ANXIETY about avian flu rumbles on. Just when I thought it was time to let the chickens roam free, came news from Defra that we have to maintain the bio security measures in place until the end of February.

I am afraid we have decided it is time to have a real sort out of the hens. As we are short of space to house them securely, we are going to cull the old hens and all the cockerels, bar one.

Being incarcerated has had a dramatic impact on our egg haul. The hens have virtually stopped laying. They clearly do not like being cooped up one little bit.

The cows hardly reacted at all to having to come in from the fields for the winter. By the end of the autumn they were queuing up at the field gate to get inside the warm sheds.

The same for the sheep at lambing. As long as they had access to plenty of straw, hay and water, no objections at all were raised to be kept in a dry, draught-free shed.

But the hens are not a happy bunch. Whenever I go near the two hen huts I hear them chuntering and squabbling away.

We do not have artificial lights in their sheds, which apparently encourages hens to lay, so with the short days, this is the main reason behind our egg shortage.

There are currently no bans on shooting game birds so with only three weeks left until the end of the season, none of the local shoots seem to have been affected.

Once game birds are released they are considered wild, and this is why there are no restrictions on their movements. So we may not have any eggs for meals, but no shortage yet of game birds on the table.

All these worries were put behind us today, though, with our annual panto visit with the grandchildren. It is four-year-old Sophie’s first visit to the theatre, much discussed with her cousin Jess Having been fortunate enough to get hold of a prized Wagon Wheel thrown by the panto dame, Sophie was determined to share it with the heroine, Cinderella.

All through the last part of the pantomime she clasped the gradually melting chocolate. We tried to explain that there would not be a chance to meet the actress after the show. So how lucky were we that Cinderella did meet Sophie and accept her chocolate gift. Even suggesting she signed it to give it back to Sophie as a treasured memento. Panto magic at its best.