Chicken coops plans

poultry were probably introduced to Ireland from Roman Britain. From earliest times they have been kept for both meat and eggs. Intensive, large‐scale poultry keeping, however, developed only during the late 19th century. By 1900 there were about 18.5 million poultry in Ireland, more than three times the number recorded in 1850.

During the 1890s, there was much official debate on the necessity of reorganizing the Irish egg trade. Poultry‐keeping had become a major source of income for farm women, who used the profits to obtain items such as tea, sugar, or clothing. By 1900, even tiny western farms might keep flocks of around 100 chickens. It was estimated that 20 hens equalled a cow in value, and on many of these smallholdings only one cow was kept. Irish eggs, however, had a very poor reputation with retailers. Poultry breeds were not systematically improved, and there were allegations that both farm women and the shopkeepers or egg merchants with whom they dealt held on to eggs until prices rose, with the result that they were often inedible by the time they reached urban markets. In 1897, merchants in Liverpool and Glasgow threatened to boycott Irish eggs if the situation did not improve.

Public bodies, including the Congested Districts Board and the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction, attempted to improve poultry breeding by distributing cockerels, pullets, and eggs to small farmers. This succeeded to the extent that breeds such as the Leghorn, Dorking, Brahma, and Frizzle became common. Poultry keeping classes and egg‐laying competitions were organized, and these also had a significant effect. After 1897, the Irish Agricultural Organization Society began to encourage the formation of local societies to collect, grade, and pack eggs. By 1900, 21 specialist egg societies were established. This development had a major effect, despite complaints from farm women that it would lead to the transfer of income to the control of men. During the 1920s, legislation in both the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland required eggs to be tested and graded before packing, and intensive poultry farming became one of the most profitable aspects of Irish farming.

Bibliography

Bolger, P. , The Irish Co‐operative Movement (1977)

Jonathan Bell