Seeking Pullets Near Central Maryland

[mpemburn]

Hi All,

We lost three of our hens to a fox last week, and we’re looking for two to four pullets over eight weeks. Thanks!

Mark Pemburn
Bel Air, MD

 

[Fluffy Lambs]

Poultryshowcentral.com and just looking up (google) 'chickens for sale near me' might work

 

[MROO]

Hi All,

We lost three of our hens to a fox last week, and we’re looking for two to four pullets over eight weeks. Thanks!

Mark Pemburn
Bel Air, MD

If you can "fix" your fox problem, I can help you out ... I can also offer some fox-deterring advice. It's an issue here, too.
Cecil, MD

 

[Fluffy Lambs]

Thanks, MROO, I thought about tagging you but I wasnt sure if you had any thing besides Nankins.

 

[MdChickGirl]

Hi All,

We lost three of our hens to a fox last week, and we’re looking for two to four pullets over eight weeks. Thanks!

Mark Pemburn
Bel Air, MD

We have 4 laying hens — posted in the MD thread and free rehoming thread. Little over 1 year old. All good girls and good layers!

 

[mpemburn]

If you can "fix" your fox problem, I can help you out ... I can also offer some fox-deterring advice. It's an issue here, too.
Cecil, MD

Advice would be welcome—thanks!

In this circumstance, however, the hens were free-ranging while we were inside working, and we think the fox took advantage of the darkening skies due to an impending storm. Our coop (made by Star Ridge Structures out of Lancaster, PA) is just about bullet proof,

Mark

 

[MROO]

Thanks, MROO, I thought about tagging you but I wasnt sure if you had any thing besides Nankins.

If I can place the others, I'll go back to just having the Nankins again. Now that I no longer have an active 4Her in the house, the chickens will be solely my responsibility again. The multiple coop and run mess DD has going is for the birds ... both literally and figuratively! I need to take it back to a small flock of just one breed ... and I DO love my Nannies!

 

[MROO]

Advice would be welcome—thanks!

In this circumstance, however, the hens were free-ranging while we were inside working, and we think the fox took advantage of the darkening skies due to an impending storm. Our coop (made by Star Ridge Structures out of Lancaster, PA) is just about bullet proof,

Mark

That really stinks! It's so heartbreaking to lose any of our charges. It's good that your coop s strong, as they are definitely vulnerable when trapped inside. A fox in a hen house will kill everything, leave the bodies, and come back later to pick from the buffet. It's awful! I actually dug a trench around my coop and run, filled it with dry concrete, and hosed it until I could mix it. It hardened right in the ground - where even DD's crazy digger-dog can't get to them.
Free ranging is always an issue with predators. A few years ago, a red-tailed hawk took a young pullet right from under my nose ... literally. I was ten feet away on the other side of a picnic table when the %^$$#* dove into my girls. My birds no longer free range unless I'm standing right in the middle of the group - and even then, it's only the bigger fowl. A hawk would be hard pressed to take my Jersey Giant ... she's a MOOSE!
Short of an electric poultry fence and/or a livestock guardian dog, there's not a whole lot you can do to deter a hungry fox. They don't just hunt at night, even with darkened skies. They're opportunistic hunters. They are out and about whenever their food source is available. I've had some luck with sensor lights in the past, as long as I kept shifting their direction every week or so. The local farmers swear that ... ummm ... relieving oneself around the fenceline is a deterrent. I have neighbors close enough that I'm not willing to go that route, but the locals swear it works! ARRGGH .... and ... ICK!

 

[Birdie mom]

@mpemburn, @MdChickGirl has some pullets, that may work

 

[mpemburn]

That really stinks! It's so heartbreaking to lose any of our charges. It's good that your coop s strong, as they are definitely vulnerable when trapped inside. A fox in a hen house will kill everything, leave the bodies, and come back later to pick from the buffet. It's awful! I actually dug a trench around my coop and run, filled it with dry concrete, and hosed it until I could mix it. It hardened right in the ground - where even DD's crazy digger-dog can't get to them.
Free ranging is always an issue with predators. A few years ago, a red-tailed hawk took a young pullet right from under my nose ... literally. I was ten feet away on the other side of a picnic table when the %^$$#* dove into my girls. My birds no longer free range unless I'm standing right in the middle of the group - and even then, it's only the bigger fowl. A hawk would be hard pressed to take my Jersey Giant ... she's a MOOSE!
Short of an electric poultry fence and/or a livestock guardian dog, there's not a whole lot you can do to deter a hungry fox. They don't just hunt at night, even with darkened skies. They're opportunistic hunters. They are out and about whenever their food source is available. I've had some luck with sensor lights in the past, as long as I kept shifting their direction every week or so. The local farmers swear that ... ummm ... relieving oneself around the fenceline is a deterrent. I have neighbors close enough that I'm not willing to go that route, but the locals swear it works! ARRGGH .... and ... ICK!

Mark's wife here. You could gather a pot of deterrent, and pour it around the fence line