About Chicken Essentials - Your One Stop Chicken Shop
We are conveniently situated on the Hampshire/Berkshire border between Newbury, Reading and Basingstoke. Hybrid hens can be bought directly from Chicken Essentials stock. We can supply food, bedding , coops and accessories for your chickens.
We can also offer 'hen holidays' (dependant on current DEFRA restrictions). Enjoy your holidays, knowing your hens are having a little holiday of their own in one of our secure "Hen B & B" pods.
Hello, my name is Vicky Irwin and I have taken over Chicken Essentials. The story started when various people from all walks of life asked me over a period to help them to prepare for and choose their hens. I started running Chicken Keeping Workshops because I wanted to be able to share my knowlege and love for chicken keeping and to encourage people to welcome these fantastic creatures into their gardens and lives.
Here at Chicken Essentials we are passionate about anything Chicken! We have been keeping fowl in general and chicken in particular for over 50 years, during which time we have gained a wealth of experience and hands on knowledge about them; their habits, their likes and their dislikes.
We have had many happy moments, trying moments and of course a few sad moments but all in all chicken are one of the most productive and hard working additions to can add to your family. They will also form part of an edible garden project which is an extremely beneficial and healthy way forward for us all.
Hello, my name is Vicky Irwin and I have taken over Chicken Essentials. The story started when various people from all walks of life asked me over a period to help them to prepare for and choose their hens. I started running Chicken Keeping Workshops because I wanted to be able to share my knowlege and love for chicken keeping and to encourage people to welcome these fantastic creatures into their gardens and lives.
Here at Chicken Essentials we are passionate about anything Chicken! We have been keeping fowl in general and chicken in particular for over 50 years, during which time we have gained a wealth of experience and hands on knowledge about them; their habits, their likes and their dislikes.
We have had many happy moments, trying moments and of course a few sad moments but all in all chicken are one of the most productive and hard working additions to can add to your family. They will also form part of an edible garden project which is an extremely beneficial and healthy way forward for us all.
Contact details below or use form on Contact Us page.
Did you know that Point of Lay is in fact a very vague description of pullets that are in the process of developing to an age where, in the near future, they will become mature and therefore start producing eggs. Then they become hens.
The average age for chicken to come into normal lay can be anytime between 22 and 26 weeks. This does depend on the type of hen, the time of year and, in some cases, how they have been reared.
We have a great selection of POL pullets available now but please phone for availability of the varieties as they change from day to day. Depending on the time of year they should start laying within 2/4 weeks of purchase. Columbines and other blue egg layers do take slightly longer to mature.