Ever thought about keeping chickens but have no idea where to start? Our very own William Gibb is here to get you started. William is passionate about poultry and has many years experience in hatching eggs. If you’ve visited our country store, you’ll know that his ‘Oor Willie’s’ fresh laid eggs are available to buy and they’re so good they’ve won awards.
To get you started, here’s William’s guide to what you’ll need:
Housing and runs
It goes without saying, you’ll need somewhere for your hens to roost and lay and somewhere safe for them to potter around and exercise during the day. Depending on how many chickens you plan to have, William recommends:
• 4-5 bird house (with or without 6ft wooden run)
• 8-10 bird house (with or without 16m of portable netting)
Food and water
Gibb of Galston stocks the best range of feeds about! Depending on the life stage of your chickens, we’ve got:
• Starter crumbs – food for newbies, day old to 6 weeks, high energy and protein levels will ensure good growth and development
• Grower pellets – for feeding from 6 weeks till 4 months, this feed will rear a fit and healthy bird that will lay well
• Layers – for ad-lib feeding from point of lay, perfect for free range layers where good health and productivity are essential
• Breeder pellets – for feeding before and during the breeding season, containing higher levels of vitamins and minerals to help improve production, fertility and hatchability – cute chicks here we come!
Your hens will need a daily supply of clean and fresh water, we stock a wide range of feeders 1kg to 20kg and drinkers 1l to 30l
We’re also the only Ayrshire stockist of layer pellets Flubenvet wormer – important for keeping worm nasties at bay.
Sundries
We’ve a huge range of poultry products from heat lamps to egg boxes, chicken wire to shavings, nets, leg rings and loads more. Our Country Store is open 7 days!
As our resident chicken expert, William, is your first point of contact when you’re ready to buy some birds. He has point of lay birds in stock, for sale, all year round. He really does know his stuff and will be happy to give tips and advice about poultry keeping.
Interesting fact
Did you know that you can tell the colour of eggs a hen will lay by looking at the colour of its skin behind its ear?