I farm: ”Around 130 acres of marginal land here in Co Cavan. I was suckler farming full-time but I diversified into poultry farming in 2015. The poultry houses are built on the wet hilly ground. The quality of land does not affect the hens but it would affect the sucklers.”
Diversification: “The main reason I changed was because there is very little money to be made from sucklers. It was getting harder every year. I always had the idea in the back of my mind ever since I was in Ballyhaise College.”
Hens: “I keep about 18,000 hens and they are reared for free-range eggs. They come to me at 16 weeks old and they leave me at 76 weeks old. One batch of hens would leave and another will arrive on the same day. When they leave me, they re-enter the food chain again.”
Free-range eggs: “The door is always open, the birds can go in and out of the houses as they please. The output would roughly be about 16,500 eggs per day between the two units. Every day is different. The eggs are supplied to Clonarn Clover, based in Mullagh, Virginia, which supplies Musgraves.”
Egg demand: “At the moment, there is a very high demand for eggs due to the bird flu which has affected many egg producers.”
Bird flu: “Bird flu can enter a poultry house via wild game. Thankfully, it has not affected my houses. To prevent it from entering, we have the place well fenced off and practise very good biosecurity.”
Sucklers: “I still keep about 30 sucklers, which are mostly Charolais, Simmental and Limousin. I rear them to weanlings and then sell them through the mart.”
This week: “We are doing a lot of fence-repairing, getting ready for the cattle to go out. Then there are the usual jobs such as picking eggs and foddering the cattle.”
Family: “Myself and my wife Michelle have three children, Kelly, Liam and Cian.”
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