MARYLAND THREAD!

[hbhoffman]

Sophie, I would recommend checking with Whitmore Farms above Frederick,md.. He is wonderful. His beautiful pullets sell for $20! They are certified NPIP, AI, pullorum & other diseases. HTH

 

[FergieChick]

If none of the above posts meet your needs- There is a Maryland Farmers Exchange Facebook page that often has local chickens for sale. If you post on there that you are looking, I'm sure you'll get a lot of options.

The Admin of that page is also the owner of Green Hill Farms, which also hosts the poultry swap location. They are not hosting another swap this fall due to AI, they had their last swap a few weeks ago. I'm sure they'll be another in the spring.

 

[hbhoffman]

Napdognewfie, Hope you heal quickly!

 

[mermaids]

Thank you! we do have secured coop and run. My husband forgot to lock it up last night, and just one night the tragedy happened... I am so upset today the whole day thinking of them running around in the yard. Any breed you could recommend? that can survive the cold winter and have long egg laying period? My Orps stopped laying from late April and just started to be active recently.

Are you in a wooded area? I find that's tougher to protect your chickens because predators have so much cover to sneak up on them. You want things visible outside of your property, but then provide your chickens with good shrubbery for THEM to hide in.
Also it helps to have a breed that has high predator awareness. Buff orps usually don't; they are stay by the feeder, oblivious when strangers approach birds. My Dominiques are the first to run for cover, good foragers, always listening. My Delaware is completely oblivious to predators, but she will hide simply to follow the other girls. I let them loose in my fenced yard. The Dominiques are the only ones laying so far.

 

[Sophie2015]

Thank you everyone for your advice! The orps were really smart and friendly. I let them loose in the backyard and they were doing great. I was so sad for them because it was human mistake that caused their death. The back door to the coop was wide open that night! It was hard for me to think of the struggling they went through!!
A farm owner in Frederick has offered to bring some hens down to my area. I will be very careful this time and handle the chickens all by myself!

 

[Anna Lee]

Thank you everyone for your advice! The orps were really smart and friendly. I let them loose in the backyard and they were doing great. I was so sad for them because it was human mistake that caused their death. The back door to the coop was wide open that night! It was hard for me to think of the struggling they went through!!
A farm owner in Frederick has offered to bring some hens down to my area. I will be very careful this time and handle the chickens all by myself!

So sorry for your loss. You might want to invest in an automatically closing door. I Iike the Pullet shut solar powered version with battery backup. It is worth every penny because you never know when something unexpected will delay you from locking up at dark. Also whatever got them might be back so you probably want to closely supervise free ranging and have a secure hardware cloth run for times they can't free range.

 

[Sophie2015]

Good point! I will get one when new chickens arrive. Thank you!

 

[Webersome123]

Free 9 week old Cream Legbar mix rooster, named Marcarpone. Hatched out of a beautiful sapphire egg. Free to a good home. I am located in Ellicott City.

 

[hbhoffman]

Free 9 week old Cream Legbar mix rooster, named Marcarpone. Hatched out of a beautiful sapphire egg. Free to a good home. I am located in Ellicott City.

If you end up keeping this one or have another and it is of good SQ, lmk. I can't keep a rooster but would like to hatch out some eggs from my hen in the early spring. (We would obviously need to talk through biosecurity..) Would be glad to share some eggs!

 

[qwigoqwaga]

Since our Marans is turning out to be a rooster, does anyone know where we could find someone selling Cuckoo Marans hens/pullets?