How to Rescue Battery Chickens in Ireland

Do you keep chickens for eggs ?  Or maybe you would like to, but you haven't yet taken the plunge ?  Whichever you are, this article is for you !

One thing in this world that I particularly hate is factory farming of any kind.  Here in Ireland both chickens and pigs are kept in battery farming conditions, indoors and often without proper light.  They have almost zero space and can't even move around.  And the saddest thing is that many people who live here don't even realise what goes on to produce the majority of chicken, ham, bacon and pork that they eat.

Littlehill Animal Rescue and Sanctuary annually rescue approximately 7,000 to 8,000 battery hens which are about to be slaughtered.  They then distribute them across Ireland to willing new owners like you and I.  Their next rescue is due to take place in about 3 months time, so you have plenty of time to prepare, or even build/buy that new coop for them to live in !

This is how battery farmed chickens live until they are 18 months old, 6 to 8 in a cage

The chickens are kept indoors, 6 to 8 in a cage, jammed in with no room to move.  They can't even stretch their wings out, ever.  At 18 months old they are slaughtered, because their 'optimum' laying period is over.  However, they will in fact lay eggs for many years to come after that, so in rescuing them you also give yourself free range happy eggs to eat.

I will be taking at least 6, hopefully more.  Can you take a few maybe ?

A Littlehill rescue hen at time of rescue

The same hen as above a while later after rescue !

They fork out a massive amount of money to organise the rescue of these little, bare bodied, hens, and so charge €5 for each hen anyone takes.  This purely covers their expenses.

You can collect as many hens as you want from various drop off points across Ireland, which are notified ahead of time on the Littlehill web site.

When the hens are rescued, they have very few feathers, are weak and not used to wind, rain or cold temperatures.  So they need a safe and snug coop and run, with indoor daytime space if they need it.

Littlehill Animal Rescue web site Click here

Littlehill Animal Rescue also have a Facebook page HERE

NB:  All photos are courtesy of Littlehill Animal Rescue & Sanctuary - many thanks

An October Day of Gathering Free Food

Blackberries & sloes gathered in my fields.

I freeze the blackberries for adding to crumbles etc during the winter.

I freeze the sloes also, and use many to make Sloe Gin. I will post my personal recipe instructions for this tomorrow.

I also sometimes make Sloe Jelly.

 Moon daisies still flowering in mid October !

 Mushrooms - I'm afraid I don't know what kind these are.

If anyone out there knows please let me know !

A closer photo of the same cute small mushrooms

 These are Shaggy Ink Caps - an edible mushroom that is very prolific around my land and the area in general.

They must be fried/eaten as soon as you pick them, otherwise you will have a pool of black gooey liquid to clear up and totally disappeared mushrooms !

Burren Drive

From the top land above Carron

To the Atlantic Ocean at Fanore, Co Clare

Shopping Trip to the Kerry Mountains

This was the first real close up sight of Kerry's MacGillycuddy Reeks as we headed south towards Killarney.

They are called Na Cruacha Dubha in Irish, meaning The Black Stacks. However, today they were far from black. In fact they were all white and looked magnificent.

We had driven down as my mate John was buying a new toy. Once he had paid for it, he suggested I get behind the wheel (mad mad man) and I drove straight up into the mountains, out of Killarney.

Believe it or not, John had never been to Kerry before. So I got to be tour guide as I had previously lived down on the south west coast for a few years and am very familiar with the area.

We stopped for a coffee (I had hot chocolate as it was a tad chilly) at Lady's View. The above photo is the view from in front of the cafe and shop (the only thing up there apart from plants and rocks). It looks down over the lakes towards Killarney.

The whole place is just stunning...

Hmmm who said leprechauns weren't real ?

Last but not least - this stunning beauty was the reason for our trip.

It's a 2002 Land Rover Freelander 2 litre TDi...

And I want one !!!!!

I opened the savings account this morning :o)

New Blackcurrant Patch

I take great pleasure in making something from nothing, and being on a very tight budget and physically less able than I'd like, I had to think creatively when I wanted to make a new blackcurrant patch.


