| Congratulations to our 'Friend of the
Earth' award winner, H.L. |
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We recently received an email from Bill
McBurnie:
Hi, Just browsed your
eggsellent website - it's very impressive. I will have some more
hens for ya after the summer term, you can let me know if it still
suits then.
To read more emails mentioning our hens click HERE |
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Top
Class Chickens
Julie Costello
Journalist
(Article published in Donegal Democrat (2nd April 09) Eleven identical-looking
golden-feathered chickens were bustling about in the farmyard as
sixth class students H. L. and S. D. started exuberantly scooping
them up and presenting them for introductions.
"This one's Snowy," H. said of the blinking, brilliant
red-combed creature nestled in her arms. "You can tell because
she has a white tail."
"This one's Oddy," said S. "She has a sore eye."
"This is Mrs. Chew," H. said. "She opens your shoe
laces because she thinks they're worms!"
Introductions to Fasty, Digger, Bad Buck, Beauty, Cutie, Sleepy,
Frosty, and Larry followed. "Just by their personalities,"
S. said. "We just pick the name because we thought of it."
If the idea of knowing every hen in the yard by name is a little
unusual, it's hardly the most unusual aspect of this farm. That's
because H., S., and their Ballyraine National School classmates
R. G. and A. McC. are farm managers of a hen house that's located
right on the premises of their Letterkenny, Donegal, school!
"The unique thing about this is the four farm managers are
now at a stage where they are fully managing the project, without
any adult intervention," said Principal David Oliver. "What
we want to achieve with the farm is, first, to teach all students
about the basics of animal welfare and caring for animals. Second,
we want to provide an opportunity for a small group of especially
interested students to learn about responsibility and management
skills."
Responsibilities at the farm include opening the hen house every
morning, feeding the hens, supplying fresh water, collecting the
eggs, cleaning the nesting boxes, and closing the hens back in at
the end of the school day. The project includes a farm diary that
is featured on the school website at www.ballyrainens.ie. "The
hens eat a lot of food," A. wrote in one entry. "Today
I had to fill the tray four times!"
The idea for the Ballyraine National School hen house was hatched
by Mr. Oliver, himself, during a 1996 Department of Education-sponsored
visit to a school in Norway at Easter time. "The first thing
I encountered was the sight of students making their way to a hen
house at the top of a hill with a bucket of red paint!" he
said. "They were using the eggs for school projects, and were
learning how to look after the school farm. I thought there was
tremendous potential to do the same in the Irish context."
The idea took wing last May, when Ballyraine National School teacher
Andy Hogg identified a DIY hen house on the Internet, and proceeded
to build it with a crew of sixth class students and parents. Twelve
Rhode Island Red hens were then purchased from the Stranorlar Mart
in September (one later died, "also part of the learning process,"
Mr. Oliver said), and the first egg arrived to much fanfare eight
weeks later. "I remember during break-time that day, the noise
of children running down the corridor with the first egg, saying,
'It's still warm!'" Mr. Oliver said.
In addition to being used as an ingredient in school cookery classes
and sold as a fundraiser for the farm project, the eggs have become
a source of valuable lessons in commercial production. An extra
scoop of corn at night was discovered by the farm managers to add
to the daily yield, but it was experiments with bedding that led
to the greatest increase. "Since we changed from straw to shredded
paper, the hens have laid far more eggs," R. wrote in the farm
diary. "The hens love the shredded paper, it must be very warm.
Mr Oliver shreds his office paper, and that's where the paper comes
from."
The Ballyraine National School Farm has already achieved acclaim
within the Donegal farming community, including being showcased
as a much-admired project at the An Taisce Christmas Fair. The project
has also received sponsorship from Donegal Creameries, which presented
the farm managers with overalls to work in, and is providing free
feed for the chickens on an ongoing basis.
"It's a brilliant project!" said Sheila Gilroy Collins,
Commercial Marketing Manager at Donegal Creameries. "The principal
and the children really deserve to be commended. I was very impressed
with the way the project was set up in terms of teaching kids a
little bit about commercial viability. Donegal Creameries got involved
because the project aligns so closely with company values. So much
of the economy locally depends on the farming community, and we
would be one of the key employers within the county. From our point
of view, if we can reinvest back into the local farming community
through projects where you have the next generation coming on board,
being taught subjects at school that are then translated to the
real world in terms of commercial viability, then we are happy to
support projects like that. I have been telling everyone about it,
and they are all blown away by the creativity!"
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| Bill McBurnie delivers the hens |
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four new light Sussex hens |
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A.McC. and H.L. make them
feel at home |
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| S.B. and J.B. aid the escape! |
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All together now ladies... |
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Settling in |
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Four new light Sussex hens were delivered
to the farm managers by Bill McBurnie from Fermanagh. The new hens
are five months old and they have adjusted well to their new home.
