Marrying skill sets to help hens have fun on the farm

HENS of a non-poultry kind are f locking to Darragh and Aisling Quinn’s farm in Dobrien, Corofin, Co Clare every weekend. The farm, situated on the foot of the Mullaghmór Mountain in the Burren has become a haven for hen parties looking to engage in fun farming activities.

Darragh Quinn originally worked in HR but took over the family suckler farm when his father passed away in 2006. He wanted to combine his corporate skills with his farming skill set and decided to open a pet farm at the weekends to test the waters. This was the birth of The Farmyard.ie. Darragh soon realised that the adult market was more viable than just children alone and started marketing to hen nights.

“Hens come all-year round. It’s very fullon. It’s a great activity and very light,” says Darragh.

The hen groups take part in a range of activities to help the bride-to-be complete her ‘Farmyard Wife Preparation Course’. Bread-baking, milking a cow, butter churning and learning ‘The Siege of Ennis’ are just some of the activities that must be completed in order to receive the highly coveted Farming Certificate at the end of the two-and-a-half-hour session.

“We get people from all over the country and even from abroad. It’s attractive to women from the country, too as it’s a way for them to have fun with their friends. We’re lucky that we’re in such a great location near Galway and Limerick and hen-night hubs like Lahinch and Doolin,” adds Darragh.

Corporate team-building groups, school tours and international tours also come to the farm every week. Darragh and Aisling have three children, plus a baby on the way. With rearing a family in mind, they soon realised that they would have to diversify the farm if they would be able to make it work.

“Ireland is full of small farms that aren’t viable. We had to do something different. There are very few young farmers doing just farming. A lot of them have something else on the side. We saw the potential in the market and I had my HR skills so we decided to make a go if it,” Darragh explains.

The Farmyard is so busy that Darragh had to switch to beef finishing soon after they launched the business seven years ago as it was proving too difficult.

“We switched from suckler farming to beef fattening as we’d be too busy with calves to dedicate ourselves to the business. It’s a very simplified farm and not intensely stocked but we’re happy with how it’s going at the moment.”