Poultry IrelandYour poultry community and information source

We have released another exciting update to poultry.ie, allowing you to customise your forum profile and functionality even more. Here is the full list of newly added features:

• • Ability to add an avatar (eg. profile picture)
• • Ability to add a signature to all your posts
• • Ability to create polls
• • Ability to attach files to posts or private messages
• • Ability to download files
• • Ability to hide online status
• • Ability to post images in private messages
• • Ability to forward private messages

To avail of these features first go to your UCP (User Control Panel) when logged in:

Then click Profile:

From there you can add your avatar and edit your signature. You can also edit your profile & account settings. Polls and attaching files have been added to the topic and post editors aswell.

Enjoy!

We had problems recently with our email client and for awhile there we had stopped receiving emails that were addressed to info@poultry.ie. We are trying to reply to every email that we are now receiving from that period, though we may have missed some so we are sorry if you do not receive a reply.

Monaghan Poultry Fanciers Club will be holding a poultry & car boot sale on the 31st of this month (October) in the GAA Park, Rockcorry, Co. Monaghan. There will be a wide range of poultry for sale at this event as usual. The last few sales which took place on the 7th March, 4th May, and 29th August were very successful, so hoping you will join them on the 31st to make this one another success.

Our experienced technicians (pictured), susing out the problem.

The site was temporarily down and not accessible for most of today, and for a short period yesterday afternoon. This was due to an unexpected server error that has since been resolved. We are glad to say that the site is now back up and running fully and this hopefully won’t happen again!

Ever hear the saying, “As rare as hen’s teeth”? The fact that chicken’s are lacking in the dental department means they need an alternative way to break up their food. So how do they do it? This is were grit comes in.

Grit can consist of a range of substances from tiny stones to oyster shell, but they all have the same purpose of helping the bird digest their food. A chicken’s anatomy is such that after the food has been stored in the crop it then passes further down the digestive tract into the gizzard. Here the pieces of grit taken in by the birds act as small stones, grinding the food down into tiny digestable particles, and makes nutrient absorption more efficient. The gizzard is a muscular structure which is lined with a hard layer of the protein, keratin which acts as protection to the muscle layer during the grinding process.

You should provide your poultry a source of grit in a container beside their feeder. If your poultry are free ranging they should pick up enough grit but it’s advisable to put a container of grit in too just to keep a continous supply.

The best grit is a hard flint mix which can be found in various amounts and sizes for birds of all ages, Oyster shell grit is ideal for laying hens due to it’s additional calcium content.“Reference to: Fancy Fowl”

A new RTÉ series, called Higher Ground, follows the progress of eight budding entrepreneurs from all over Ireland. They possess innovative ideas and will attempt to diversify their business to beat the rapidly growing recession. Mentored by Peter Young and Paul McCarthy, who are experts in the field of farm business, they will be guided and advised on how to give their new ventures the best possible chance of succeeding.

The series is designed to motivate rural entrepreneurs to take an inventive approach to a new business and help them to turn their original ideas into reality. In this time of economic uncertainty many people are being forced to look at the resources they have around them and to come up with new ways of making money and building towards the future.

The mentors will provide the eight businesspeople selected with an intensive, tailored service which could give their business the best possible chance of succeeding. They will guide them through creating a business plan, set out action plans with strict deadlines, help prepare a marketing and distribution plan, advise them on legal, accounting and taxation issues and help them prepare for key meetings when seeking funding or meeting potential customers. They will arrange for the entrepreneur to visit a similar business or maybe even get hands on work experience. With the entrepreneurs novel ideas ranging from duck eggs to cake toppers, Peter and Paul will do everything in their power to guide the new ventures towards victory!

The first episode takes a look at Brian Phelan, a 25-year-old based in Monaghan who has a passion for duck eggs! He noticed a gap in the egg market over the last number of years. He believes there is a healthy demand for duck eggs, but they are too hard to track down. He originally purchased 20 ducks, but bought in 650 day old ducklings from England to build up a huge flock. You can visit their website at www.glenfinfarm.ie.

The first episode starts on Wednesday 29 July, RTÉ One, 8.30pm, and will continue for 7 weeks.

Source: www.rte.ie.