Maryland Poultry Swap & Farmer's Market October 1st 9-3 SHARPSBURG

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Irene hit us pretty hard up here, surprisingly. We think we had one of those dowbursts that are like a mini tornado. Sunday morning Dewey and I went out around 5am to put the horse and pony in the barn. The dog run that was in front of the barn flipped over about 4 times and was over my fence for the pony and hung up on a fence post. Past of the roof on my hen shed blew off and made a huge mess of the shed inside. The back door of the shed blew open, and I am so thankful everyone stayed in and was okay (wet, but okay). While we were outside dealing with horses, the dog run flipped 4 more times and almost went through the other fence. I could hear the trees snapping off down by the road, and when the wind finally let me out of the barn (the wind was so strong I couldn't push the door open), I saw one of our 4 story pine trees came down over our drive way. Once everything calmed down, I had to four-wheel my way out through the field to leave the house and get help removing the tree down over the drive. Later I found out there was another 4 down at the end of the drive, they pulled down the power line as well. There are trees uprooted in our yard, a 2 story pine was split in half and down, over half of the white birch grove is uprooted...

Down at my great aunt's, great, great aunt and great great gandfather's they got hammered too. My great aunt had a black walnut down on her house, another one down on the other side of the house (in the yard, though), she hit her dog while trying to move her Jeep out of under the trees and she lost her pony. Like, he's gone and can't be found. My great, great aunt had a tree down on her trailer and my great, great grandfather had quite a few trees broke and down at his place, too. So, we spent the day trying to clean up trees.

I know we are not the only ones, but we thought we were far enough east that we'd be okay. We weren't even prepared.

We are still without power. My mom just got power back last night, so I was at least able to get a quick BYC fix. I lost most of my food in the freezer and there is quite a bit of damage and debris to clean up yet. This storm hurricane has cost us a small fortune. Between this and the landlady dying and our housing situation being up in the air, this meet was all I had to look forward to. It looks like we may not be able to make it now. If Dewey's overtime holds out so I can get us back on track, it may be possible. If I can sell off a few more chickens, the horse and pony, it could be possible. If we get this place we are after... Still possible. But it's just not looking very good right now.

I was so looking forawrd to getting a few of Kat's Ameraucanas, some Cochins off Tammy, black Cochins from Tom and some bantam Cochins from Erin. I really hope I can still make it!
 
Oh Rey...
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so sorry.. we didn't get much here at all. I've been seeing video of the damage to the northeast and it's shocking. Everything will work itself out.. it always does


Silkiemomma, we DO need to get our quail tested. BUT, it's falls in line with everything else we have in our flock. Maryland rules says "10 birds" up to 10% of your flock... so, if you have a 100 birds, you need to submit 10 for testing. Try and bring one from each pen.

The testing date is Sunday, September 25th. Will will be here from 11-2 for FREE testing for instate participants. Those of you getting tested at the WV swap the weekend before... see if Jonathon can swap a couple birds for AI while he's there. That would make you good to go for this one as well.
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hope things get better for you!



I have 38 guineas for sale ~pied,pearl,french,sky blue,lavender,buff,dun,chocolate,royal purple,white.
all ai & npip. a few are close to laying some are banded by wv state tester.
I will have Auburn Java cockerels (4) &2 silver laced wyandotte cockerels.
 
We have power finally!
We also have our housing situation under control! After the landlady passed, I had no idea what we were doing as far as our housing and I had no idea if I was going to be able to have the chickens at the new place (not like liquidating my flock was really a serious option - but I did sell 9 birds). Plus we have the horse and pony, dog, cats and rabbit. We are going to be renting to own a decent 2.5 acre spot were I can keep the horse and my chickens. It's a 4bed/2bath home w/ a two car garage (I have never, ever had a garage) and a 12x24 shed with some add-ons for chickens! I also have this 8x6 coop I was given and my 4x8 Cochin Condo I am building, so chicken housing should be good! We just need to get the current tenants out - long story. I am going to downsize my chicken flock a bit more because I still want to weed out a few breeds I could seriously do without so I can replace them with the breed/s I want.

