Probable reason for the missing farmland insectivores.

On "Home Planet" Radio 4 last Tuesday 15.00, a listener asked about a hen that died after eating one maggot from a rat which had been poisoned by Difenacoum. The expert thought it unlikely to be the cause, as it would have had to have a larger dose, and even then it would have died from haemorrhaging, which is not a fast death. It had been tested on poultry, and only half of the sample died. The other half recovered. It had also been tested on owls ( I suppose because they are likely to eat dying rodents,) and they did get sick, but all recovered in the test.

But then, and this is what I thought was apposite to our bird populations, he said that farmers routinely dose their stock with insecticide, which passes through them and so effectively are spreading insecticidal dung.

If all the sheep on the moors are dosed, it's no wonder we have far fewer Whinchats, Ring Ouzels, Cuckoos and Wheatears than we used to have. It seems the farmers are killing the insects via their stock.

I know organic meat is more expensive, but the more people demand it, the cheaper it should become.