Keeping hens in Ireland – Getting the chickens that suit you best.

So you’re thinking of getting some hens but don’t know where to begin?  The variety of poultry for sale in Ireland has increased a lot over the past few years, making the choice of which type of hen to get a hard one. 

There are essentially two choices when it comes to keeping chickens (1) Hybrids and (2) Pure Breeds.   Breeds can cross to create what is known as a cross breeds, but let’s leave this aside for now and we'll come back to it later.

Hybrid Hens

Hybrid Hens are hens that are bred for a specific purpose, which in most cases is for laying lots and lots of eggs.   They can lay up to 300 eggs per year!  The most commonly recognisable Hybrids is the red one, which is commonly seen in farmyards and in pictures of hens in battery houses.  Over the past few years a number of new breed of hybrids have been developed by experts, and some of these new hybrids called such things as Black Rocks, Bluebells and Amber Star, all of which make excellent layers, but come in different colours.  The choice here is really down to personal taste in which one the keeper likes the look of.

Hybrid hens can be a good choice for a first time poultry keeper, as they are usually very hardy and lay most of the year.  They are easy to take care of and commonly are the breed that most people start out with.

Pure Breeds

Pure Breeds, as the name suggest are a particular breed of hens, similar to Labrador or Terrier in the canine world.  Pure Breeds have been bred to a standard for many years.  They are commonly kept by poultry fanciers and exhibited in a poultry club shows and other shows such as the county agricultural shows throughout Ireland.  They are very suitable to been kept by any poultry keeper.  If a keeper wishes to breed them true to standard they should be kept exclusively, or kept in a separate pen to your other breeds.  Pure breeds typically do not lay as well as Hybrid hens, but they make up for this in the remarkable variety of colours, shapes and sizes, from bantam to large fowl.  Quality pure breed poultry is typically more expensive than Hybrids layers, and it is often the case that you get what you pay for when it comes to quality in the pure breeds.  The choice of which pure breed a keeper should go for is completely down to personal choice, and down to which breed they fancy.  They come in both large and bantam varieties.

Pure breed poultry is an excellent choice for any keeper, if you wish to keep some of these just for the joy of having something fancy or different.  Pure Breeds can readily mixed with other pure breed hens or with hybrid layers. 

Cross Breeds

Now back to cross Breeds - these are a cross between different varieties - just like a mongrel in the dog world.  Any type of poultry can cross breed with each other.    Sometimes this is done for a reason, such as certain crosses of two pure breed to produce what some consider a good table bird or a good bird for brooding chicks.  Cross breeds typically don’t make a good bird for breeding from.

All poultry falls into these classes, the choice is down to you.  Hybrids are a great choice if you want lots of eggs, but the variety of pure breeds means that there is a breed for almost anyone to fall in love with.  Many keepers usually start with Hybrids and then add some nice pure breeds into their flock as time passes, giving them the best of both worlds.

You can check out the various types of hens we keep by clicking on the following links - Large Fowl Pure Breeds, Bantam Pure Breeds and Hybrid Laying Hens.