While this place covers one hurdle, it causes another. It's almost double what we are paying in rent now and it's going to strap us. The point is, it may make the trip to the swap impossible still. I haven't cancelled it totally. This swap is all that's kept me sane this last month and the thought of it still being possible keeps my spirits up!

If you ladies are interested, I will be posting pics of the damage from Irene tomorrow in the Family Life section.
 
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I have a question. Is this poultry swap going to be an NPIP event? I came to the last event because I was told it would be. I am NPIP, so can only buy from NPIP breeders. Long story short, there were birds from WV, PA, MD, etc. there that were NOT from NPIP breeders. I know someone that bought sick birds there and nothing was done about it. They had to have their whole flock culled. Read about it on your June swap thread too. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=492984&p=45 Heard about someone who got a sick Serama roo that had to be culled as well. How did sick birds get into an NPIP event? Why did you allow people to cross state lines and attend your event that were not NPIP. If you tell me you didn't know, well that is shame on you. Whoever is running this event should have the information on every vendor that attends. I would like to come, but I need absolute proof there won't be any untested birds there. Can you tell me who the MD tester is who will be onsite at the swap? I know there wasn't one at the June swap. I'm from MD and thought it was the law that one had to be at every poultry event in MD. Just wondering how this swap is going to go. The first one was touted as being NPIP too. Please let me know.

Brian
 
Brian, thanks for your concern. I see this is your first post so welcome to BYC. I was unaware of anyone having to cull their entire flock and, I really wish someone would've contacted me or the state about it as these types of diseases are reportable and the state will do further research. The only thing I heard about was coccidia which, unfortunately is extremely common and many folks on here battle with it daily. If left untreated it can kill.

The last event was a bit bigger than expected and, though we asked that all breeders be tested, some got through the cracks. We had two state reps from the UMD Ag. dept. onsite and they viewed all poultry and livestock at the swap and didn't find anything that appeared ill. The birds that did have coccidia weren't displaying any symptoms at that time. I was in contact of two buyers who had purchased from this person and I was notified that two of the purchased birds died but the rest recovered. Considering how many birds were at the swap... these things do happen. Even at APA sanctioned shows, birds come home and transmit sickness to the home flock after being exposed to things at the show.

We will have much more staff at this event enforcing these rules. So, yes, everyone will be tested clean of avian influenza and pullorum-typhoid but these are the only diseases in which the NPIP program tests for. That is why quarantining new birds is so important. I add "swap tips" to some of my ads and go into more detail about this on my website. When you purchase a bird from a certified NPIP breeder, you can rest assured it doesn't have either of the diseases aforementioned though you cannot be sure it doesn't have one of the dozens of other diseases poultry can carry.. some never showing symptoms. Showing poultry and participating in swap events can be risky by nature. It is the buyers reponsibility to get the information of the seller whom you purchase birds from and quarantine ALL NEW birds for, at the very least, 2 weeks after purchase. Even then, some carriers may not display symptoms of infectious bronchitis, MG, Mereks, etc. Some use the "sacrificial roo" scenario where they select a rooster they are not concerned about losing and let him spend the two weeks in solitary with the new flock. If those birds are indeed carriers, the roo will come down with symptoms and though it's sad to lose him, you can keep your flock protected.

I am glad this topic came up. I try very hard to advertise and have all of the fun stuff here and recruit vendors and attract buyers and set up the testing clinic which will be on the Sunday prior so that everyone can enjoy themselves but, on swap day.. things get extremely hectic. I was unable to sell anything out of my own cages until well after noon because of the insanity. We have learned a lot and are having more staff to help but, BUYER BEWARE is a good policy to have... in any situation.
 

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