I cleared the land of the tall grass, stones and weeds with a battery strimmer (no laughing - it works, and I can't pull start the petrol one any more). I then aquired a load of used car tyres from a local tyre place (for free) and placed them about 4 feet apart in a grid. This means that the bushes will be about 5 or 6 feet apart.


I then weeded as best as I could inside each tyre, added a layer of well rotted donkey manure, then added soil from an old heap created when land was cleared for my polytunnel.


I planted the blackcurrants (pot grown from pruning trimmings from a friend's bushes) one into each tyre, sprinkled some organic chicken manure pellets around them and then watered them well.


You may wonder why I didn't plant them straight into the ground.


I'm no longer as physically able as I would like and have to make everything super easy to maintain. All I have to do is strim all around the tyres now, and weed the soil inside the tyres now and then when seedlings appear.


As a PS - If anyone would like free used tyres (car or tractor etc) my local tyre fitter is very willing to let anyone have what they want for free. The tyre recycling company actually charge him £1,500 to take away an artic's worth of used tyres ! And they then go and make a profit on them when recycled !


I'm happy to give his address/location to anyone interested.


Here is a quick snap of the new blackcurrant patch. As you can see I still have my work cut out with a load more clearing etc ! But it's way cheaper than a gym membership...

Spring is Officially Here - Vernal Equinox - Ostara

It's here at last ! Let's hope the weather systems know about the Spring Equinox too !


Today at 5.32pm (Irish/English time) it is the Vernal Equinox for 2010. If you are wondering what a Vernal Equinox is, have a read here Equinox Info. This is a pretty comprehensive explanation.

Basically equinox = balanced light. It's when the days and nights have equal length.


Here in Ireland it occurs when the rising sun penetrates the passage of cairn T at Loughcrew in Co Meath, illuminating the backstone.

This is when Spring begins in Ireland YIPEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Not a day too soon !

In my reading this morning over my mug of coffee (bad girl I know) I found this web page tylwythteg.com. Turn off the sound real FAST (as the music is really YUK & terrible). Scroll down past the rubbishy advertising and there is a very interesting article about the veranal equinox and how it was/is celebrated by Pagans and Christians alike in Wales, and how the festivals for both have interconnected.

There are some lovely little fascinating titbits in there.

Enjoy the day - and remember to celebrate the end of Winter at 5.32pm - I will be.

Project of the Week - Create a New Raspberry Patch

Well, as you can see I have some hard work ahead of me. Sure is cheaper than a gym membership... and far more fun !

This is the patch that I started working on this morning. I want to turn it into beds for summer raspberries (and blackbcurrants further along). My friend John has given me a load of summer raspberry canes/plants and a tonne of blackcurrant canes rooting too. So, I just think of the calories I will burn clearing the growth and strim/dig/lift/drag away !


I have a Bosch battery operated strimmer (don't you dare laugh) as I no longer have the strength or grip to pull start my petrol brush cutter (it's not often I growl at illness). It's a great little machine, however the battery lasts for about 20 minutes only in this heavy stuff and then takes 3 hours to recharge ! It's a game of patience...

The polytunnel bits are growing nicely. I have mixed lettuce, radish and carrots all shooting through the soil in normal germination times, and Cambridge strawberries growing happily. I can't wait for the dwarf french beans, peas and spring onions to show also (all in the tunnel for an early crop).

But - I went to water the tunnel this morning and the hose was frozen all the way, so no water. I checked again at 12.15pm and it was still frozen ! I can see myself walking from the house with bottles and wateringcans soon...

Donkey Dung Fertiliser & Raised Beds in the Polytunnel

At last the sun is out again !

And it's all of 5C at 1.18pm...

Was -6 last night...

Spring sprang a few weeks back and has well and truly bounced back into its box. Try telling the plants that, many of which are in bud despite the unusual freezing cold weather.

There is some good news - my lettuces and radishes are about 1 cm tall in the polytunnel and I now have 5 raised beds built in there with 3 more to go ! Thank you John for all your help - you sure must enjoy roast dinners and soda bread !

