Keeping chickens in Ireland has grown a lot in popularity in recent years. Keeping just two hens at the bottom of a town or city garden, is a fantastic way of supplying a home with lots of tasty fresh eggs as well as having easy to keep pets that can teach the family all about where there food comes from.
Pets.ie, a company based in Co. Wicklow and are the people to help you get started! This article has great information on what’s involved and details of all the equipment you need to get started and where to find it. We can supply all the necessary equipment and deliver it right to your garden anywhere in Ireland. We can even supply a full chicken keeping starter pack containing all the necessary equipment to get you up and running, quickly and easily.
Keeping Chickens In Ireland - What Do You Need?
This article contains a list of the main things needed when it comes to keeping hens in Ireland.
Chicken Coop
A chicken coop or hen house is the first important piece of equipment that you need. This chicken coop will be where the hens sleep and lay their eggs. A chicken coop can even come complete with an enclosed run to keep the hens safe when you are not around. There are several different types with prices starting from under €200.
Chicken Feeder
A good chicken feeder is important. Yes, you could of course use an old bowl or something like that. However, chicks like to scratch about and what you’ll quickly learn is how much feed that can be wasted. A proper chicken feeder will prevent waste, save money and reduce the chances of unwanted visitors to the feed area. These chicken feeders cost from as little as €10.
Chicken Drinker
A hen will drink about 0.5L of water on a normal day and water makes up 75% of the an egg. It is very important to have clean water with hens all the time. A good chicken drinker will supply hens with plenty of clean fresh water. These costs from around €10.
Chicken Feed
Laying Hens have particular dietary requirements. Feeding them scraps alone will lead to sick hens and no eggs. Feeding them correctly will keep them healthy, happy and laying lots of fresh eggs. This feed comes in the form of layers pellets and there is even an organic version of this food. Hens will not over-eat, this food should be available to them all day long in a suitable feeder as mentioned above.
Oyster Shell Grit
If hens are free ranging they will typically find the grit they need. If they are confined to a pen it is well worth having some grit available. Oyster Shell Grit is best as it not only helps hens digest food, it also helps hens to make really good quality egg shells.
Chicken Bedding
There are two types of bedding for hens that we recommend, either clean dry soft wood shavings or chopped straw. These beddings are ideal as they won’t harbour any mites or lice, something that can be a pest for hens. Other bedding options can be used, these are the two that we prefer. At the moment we mostly use the chopped straw as we find it composts very well.
Health Products
On an ongoing basis it is important to keep on top of chicken health. This we recommend is done in a preventative manner and is similar to what is done when keeping a pet cat or pet dog. Because you are eating the eggs we recommend doing this as naturally as possible without the introduction of any pharmaceuticals.
This is easy to do. The first week of each month a mite preventative powder is placed under the hens wings and tail and a natural product to help prevent internal parasites and worms is placed in the food. Simple! We can help give you advice on how to do this if required. With the right type of hens as mentioned above this is very easy to do. Check out our Health Pack for Chickens and our Deluxe Chicken Health Pack.