They have started to lay eggs. |
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Please collect egg boxes
for our farm managers.
We were thrilled to find our first laid egg on Thurs 23rd October
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Project
History
In May '08, Mr
Hogg, Gideon Doe and some willing helpers from 6th Class constructed
a hen house in the school woodland. The original plans had been
downloaded from the internet. The Green Team gave the new hen house
a few coats of weatherproof paint inside and out. There were three
external nesting boxes for ease of access. All we needed now were
some hens.
In September, we
bought twelve Rhode Island Red hens at Stranorlar Mart. On Monday
29th September our new 'fowl friends' were introduced to our pupils.
There was great excitement watching the hens being fed and foraging
for food beside the playground fence. Each hen was named
' Beauty' and 'Darky' to name a few!
Six farm managers
were appointed in 6th Class and a 'jobs list' was drawn up. Each
day these farm managers open the hen house, feed the hens, supply
fresh water, collect the eggs and at the end of a busy school day,
the hens are rounded up and put in the shed. Each week the shed
and nesting boxes are cleaned out and fresh sawdust is put in the
shed as bedding.
After eight weeks
we got the first egg. The eagle had landed, or at least the chick!
The farm managers cooked scrambled eggs with the first dozen eggs.
'Delicious' was the verdict! We designed our own 'Woodland Way'
labels for the recycled egg cartons and fresh free range eggs are
now on sale at the school. The hens have taken flight on occasions
and had their wings clipped to curtail their airborne adventures!
One even made it as far as the Mount Errigal car park but was rescued
during the Halloween holidays.
Santa has even
contacted the school office to tell the hens to hang out their stockings
as he will have an 'eggstra' special delivery in his sleigh on Christmas
Eve.
Report by D.Oliver |
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These
are the nesting boxes for the hens to lay eggs in. There is shredded
paper for the hens to sit or sleep on. Since we changed from straw
to paper the hens have laid far more eggs. Today, 12th January, we
collected 15 eggs, but that includes the weekend. The hens love the
shredded paper, it must be very warm. Mr Oliver shreds his office
paper and that's where the paper comes from.
R.G.
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The residents moved into our new hen house in the woodland
last week, twelve Rhode Island Red hens. The hens seem very content
in their new surroundings and we hope that before too long we will
have a supply of fresh 'free range' eggs. This is a 'mini business'
venture and six farm managers have been appointed in 6th Class to
manage the project. The farm managers are: R.G., L. D., A. McC., H.
L., J. H. and S. D.. Thank you to Andy Hogg and Gideon Doe for the
long hours spent building the hen house and to David Boal for his
help with the fencing. |
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Some of our
hens have names. In the picture the hen on the left is called Snowy
because it has a whitish back. Notice the other hen does not have
a comb on its head. Mr Chew chews my laces on a Friday when I wear
my PE shoes. My favourite is Oddy. My least favourite is Mr Chew and
Bad Buck.
H.L. |
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looking for lunch |
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party time! |
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A.McC., J.H. and R.G. buying food at nearby Donegal
Creamery
We went to the Creamery to buy some chicken food. The Creamery is
not far away from the school. We got two bags and put them in the
Toyota. Then we went back to the school. We emptied them into the
bin. We use a pot to take the food from the bin and feed them in a
tray.
J. H.
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beef nuts Mr
Oliver took R.G., J.H. and me to the Creamery to buy food for the
hens. The food is in big bags. Mr Oliver bought it with a cheque.
The hens eat a lot of food, today I had to fill the tray four times.
The hens are really messy. We are kept busy every day working with
the hens. my job now is feeding the hens.
A. McC |
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| My name is
S. D. I am eleven years old. I live in Killylastin, Letterkenny. In
my family there is Mum, Dad, and my sister. My hobbies are horse riding,
dancing and singing. I enjoy collecting the eggs from the nesting
boxes. I love learning about animals and computers. I love to take
part in different activities. |
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My name is
R. G. I am in 6th Class in Ballyraine NS. I am part of the Farm Management
team. I enjoy doing the different jobs. I love closing the hens in
the evening. We bed them with sawdust. Some of them have names.
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My name is
A. McC. I go to Ballyraine NS. I am in 6th Class. The Principal, Mr
Oliver, asked me to be part of the Farm Management team. We all have
different jobs to do. We feed them, clean the chicken coop, lift the
eggs and open the door in the morning and close the hens in their
house before we go home. There are twelve hens. My hen is called Sleepy.
Some of them move very fast. |
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One
Thursday we went over to the Creamery to get bags of chick food. We
went in Mr Oliver's car. The bill came to €16.50. it thought
it was quite cheap. When we came back to the school we mixed the food
and gave them some to eat. Hens need water as well. H.L. checks the
hens have water every day. I like working with them every day and
I learn a lot.
