chocolatedog Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Hi again! Just wanting advice on recommended breeders in Scotland. I found the old thread but wondered if anything had changed - I've dealt with Paula's Poultry before, and she's great and I'd thoroughly recommend her and her birds, but it's a long way from me. Macintyre of Ayrshire can deliver birds (we're still pretty far from him too!) - does he still come recommended? And the one downside is that I would probably have to rely on him to choose birds for me (hopefully to my specifications ie docile and easy to handle, not flighty.......). Has anyone else relied on a supplier to choose, or do most people go and choose for themselves? Plus he's got brown leghorns and buff barred (rocks, I presume?), as well as bluebelles, speckledys, Sussex stars etc etc. (My last 2 hens I got very locally but the breeder stopped trading earlier this year, which is now forcing me to have to ask all these questions!!!!! Sorry!!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shemybelle Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Hi Where in Scotland are you? Lx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocolatedog Posted July 25, 2012 Author Share Posted July 25, 2012 Central Scotland. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red girl Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Hi In Fife there is Hens Made Easy good range of breeds - nice and helpful breeder but on the pricey side then there is Collessie Feeds fewer breeds but cheaper Hope that helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shemybelle Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 I was also going to recommend Hens Made Easy. I've never used them, but I've spoken to the guy at Chooks4sale in South Lanarkshire, and he seemed very nice. I got my hens from Gibbs of Galston (Ayr), but that's probably out of your way. I saw some hens at Dobbies garden centre at Milngavie, but they were £30 each (way too expensive). Lx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
good_egg Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 I got my three girls from Jocelyn at Hens Made Easy in fife. She is lovely and so helpful, has a good house at start of season but cuts down to do boarding this time of year. Email her - she is super helpful. Chooks4sale guy is very helpful as well but we went to visit and it was not as nice a set up as Jocelyn and although he had the breeds we were after we chose to drive back to St Andrews to see Jocelyn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 I've got most of my girls from Ballencrieff Mains Farm near Longniddry - always been lovely girls and a reasonable price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shemybelle Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 I'll second that, Good_egg. We visited Jocelyn a couple of months ago and she was lovely. Great set-up, very helpful lady. Lx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparkysmum Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Hi we're in Dunblane and acquired my ladies from : Ex batts from British Hen Welfare trust Araucana and Sablepoots from Dorinda Fontana in Peebles. Winner of many, many prizes. Amazing set up. Doune traditional Poultry for my Dumpies. However have heard that he is scaling down his business Have you checked the breeders Section in Practical Poultry? Good luck. Alli x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocolatedog Posted July 26, 2012 Author Share Posted July 26, 2012 Yes Doune Traditional has ceased trading - I had it from a reliable source! So I've approached A A Macintyre of Ayrshire instead - he's going to bring 4 girls for me to choose from as he's already delivering up in this area today anyway....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taffeta Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 Hi, I just saw this and can tell you that Mr McIntyre is well worth buying from. His brother does a stall at my local farmer's market and he brought up 3 hens for me. I told him I wanted friendly layers that would be fine with children. He gave me a list of the different hybrids and I eventually settled on a black rock, a speckledy and a bluebell. All of them were lovely healthy birds just coming into lay and he was very helpful. He did offer me the chance to travel down to Ayrshire to pick them out myself on the farm and I don't think he would have done so if there had been anything dodgy about his set up. Two years down the line we've just lost our bluebell to old age and I had been thinking of PMing Sparky's Mum to find out where she got her bantams so this has turned out to be a very useful thread! Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocolatedog Posted July 27, 2012 Author Share Posted July 27, 2012 Thanks for the advice everyone - I got my girls from Macintyres, and had a further commendation for him from a chicken expert friend of mine locally too.... They seem to be settling in - this evening when I went to close up the eglu they'd all sorted themselves out tidily inside! Not bad for the second evening together! Ginger and Pepper spent all day out in the external run and the newbies had the internal run to themselves, so generally it was a much more peaceful day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
