Chickens
Chicken Plots:
Rent a plot to keep poultry for laying your own eggs.
Free Range Chickens.
If you like the idea of raising free range chickens, but you don’t have the space for it, you want to keep your lawn for the kids to play on or just don’t think the neighbours will go for it, we may have the solution. Let us take the hassle out of it for you! We can provide you with a secure fenced off area with a chicken coop for you to raise your birds in. This means that they have access to outdoors whilst also having suitable shelter which they can go into to protect them from the weather and keep them safe at night. We will advise you on breeds, feed etc.
Free range chickens produce better-tasting eggs and meat, and are a lot more fun to deal with than confined chickens.
Free-range birds take longer to mature than intensively farmed chickens, coming to full maturity and ideal table weight at around twelve weeks of age. This may vary depending on breed and type of feed.
There’s not much to beat the tantalising smell of a chicken roasting in the oven. The aroma of a plump, flavourful bird, cooking to golden perfection, is one of those that sends nostrils twitching all over the house, and brings them running without the need for a second call to the table. All the better then, if the bird is one of your own free rangers, reared by traditional methods, with access to wide open pastures and the freedom to behave exactly as chickens should. All this fresh air and exercise develops firm texture and full flavour, when the bird eventually reaches the table.
Keeping poultry for Free Range Eggs
Our initial reason for keeping our own poultry was so that we could enjoy great tasting, nutritious free range eggs. Once you have tasted an egg produced in your own back garden, as fresh as can be, there is no going back. The yolks are a deep orange, rather than the lighter yellow of mass produced eggs and they sit proud in the frying pan, instead of flattening out, because they are so fresh.
Eating a boiled free range egg is a veritable feast.
Day old eggs have crumbly whites, while eggs which are left sit for a couple of days have whites with a smooth, firm texture.
Research shows that chickens allowed to roam freely and eat grass, lay eggs that are higher in Omega-3 fatty acids and Vitamin E while lower in cholesterol than mass produced eggs, making home-produced eggs a much healthier option.
There are numerous advantages to ‘renting a chicken plot’:
- The biggest advantage is that you can see your chickens running, pecking, playing and generally enjoying life out in the open space. You can see the eggs laid daily, from your own birds, that you have watched grow and enjoy life. That’s traceability for you!!
- You don't have any capital outlay. Chicken coops, fencing, ground space, etc. are provided.
- You can keep up to a maximum of 6 chickens in each plot at any one time.
- You can go on holidays without having to find someone to look after your chickens!
Cost:
To rent a Chicken Plot for an eleven month period is €100. An additional €20 is required for public liability (insurance mandatory). Chickens range in price from €5 (small baby chick) up to €20 for a laying hen (depending on breed).