Poultry

Letters to the Editor 2/18 Part 2 Sen. Mooney's hypocrisy To the editor: Alex X. Mooney's middle initial must stand for "X-treme. " He calls the inauguration protesters "obnoxious" and then boasts about how proud he is for the role he played as a protester in Broward County (Herald-Mail, front page, 1/21/01). That's "X-treme" hypocrisy in my book. Gerald Jennings Brownsville No board is a bad thing? To the editor: Nothing recommends passage of the bill before the current Maryland General Assembly that would expand the scope of bargaining with teachers as much as Paul Bailey's assertion that if such a bill were to pass "there wouldn't even be a need for the board of education.

The Maryland Poultry Swap and Farmers Market set for Saturday, June 18, is seeking vendors. It will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Green Hill Farm, 5329 Mondell Road in Sharpsburg. Admission is free. It will be held rain or shine. Spaces cost $8 to rent. It is recommended that vendors bring canopies as well as their own tables and chairs. There will be food and drink vendors as well as watering stations to get fresh water for the animals. For more information, go to www.MdPoultrySwap.blogspot.com or call Erin at 304-279-0016.

The Maryland Poultry Fanciers Association will hold a poultry swap and farmers market Saturday, Sept. 8, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Green Hill Farm, 5329 Mondell Road in Sharpsburg. Admission costs $2 per person. Those ages 12 and younger will be admitted free. Vendor spaces cost $15. The event is for neighbors to buy/sell and trade their services and products.  Bring tables, chairs and a canopy or just drop the tailgate. Anything farm-related, recycled or homemade is welcome at the swap.  Visitors can find laying hens, chicks, turkeys, quail, pheasants, peafowl, guineas, hatching eggs, organically raised packaged poultry, new and used feeders and waterers, tools, horse tack, preserves, cut flowers, artisan goat cheese, homemade soaps and lotions, baskets and birdhouses.

SHARPSBURG - Monday's decision by the Maryland Department of Agriculture to lift a ban on public poultry displays came too late for the Washington County Ag Expo. Twenty-two capons - castrated roosters - were killed so they could be judged in the market bird category on July 30. Expo organizers had two choices - kill the birds and judge them or cancel the event entirely. In April, the state Department of Agriculture banned poultry from fairs and exhibitions because of concerns about avian influenza, which is highly contagious for birds.

By LISA GRAYBEAL Staff Writer, Chambersburg CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Franklin County poultry farmers noticeably flinch when they hear the words avian flu. "You didn't come from Lancaster County today, did you?" Ronald Gayman asked a reporter. Gayman is the third-generation owner of Hillside Poultry Farm on Letterkenny Road, the county's largest independent egg producer. Avian influenza, a highly contagious virus that sickens chickens and other poultry, has been detected in seven flocks in the last month - the latest three last week - in northeast Lancaster County, the state's largest poultry producer.

ANNAPOLIS - Poultry diseases like exotic Newcastle disease and avian influenza know no state lines or neighbors' fences. These diseases also do not know the difference between a commercial flock and a backyard flock. Preventing and being able to contain diseases like these are so important that Maryland adopted a law last year, requiring domestic poultry and exotic bird premises to be registered with the state. Now, the state Department of Agriculture has announced its new Domestic Poultry and Exotic Bird premises registration program.

chambersburg@herald-mail.com ZULLINGER, Pa. - A Highspire, Pa., food exporting company has received a state grant to study the possibility of building a poultry processing plant in the Wharf Road Industrial Park that could employ hundreds of people, according to State Sen. Terry Punt's office. Rizkcozann Food Corp. received approval Wednesday from the Commonwealth Financing Authority for a $175,000 grant for feasibility and engineering studies, said Catherine Cresswell, the executive director for the Senate Community and Economic Development Committee, which is chaired by Punt.

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - The Jefferson County Commissioners agreed Thursday to move forward with a proposal to allow poultry processing in the county despite concerns that poultry processing was never mentioned by county planning officials when they were devising new zoning regulations. The commission made the decision after Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney Michael D. Thompson briefed the commissioners on how the county treated a similar situation in a previous case. That case, which went before a circuit judge, revolved around whether the county commission could change language in a proposal after a public hearing on the issue, Thompson said.

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - Jefferson County residents raised concerns Thursday about new zoning regulations that will allow meat processing facilities, including those for poultry. Vicki Faulkner of Harpers Ferry said the Jefferson County Planning Commission never mentioned the possibility of poultry processing when it was forming the regulations. But the plan to allow poultry processing was included in the proposed zoning regulations that were delivered to the Jefferson County Commissioners Thursday, Faulkner said.

The Maryland Poultry Swap and Farmers Market will be Saturday, June 16, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Green Hill Farm at 5329 Mondell Road in Sharpsburg.  The swap is for participants to buy, sell and trade their services and products. Spaces can be rented for $10. Participants are encouraged to bring tables, chairs and a canopy. Admission is free. The event will be held rain or shine. The sale will feature show-quality bantams, laying hens, hatching eggs, chicks, turkeys, quail, pheasants, peafowl, cages, crates, coops, feeders, nesting boxes, horse riding tack, goats and rabbits, lawn equipment, gardening supplies, local farm products, vegetable and flower plants, local honey and other items.   Food and beverage vendors will be available, as well as family activities such as a straw maze, inflatable bounce and pony rides.  Two educational booths will be featured, including: • “A Lesson in Biosecurity” will help participants understand the dangers to poultry flocks and ways to prevent illness • “Exhibition Clinic” prepares for all things involved with showing poultry, selecting breeding stock, keeping birds healthy, happy and in excellent condition until show time, finding shows and entry forms.