I farm: “Seventeen acres with my husband Brendan and my two sons, Cormac and Fintan, who help me in their spare time.”
Land: “We rented out the land but when we got the opportunity to build a poultry unit, I just thought about what I could do with the rest of the farm. We’re building another poultry unit and hoping to have chickens in it by September.”
Sheep: “I was a veterinary nurse and I always liked animals so I decided to get some sheep. We started by buying 30 commercials, we kept 10 of them for breeding. My husband built me a shed to help with the lambing. We also have little huts out in the field for shelter. The lambs have been lucky this year.”
Pedigree: “I bought a pedigree ram off of Iskeymeadow Charollais and brought him to shows. Last year we won prizes in Castleblaney and Tullamore. I’ve started to breed my own pedigree Charollais and this year I have some nice ones I’m going to bring to shows. I mightn’t be as experienced as some people but I’m learning. I’m trying to build up my [Eurostars].”
Broilers: “The unit we have is built for 50,000 and they are the Ross breed. They are in a massive shed that’s climate-controlled and computers control the feeding and water. Today is warm but the poultry are sitting in a nice shed, the fans going. ”
Welfare: “There are rules, by our processor, we have to abide by to make sure each bird has comfortable room to have a good life. The supermarkets want to know that the bird you produce has had a good life: comfortable, well-fed, on dry bedding.”
Biosecurity: “Visitors are kept to as small an amount as you can. We have strict biosecurity measures: disinfecting vehicle’s wheels that arrive on site, there’s foot dips throughout the farm and barriers with different rules to cross. You are worried about things like that but you try to manage it.”
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