No sign yet of the peas, carrots or french beans that I have also sown in the new tunnel beds - but there is time yet and my mouth waters at the mere thought of them.

Well now I must go back to shovelling donkey doo doo (dung, shit, waste) into the newest beds, which I mix with the natural soil in the tunnel and the recycled compost from last years tomatoes, to form the base of the soil for the beds.

Enjoy the sun while it's here - because it will be gone again by June...

Breaking News - Clever Folk Prefer Felines to Canines

The following short article appeared in the Irish Independent yesterday...

Clever folk prefer felines to canines

Clever people are more likely to own cats than dogs, a study has revealed.

People with degrees were found to favour cats - possibly because longer working hours left less time to devote to a dog, according to the findings published in the 'Veterinary Record'. Cats were more likely to be owned by households with gardens, semi-urban and rural households, households with someone qualified to degree level, and respondents who were female and those less than 65 years old.

I have my own theory on this exciting discovery...

The more intelligent you are, the more able you will be to appreciate and see the incredible intelligence cats themselves have. And of course be able to relate to them.

At least I like to think so.............

Not that I'm biased in any way you understand......

Spring Has Sprung - Early Spring Shoots in South Galway

I have to rake this lot up and stuff em into black bags, so that they rot down and make great mulch/compost additive. This is a tiny fraction of the leaves I have to rake up !!!

A wild primrose

Perennial Alpine Strawberries

A perennial Lupin starting to shoot

Tulip bulbs

A perennial Hollyhock shooting

Grape Hyacinth bulbs shooting

Crocus bulbs peeking through

My New Garden Visitor - A Jay

I have a new daily visitor to my garden - Garrulus glandarius hibernicus - an Irish Jay.

This is the name of the Irish Jay. It is slightly different than the British Jay and the Continental Jay. It is a bit darker in the pink colouring than both, with the Continental Jay being the lightest pink.

He (or she) comes to visit all day every day now. The first visit was about 3 or 4 weeks ago, when I only saw the bird fleetingly maybe once a day. Now he is here almost all the time, either sat in my trees watching me or helping himself to nuts, seeds or scraps from my old wall.

He is becoming more confident every day - I wonder just how tame he will become. It's weird, but the cats seem to ignore him mostly - maybe it's because he is quite big.

Hmmm

This is one set of feeders containing peanuts and seeds.

Redesigning the Polytunnel

I am always keen to recycle anything and everything.

I'm a hoarder.

I collect extremely useful stuff - friends call it junk...

But you see, you never know when you might need something and it would really stick in my gullet to have to pay for something I knew that I had thrown out 3 years before...

I'd be sick and very pissy !

So, when friends need 'something', albeit a screw of a certain size or a piece of wood, or a plant pot - they know where to come.

Needless to say I have barns, stables and bedrooms full of incredibly useful 'stuff'.

My friend John is building these permanent raised beds in my polytunnel, so that I don't have to fill endless pots of compost every spring for my tomatoes, basil and cucumbers etc.

I can't wait, it's going to be wonderful.

Especially as he is building them totally from the useful junk I have been collecting over the last goodness knows how many years.

I rest my case.

Sunday Lunch - Roast Chicken & Roast Vegetables

How To Make A Delicious Roast Chicken Dinner

in the Easiest Possible Way

Yesterday I roasted a chicken and some vegetables for Sunday lunch. My good friend John was visiting and doing a few jobs for me. In exchange I cook !

The chicken was a free range, almost organic one from The Friendly Farmer who has a farm near Athenry.

I like to sometimes cook the entire roast dinner in the roasting tray - it saves on electric, time and effort !

I pre cook the vegetables in slightly salted water until they are almost cooked. Then drain them well.

I pour plenty of olive oil over the chicken and into the roasting pan. I then sprinkle in quite a lot of Herbs de Provence. I mix the herbs into the olive oil and then baste

both the chicken and all the vegetables well.

This means that they food is cooked in olive oil and is also flavoured with heavenly Provencal herbs.

I also stuffed the chicken with sage and onion stuffing (packet mix from Paxo - very good taste and texture and not expensive).

Needless to say it was delicious and extremely easy to prepare and cook.