R. G.
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Hi,
my name is L.D. As some of you know I'm big into horses. I go horse
riding every Wednesday. I live in the Glebe, Letterkenny. I live with
my Mum, Dad and brother Thomas. My pet cat is called Sonny and my
two gerbils are Magic and Buster. My favourite part of being a farm
manager is caring for the chickens like changing the water feeder
and collecting eggs and feeding them. |
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My
name is J. H. I am in 6th Class now in Ballyraine NS. Mr Oliver, asked
me to be part of the farm management team. We feed them, clean the
chicken coop, lift the eggs and open the door in the morning and close
it before we go home. I love to bring in the eggs. A.McC. and me were
cleaning out the hen house. We need a wheelbarrow to carry the dirty
straw away. We dump it behind a tree up on the hill. We wear our wellies
for this job. It can be very messy doing this. I do not come from
a farm. I would not like to be a farmer because it is such hard work.
J. H.
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We
fill the bucket with water at a tap in the courtyard. We turn the
bucket onto the tray and the water drips out. You have to be very
careful when flicking the bucket over so it does not spill. The hens
drink a lot every day.
R.G. |
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This
is the woodland area. It has tree stumps in it, all in a circle. We
used to sit on these as a class outside. Now the hens go here if they
are out and they scratch around and dig and make a mess. When the
hens lay eggs we put them in cartons and we sell them. (€1.50
for ½ dozen) We have 'Woodland Way' written on the cartons.
They are known as free range eggs because the hens can go outside
to feed.
A. McC
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This
is S.D. and H.L. from the farm management team. We are putting chick
feed into the tray. They eat a lot every day. There are 12 chickens.
Some of their names are Beauty, Oddy,Bad
Buck, Snowy and Cutie.
H.L. |
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This
is me putting straw into the hen house. There are twelve hens. They
sleep in the house at night and they lay eggs in the house too. Some
of the jobs are feeding the hens and filling the water.
A. McC |
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This is me
putting water in the pot for the hens. The house has 3 nesting boxes
and we bed them with sawdust. There is a little stick to keep the
door up. The wee house is green. We let them out a t half past nine
in the morning. A. and I go out in the morning and A. collects the
eggs.
R. G.
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H.L.
My name
is H. L. I live in Meadowhill with my Mum, Dad, two brothers and one
sister. My dog's name is Buster. He is a terrier. I go to Ballyraine
NS. I am in 6th Class and my favourite subjects are English and Maths.
I have a great interest in animals. I want to be a vet when I get
older. At school, five others and I have an important job of looking
after 12 hens. The eggs are collected every day and we sell them at
school. I love working with them. |
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| R.G., and A.McC. on lunch duty |
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A.M.C. |
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S.D. checking for eggs |
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| our farm management team getting the hen yard ready |
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Did one escape into the school?
For a couple of weeks we saw stuffed hens dotted
around the school, each stopped for a snack! |
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| HERE ARE SOME COMMENTS FROM OUR FARM MANAGERS: |
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made a wood chip path as you go in the gate to the chicken house.
When we cleaned out the house we changed to floor to sawdust and the
nesting boxes too. There is still grass around the wood chip path.
We found the wood chippings in bags in the woodland so we made the
path with chippings. |
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| This
is me feeding the hens. As you can see the hens are mostly brown and
white. They peck the feed off the ground and they peck your feet too!
I like to catch the hens and pet them. They liked being petted. |
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| I
am used to working on a farm. My Uncle Ivan is a farmer and I help
him sometimes. I would like to have hens at home, twelve hens, just
like at school! |
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chickens use the nesting boxes for laying eggs and sleeping in. When
we first got the chickens, only a few weeks passed until they started
to lay eggs everywhere in the house. They even laid four eggs under
the house! |
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chickens all have different names. They all vary in colour. My favourite
chicken is Snowy because he is really fat. We used to scatter food
across the ground but now we have a black feeder for them. |
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favourite time spent with the chickens was of course saving Snowy
on the 1st of November 2008. My Mum and I went to put the chickens
in and when we counted them there were only 11. So we looked in the
woodland - nothing. I spotted something! It was Snowy. She had somehow
got over 2 seven foot fences and we had to rescue her. We had to drive
down to the Mount Errigal Hotel and I hopped over the fence and grabbed
her. We brought her back to the school in the car. If it wasn't for
us we would only have 11 chickens! |
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hens are the best hens in the world. When they first came here they
did not know what to do at all, now they are laying eggs. H.L. and
I were very lucky indeed, we got to see a chicken lay an egg. We touched
the egg and it was really warm. The chicken who laid the egg was Frosty. |
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| Feeding
the hens is my most favourite job. They are so funny at feeding times,
the first thing I do is walk to the barrel, some of the hens follow
me. When the hens hear me scoop the food they all come rushing over.
Some even peck my shoes. They are happy to get fed cos they are always
hungry. |
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