You will always be the 1st 1000th member." - Lesley-Jean

"Well, that doesn't really count. You were 1000th when you registered and I'm sure Ali wouldn't take away your new found Omlet fame on purpose. Besides, it means we can have a double celebration now!  Drinks all round - congratulations girls." - Gina

"Hi Lizzie and Cathy welcome and well done" - Louise

"Welcome to our big happy hen loving home!" - Buffie

If you aren't an egluowner then you can trial access to the forum by clicking this link here - forum 

Don't forget Barbara
Remember that Barbara is always on hand to answer your question about chickens - just pop her an email to barbara@omlet.co.uk

Egluowners of the Week

Sheralee Lunn

Age: 36
 
Occupation: Information Manager
 
Where do you live? Lincoln

If you were stranded on a desert island what luxury item would you have? Red wine
 
What pets do you have? 2 chickens
 
 What breeds are they? 1 Miss Pepperpot 1 Gingernut Ranger
 
How old are they? 18 months approx.
 
What are your chickens called? Miss Pepperpot - Dixie Gingernut Ranger - Foxy
 
How many eggs do you get a week and what is your favourite way of cooking them? Dixie and Foxy arrived on Wednesday 15 Feb and so far we've had 3 eggs from Dixie! - they were lovely and we did a taste test against some free range supermarket eggs (that we had left) and ours came out tops!
 
Do your chickens have a party trick? They are real characters and make us laugh - particularly when we open the door in the morning and they both manage to squeeze out at the same time.

Would you like to be egluowner of the week?
Each week we will be featuring an elguowner of the week.  If you would like to be featured then read our questionnaire here and email your answers to james@omlet.co.uk . Photos will increase your chances!

Dixie and Foxy enjoy their morning toast...eggs to follow.

As promised, the first egg!

Guarding the precious egg!

Scrambled eggs in a taste comparison, can you guess which is the supermarket egg even without tasting?

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Featured Product

The run extension kit featuring the converter on the left and the extension panels on the right.  Note the different angles.  

Extend your run!

The run converter adds a further 1m length to your run, and then allows you to add as many run extensions as you want. These extra panels increase the size of the area that your chickens and rabbits can explore in safety. It is made of the same strong steel weldmesh coated with the durable PPA coating and has the anti tunnel skirt.

It's called a converter because the panels are specially shaped to convert the angle at the end of the run into a straightended tube (see side view bottom left). Your existing end panel with the door in it will fit on the end of the longer run.  You can then add more space with the run extension panels.  

£47 - click here to order

Mystic Peg is staring deep into her crystal egg so that she can tell you wattle happen...next time!

www.omlet.co.uk
info@omlet.co.uk 
0845 450 2056

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