I farm: “Sixty-five acres on the home farm and another 17 acres over the road. I have 25 suckler cows and keep 15,000 free-range Lohmann Brown hens on 37.5 acres.”

This week: “We just brought in our silage with two wagons. The land is heavy and wet so you just have to work according to the weather. The hens are 70 weeks old and laying at a rate of 78%.”

Sucklers:“The cows and calves are out grazing in a rotation at the moment. They are divided into two lots so there are two Charolais bulls running with them. The cows are Limousin-Charolais crosses and I’m still waiting on the last one to calve. I winter the calves and sell them as weanlings between eight and 12 months.”

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Poultry: “ I built one of the first multi-tier houses in Ireland. The hens are out ranging 99% of the time but, when they are inside, the multi-tier house makes feed consumption more economical; the hens eat nearly 6g less per day.”

Eggs: “The eggs are sold to Greenfield Foods who determine what meal you feed the hens. This depends on whether supermarkets want eggs that are high/low in omega and whether they are GM-free or not. Feed is the biggest cost as I have to buy in 15t a week. I buy the hens in when they are around 16 weeks old; they will then lay from 20 weeks to 76 weeks. ”

Nightlife: “I also run a bar/nightclub in Ballyconnell called Lee’s bar. I bought it as a derelict premises in 1999 and created a bar downstairs and a nightclub upstairs.”

Family: “My wife, Anna, works as an accountant at a sawmill. We have three sons; Jason (14), Conor (11) and Darragh (9). The lads are not too fond of poultry but they love the sucklers and machinery.”

Quotable Quote: “I would recommend poultry to anyone, you get a good return on a high investment.”