Today we had a visit from Maperath Farm. Eoin is the owner of this farm and is also Anna’s dad. He taught us lots about the animals he has on his farm. He even brought some of the animals with him to our school today.
He brought
pigs, chickens, baby turkeys, a cow, a sheep and two goats. Here is some of the information
we learned from Eoin today.
PIGS
·
Pigs come in various breeds; they are usually named after the area they
come from.
·
A male pig is called a bore, a female pig is called a sow and a baby pig
is called a piglet.
·
A group of baby piglets is called a litter. When the litter of pigs is
sleeping together it is called a pile.
·
Pigs produce meat such as sausages, bacon, ham, black pudding, white
pudding etc. You can eat any part of a pig apart from its snout.
·
Pigs love to sniff for truffles.
·
Fishermen in the olden days always brought a pig with them on their boat.
This is because pigs at sea can smell land from 50 miles away.
·
One pig can produce 1,500 sausages.
·
The expression ‘on the pigs back’ comes from the fact that the best
piece of meat comes from the pigs back and if you can afford to eat this meat
you are considered wealthy.
CHICKENS
·
When chickens are born, they can walk out of their shell, this is because
they have a toe in the middle of their foot, a toe at the back of their foot
and a toe on the left- and right-hand side. This keeps them steady and stable, and
they cannot fall over.
·
Chickens need 12-14 hours of sunlight to lay eggs.
·
Chicken can produce eggs and meat.
·
Chickens can’t lay eggs in the Winter; however, farmers often place the
chickens in artificial light so they can lay eggs in the Winter months.
·
Chickens have to sit on an egg for 3 weeks before it can hatch. If a
chicken doesn’t sit on the egg then the egg is edible.
·
You should never count your chickens before they hatch.
COWS
·
Cows produce milk, leather and meat.
·
In Ireland baby milk powder costs €14 approx. In China the same milk is often sold
for over €100. This is because the
Irish cows are grass fed.
·
A cow produces 40 litres of milk per day.
·
Kerry Gold produce 7.5 million blocks of butter per week. This is more
than one block of butter per person in Ireland.
·
The cows wear ear tags which have more information than a human
passport, it tells them the parenthood of the cow, their breed, the medicine
they may have taken etc.
·
A group of cows is called a herd.
·
A baby cow is called a calf.
GOATS
·
A baby goat is called a kid, a female goat is called a nanny and a male goat is called a billy goat.
·
Sometimes older nanny goats kidnap the baby goats to ensure that they are
properly taken care of. That is where the phrase kidnapping comes from.
·
Goats produce milk and meat. Goats meat is one of the most popular meats
worldwide.
·
Goats are good at climbing but bad at getting back down!
SHEEP
·
Sheep produce wool, meat and milk.
·
Sheep milk is very popular in France and is used to produce cheese.
·
A baby sheep is called a lamb, a female sheep is called a ewe and a male
sheep is called a ram.
·
The wool has to be be sheered in the Summer to keep the sheep cool. This
costs the farmer money and is just like a haircut!
We really
enjoyed learning all about the animals and even got to pet the animals. We are
very thankful to Eoin for his visit!
By the pupils
in 5th and 6th class.
