We got more than a dozen of our own, an experienced neighbour helped catch the birds - it would have made an entertaining You-tube vid, me trying to corner the chickens on me own - they're not daft.

Poaching isn't the thing to do in a small community like this, it backfires very badly. It's better to officialy "borrow" stuff and hope they'll forget about it in due course.

For New Year I'll sacrifice one of the ducks, not inviting anyone, so I'll be allowed to cook it myself.