Farmers in the Buxted area lose chickens to mink

Smallholders struggling to build a business near Buxted have lost 18 chickens to mink in the past week.

Alan and Pamela Mclellan, who live in Uckfield, have cows, sheep, pigs and chickens at Alpa Farm between Buxted and High Hurstwood.

They only started farming in March and the latest loss of chickens is a big setback for them.

They have now invested £450 on a new chicken house and electric fencing in a bid to stop it happening again.

Mrs Mclellan said: “Mink are breeding like mad and this is a big problem for farmers. They take chickens and we have to be very careful with our lambs too because they will take lambs when they are small.

“The dreadful thing is they don’t eat the chickens, they just kill them for the fun of it,” she added.

Mrs Mclellan said she was told there was a mink farm at Buxted in the 1960s and one night animal activists let them out of their cages.

“They are not native to this country and are causing devastation. Every river and stream in the area has mink in it. We have seen them here on the farm and in the River Uck.”

Following an Uckfield News appeal for information from anybody remembering the mink farm in Buxted we heard this from Mary Potter:

“I worked at Buxted Park Health Hydro in 1970/1 and the housekeeper and her husband had imported some mink to start up the mink farming enterprise.

“Unfortunately, they built the cages with ordinary wire netting. The mink made short work of that and escaped.

“With stronger netting they started with more mink but again the wire was no match for the vermin teeth.

“After a third attempt with stronger wire netting, they gave up.

“I seem to remember that the releases were made on the third attempt. The rest, as they say, is history.

“PS The housekeeper was not working at Buxted Park when she and her husband started the mink farm. By her own admission, it was the worst thing they could have done.”

* The Mclellans’ rare breed pigs roam free in woodland on the farm and the couple sell their own meat, sausages and burgers. If you would like to order from Alpha Farm then call 01825 749859 or email pamelamclellan@talktalk.net.