Hens

maestroamado

A friend of mine is looking to buy 4 to 6 hens in the Galway/Clare area.
Any advise welcome.

Many thanks.

9or10

Big thread here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=103236399#post103236399

maestroamado

There is lots of information on the thread that i do not need.
All i wanted to know was a supplier in the area i mentioned.

9or10

maestroamado wrote: »

There is lots of information on the thread that i do not need.
All i wanted to know was a supplier in the area i mentioned.

Well your original post said "any advise", nothing about suppliers.

The local mart will likely have 1 or 2 guys selling hens.

maestroamado

I may not have put my question very clearly.
I was hoping someone from the Galway/Clare area would say where/when these things on or a specific person selling same.

M.T.D

Poultry marts are closed at the moment due to precautions against avian flu.

What kind of hens are you looking for?

kerryjack

First off its a great time of year to get hens and they are not hard to keep, do she need 6 hens thats a lot of eggs we have 3 for a family of 6. I perfer a moveable pen that you can move around the garden I made one out of old trampoline,not expensive just a bit of imagination you can build a small box where they go into at nght and you can close it off , it took me a few years before I designed the perfect coop. You can try free ranging around the lawn and house but they do shiite and root alot

maestroamado

M.T.D wrote: »

Poultry marts are closed at the moment due to precautions against avian flu.

What kind of hens are you looking for?

Its friends of mine looking for the hens and apart from the fact they want hens that will make eggs they like me know nothing.
They be grateful for any advise, i did get a thread from another contributor here but to be honest its too much bother for me to read and pass on the said info.
Its because of this ban i decided to ask for them here.
I live in North west and friend south Galway.

TopTec

Every second Tuesday, fella selling poultry at the entrance to Ballina Mart. He was there Tues last and has been going there for years.

TT

maestroamado

TopTec wrote: »

Every second Tuesday, fella selling poultry at the entrance to Ballina Mart. He was there Tues last and has been going there for years.

TT

Thanks for that i will pass on, when i seen Ballina i was hoping it be the one in Tipp as alot closer to where they live.

Sheep breeder

Go to DoneDeal and look up poultry, there is a guy in tipp selling sliedevardagh I think and is a sound fella and has good birds

flutered

maestroamado wrote: »

Thanks for that i will pass on, when i seen Ballina i was hoping it be the one in Tipp as alot closer to where they live.

kilmallock mart each monday, some breeder from galway, i do think that they are there at a certain time, that type lays well for only the first year, after that the revet to ornaments, they never lay in cold weather, they donedeal for some one selling specific breeds, if possible get one or two with a bit of a bantham in them, they wiil give you eggs at christmas which no others do, pininterest has some great advice, feathersite.com gives every breed and their capabilitys or lack of them

flutered

maestroamado wrote: »

Thanks for that i will pass on, when i seen Ballina i was hoping it be the one in Tipp as alot closer to where they live.

i often bought from a guy in nenagh via donedeal he was excellent to buy from

flutered

limerick market on a saturday morning used to have some, dunno as regards nowdays

aonb

check for breeders/for sale ads on:

irishfowl.com

freerangepoultry.ie

adverts.ie and donedeal.ie will provide more ads, but if your friends know nothing about hens they should probably go to a reputable breeder as opposed to adverts/donedeal ads - they need to know that what they are buying is (1) point of lay and (2) actually hens rather than cockerals (!!)

There are regular 'adoption' days for one year old hens being rehomed from batteries. These hens look dreadful initially (lack of feathers) but once they settle and refeather can have a couple of years of laying left.

Buying for a person who regularly travels around an area with point of lay/pullets is usually a good choice - these guys tend to have decent quality hens, and when they are going to the same places every couple of weeks, they need to have healthy birds for their regular customers

maestroamado

aonb,

Rainbow be perfect thanks.

RiderOnTheStorm

Have no advice on where to get birds (outside of Kerry anyway), but we have several breeds laying and you might be interested in info on their eggs.
The 2 most popular birds are Rhode Island and Leghorns. The Rhode Islands (reddish brown bird) are usually very docile and lay about 300 eggs a year. The Leghorns (all white bird) lay slightly more, and are a bight flighty. The Rhodes lay light brown eggs and the Leghorns lay white ones. I like the Rhodes as they love to see me when I arrive and flock (pardon the pun) to my feet. They will crouch down when you rub them and don't mind being picked up. We have one that jumps onto my wife lap when she sits down. The Leghorns always run away...

maestroamado

Thanks for all your advise, they got sorted in Athenry.
Also thanks to last Rider for last post which was interesting.

Regards.