Category: Chickens

One of our most common questions from parents and grandparents alike is which breed is best with young kids?

All of our breeds have been carefully selected for their desirable traits. Although none of our breeds are aggressive, some are more placid than others.

The White Leghorn is a lovely hen that lays large white eggs however, they are very nervous and flighty.

On the other hand Bluebells for example are extremely placid, they are curious and will often become attached to their owner. They are very easy to care for and great with kids.

Some of the breeds that we recommend for kids are;

• Bluebell
• Blackrock
• Daisybelle
• Light Sussex
• Cuckoo Maran
• Mottled Ranger

All of our Point Of Lay Pullets are at least 16 weeks old before they are sold to our customers. They generally start laying between 18 and 20 weeks and reach full production by 22 weeks of age.

Hens in a flock do not all begin laying on the same day nor do they continue laying for the same amount of time.

Point Of Lay pullets come into production quickly, they peak and then gradually start to decrease in production. However, as the production decreases the egg weight increases.

Although we make every effort to minimise stress for your birds, we have to remeber that they are experiencing a huge change in their environment. It is very important that everyone follow the information in their welcome pack and that the birds nutritional requriements are met. These will play a huge part in how soon the bird starts laying and even how many eggs she will lay each year.

Chickens come in all different shapes and sizes. Some lay brown eggs and others lay green eggs.

How many eggs does a chicken lay? Is like asking how long is a piece of string.

There are 100’s of breeds of chickens ranging from less than 100 to 320 eggs a year.

All of our breeds have been carefully selected for their desirable traits and of course, egg laying capacity is one of them. Generally our birds will lay between 280 & 320 eggs per annum.

A chickens laying capacity is directly affected by how they are cared for. This starts at the hatchery and continues throughout the time that the birds spend on our farms. Subtle differences such as adding a little bit of grit to their diets and a clean environment make all the difference. It is very important that you are always very thorough when choosing your poultry provider.

Did you know that using the right lighting program can increase a hens laying capacity by 27 eggs per year!

Rhode Island Reds are renowned for their egg laying ability, capable of lying over 300 eggs per year however, their laying lifetime is very short and often only lay for 12 to 18 months.

Our coloured hens on the other hand who will lay 20 – 30 less eggs per year than the Rhode Island Red will lay for 2 to 3 years as they don’t get burnt out so quickly. They can use the extra energy to nourish themselves and stay in top shape for quiet a long period of time.

Where to buy chickens?

We are proud to be Ireland’s first online retailer of Live Poultry. We have our own fleet of vans that cover the country weekly delivering to over 100 collection points nationwide.

List of Collection Points

We cover the 26 Counties in the Republic of Ireland Every Week and regulalry travel over the border.

We are redefinining standards in the Irish Poultry Industry. We work tirelessly to improve every aspect of what we do. Customer satisfaction is very important to us and we will always go above and beyond our call of duty to provide support and a quality service.

How will my birds be delivered?

 At Freeway Poultry we are renowned in the Irish Poultry Industry for our rigorous vaccination programs.

We vaccinate our birds against all common backyard poultry diseases. We rear all of our own birds and can guarantee that every bird receives all of the necessary vaccinations.

Our vaccination program starts in the hatchery and our birds receive several others while they are growing on our farms.

We are always very transparent with our vaccination certs and health records. We feel that if we make the extra effort to educate everyone that they will be much more vigilant.

How can a supplier tell someone that their birds are fully vaccinated if they don’t even have a cert?

What does fully vaccinated even mean? There are 1,000’s of different vaccines out there. Whether birds receive one or one hundred vaccines they are still considered fully vaccinated as it is up to the farmer to decide how many vaccines their birds should get.