Proven specialists in Poultry housing, but synonymous with the delivery of a diverse range of construction solutions nationwide, Ethvan Ltd. is a fully-insured and CE-certified industry-leading agricultural, commercial and industrial building contractor operating north and south of the border from its base in Castlefinn, County Donegal.
Firmly established across the construction industry as a leading main contractor, Ethvan takes the art of delivering design and build agricultural buildings to the next level.
This exceptional third generation family business was initially set up in the 80’s but rebranded in 2009 to serve the agricultural and industrial building sector, which continues to account for over 80 percent of its business today. Ethvan Ltd. designs, plans and builds from the ground up and is synonymous with finished projects that are well-designed and built to last.
Complementing its thriving general construction wing, Ethvan provides a complete turnkey construction service to customers throughout the Republic and Northern Ireland, specialising in poultry housing, both new build and renovation. Reinforced concrete formwork, structural steel and cladding is at the heart of the business with extensive knowledge in all commercial type structures.
The Donegal-headquartered company is firmly established as the island’s premier agricultural building contractor, with a specific expertise in poultry houses.
As a longstanding partner to the agri sector, Ethvan Ltd. boasts extensive experience in poultry housing.
The company offers a diverse range of housing for Commercial Boilers, Free Range Broiler, High welfare Broilers Breeders (Parent and Grand Parent), Pullets, Commercial eggs (Barn, Free range & organic), flat decks to multi-tiers. etc.
Poultry buildings are a major part of the overall business and Ethvan Ltd. has become one of the few welcomed main contractors in Ireland for the likes of Western Brand, Moy Park, Shannon Vale Foods, Crawford Eggs, Skea Eggs, Carlton Foods, Grove Turkeys, StoneGate Farmers; to name just a few. “Once the client meets us and we can get a quotation put together for them, we know the bespoke qualities and designs these producers are expecting. So it works out much more hassle free for the client, if we can bridge that gap for them. Especially for first time farmers who are new to the industry,” explains managing director Ethan McCormick.
Ethvan specialises in steel framed new build chicken units with a start-to-finish design and build construction solution for all types of housing catered to the clients needs. They also offer extensive knowledge in timber frame house renovation, repairs, conversions and change of use.
Ethvan Ltd has successfully delivered many large scale industrial projects in Donegal for the likes of Aurivo Consumer foods, Nomadic Dairies, CPI Pharmacy Castlefinn, Carr & Co Engineering, and always strives to deliver the best quality construction at the highest level of safety.
As managing director Ethan McCormick attests, a properly designed and constructed chicken house is not your everyday agri building, but very much a unique and specialist and expensive undertaking: “These are specialist projects with the goal of delivering well-sealed, well insulated and good performing high-quality units using the right materials and workmanship.
“The attention to detail you invest into a poultry house wouldn’t be required on a lot of other farm buildings. There is a lot of focus on u values, insulation, airtightness and performance, so there’s an awful lot of attention to detail that goes into it and that’s one of the reasons why it does not suit every agri contractor.”
A magnificent team of 30 workers is on hand at Ethvan to make sure that all work is done to the most exacting standards. “It takes a good team to get the best results,” Ethan notes. “We’ve been at the poultry houses for nearly 14 years and counting, and that experience is invaluable as you are always learning as you go along.
“We’re one of the companies that has put a lot of effort into constantly bringing up the quality of the buildings for growers and producers. We go above and beyond the standards that are expected and are always tweaking things with a view to improving our products and service.
“Once you design a poultry house properly and use the right materials, you will have a building that’ll last for decades. Traditionally, poultry houses were timber frame but we only use the best structural steel in ours and it is all galvanised or covered with quality oxides. We use the best bolts, screws, fixings … everything. I’m a firm believer in do it once, do it right.
“While the men out on site are brilliant, it all starts in the office. The entire team contributes to the success of our buildings. Poultry houses really are high-end buildings compared to a normal farm shed, projects could cost €250,000 or more, so a lot of time and effort goes into each one.”
A complete service is provided to the poultry sector (and wider agri community), as opposed to just new buildings. “We also do retrofits and this has been a very busy area of late with a lot of conversions, refurbishments and repairs. There has been a boom in the commercial egg market the past couple of years and we are busy with that. It takes a good bit of knowledge in the poultry building regulations to get things done right the first time.
“In fact, we’re still getting calls to do repairs on units that were damaged by Storm Eowyn in January as many owners have had to wait for their insurance to come through.”
Speaking of insurance, the fact that Ethvan is fully certified and insured gives customers complete peace of mind. The company is fully en1090 CE approved for the supply and erection of steel. “We design and fabricate our own steel and this means you end up with a building you can rely on and which you can get proper buildings insurance on your own farm,” adds Ethan.
“We work a lot with the client and listen to what they want. Standard sized buildings are common but we can also design and erect bespoke buildings and we are extremely flexible. For conversions, repairs or replacements, we can do steel or timber frame, but the new builds will only ever be steel.”
Ethan McCormick, who holds a 1st class honours Degree in Construction Engineering & Management, has taken over overall running of the family business from his father, Hugh McCormick, but Hugh is still very much involved on the ground and getting the works done on time, to standards. Conor Gallagher is another stronghold in the Ethvan Ltd team. Over the past 13 years working in the poultry industry with Ethan and Hugh, he is a vital part of the team.
At this stage Ethvan has delivered hundreds of poultry houses on the island of Ireland over the past 14 years. Working closely with farmers and processors from the design stage to ensure they deliver a building that meets their exact needs, they provide supreme-quality steel frame houses for all sectors of the market – commercial, high welfare, free range and organic – and have been at the forefront of developing many of the design features incorporated into modern-day housing over the years, particularly with regard to improving bird welfare standards and biosecurity on poultry farms.
“We’re always tweaking things and looking for improvements and looking for new workers to join our team,” concludes Ethan. “We run a lot of our own plant and have an extensive fleet of diggers, lorries, tractors, cranes, cherry pickers, etc., which helps us keep full control over everything in-house.
“A lot of time and effort has gone into getting us to where we are today and we’re going to keep the standards high to make sure we’re looking after all our customers across all aspects of the business. We provide a range of different services to farmers as well as agri buildings. For example, over the summer we completed a cattle underpass for Croom Concrete. Ethvan did all the civils, reinforced concrete and drainage for a cattle underpass. We have experience in a wide range of agri work.
“There aren’t a lot of chicken houses in Donegal; so we are well used to travelling. Historically, for many years my father and grandfather Hugo did farm sheds, slatted tanks, silage pits, concrete yard and the likes. We can still provide all those services on a local level; basically any building work a progressive farm might need done, but poultry and factory building is our main game.”
Ethvan Ltd.,
Liscooley
Castlefinn,
County Donegal.
Tel: 087 9391443
Email: [email protected]
Web: ethvan.ie
First published in Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 13 No 3, Winter 2025
