For coming up on 50 years now, McPhillips Woodshavings have been supplying high-quality, value-added animal bedding to the poultry, equestrian and dairy sectors nationwide. We dropped into their County Monaghan base to get an update on an exciting new product from managing director Sean McPhillips.
By sourcing and supplying quality products and providing outstanding service levels, McPhillips Woodshavings has gone from strength to strength since its inception in 1979.
Sean McPhillips today oversees this industry leading family business alongside his wife Laura, and the Monaghan man agrees that moving with the times has been a very important part of the company’s success down through the years, nay decades.
Firmly established as a premier provider of animal bedding solutions, a recent revision of the McPhillips Woodshavings product line has proven to be a significant departure, as Sean explained to Irish Tractor & Agri:
“We’ve branched out to do straw crumb bedding and that has been a major success. Ninety per cent of our poultry customers are using straw crumb at the minute and they are very happy with it as it’s an upgrade on wood shavings.”
Sean and his trusty team collect the straw crumb from Gavin Owens / Straw Chip near Athy in County Kildare and distribute it to poultry growers across counties Monaghan and Cavan.
“They have nearly all moved on from wood shavings now and the vast majority of them are going with straw crumb for their bedding,” Sean reiterates. “Some of the old-school men won’t change but by and large poultry farmers are seeing the many benefits of straw crumb.”
Straw crumb animal bedding offers superior, highly absorbent and eco-friendly comfort for chickens, generally outperforming traditional shavings with higher moisture retention and odour reduction. Its soft, chopped and often heat-treated texture reduces hock burn and dust while providing excellent insulation and foraging enrichment for poultry.
“It’s a lot better for their feet and from a bird welfare point of view it’s working very well. There are no glues or dust or harmful materials in there, so it’s a bit of a game changer for farmers and their chickens. We’ve only been at it twelve months and it has taken off in a big way. At this stage, I can’t see any growers who have switched over to straw crumb ever going back to shavings.”
All sectors and industries are constantly changing, and businesses like McPhillips Woodshavings must evolve, adapt and invest to move in line with (or ahead of!) prevailing conditions in order to remain viable and profitable. “You are always looking at trends and changes and ways you can improve your service,” says Sean. “We’ll keep investing and make sure that the trucks and trailers and forklifts are in good condition.
“A lot of it comes down to giving your customers a good product backed by a good service. That’s what my mother and father always did and that’s been a priority since I’ve been part of the business. Thankfully, it seems to be paying off.”
As a poultry farmer himself. Sean has a good insight into the needs of his customers when it comes to animal bedding. The McPhillips home farm comprises three poultry units and some 175,000 broiler chickens, which are all supplied locally to Manor Farm, who are also his biggest customer on the animal bedding front.
“Poultry is very popular around here and always will be. Cavan and Monaghan is our biggest market for poultry bedding and we also service the equestrian and dairy sectors nationwide with straw, wood shavings and sawdust. It’s a very steady market and we’d be working with the same customers all the time.”
At the time of writing, McPhillips Woodshavings are generating direct full-time employment for a team of four, with three Scania trucks on the road daily as well as a spare lorry.
How often does the animal bedding typically need to be changed or replenished? “In poultry, the birds are there for 40 days and then the new bedding goes in for the next batch. For turkeys, you top it up. The poultry bedding needs to be changed seven or eight times a year, so that keeps us ticking over.”
From humble beginnings and through hard work and vision, McPhillips Woodshavings has developed into an invaluable agri business providing a priceless service to poultry farmers in the neighbouring counties of Cavan and Monaghan as well as others further afield.
Not content to rest on their laurels, the move into straw crumb animal bedding has safeguarded the future of this fantastic family business as it closes in ominously on its 50th anniversary.
“Look, it’s a completely different product – and a better one,” Sean concludes. “Farmers can see the benefits of it, which we already touched on. Another one is that when the birds are being cleaned out the litter can go straight into an anaerobic digester because of the way it breaks down.
“You couldn’t do that with shavings. With shavings, you can only put a very limited quantity into the anaerobic digester, but with the straw crumb it’s already broken down before it gets there. All in all, it’s a win-win for the grower.”
McPhillips Woodshavings Ltd.,
Drumloo South,
Newbliss,
County Monaghan.
Tel: 047 54818
Mobile: 086 8844027
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.mcphillipsshavings.ie
First published in Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 14 No 1, Spring 2026
Featured, McPhillips Woodshavings
