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Easter's a 'cracking' time in
Kinnego
18.03.08
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ONE local business will
be having a 'cracking' time this Easter.
Inishowen Free Range Eggs of Kinnego in Buncrana has
a whopping 6,000 chickens and the company is
preparing for its busiest time of the year. |
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"The 'fish and eggs'
days - Ash Wednesday and Good Friday - are our two
busiest days of the year. These are the two days
when people are fasting. They don't eat meat on
these days but eat fish and eggs as a substitute,"
said company owner Andrew McLaughlin.
"The tradition is still very strong in Inishowen and
on these two days we would sell between 25% and 30%
more eggs than usual."
Inishowen Free Range Eggs has been going for nearly
13 years. The family originally kept just six hens
but when they gave them away in 1994 and had a taste
of the |
commercial eggs, Andrew
had a change of heart.
"I could hardly eat the commercial eggs so I thought
there must be a market for the free range ones." The
family bought 200 chickens in May 1995 and started
out selling them door to door. Nearly 13 years
later, the flock has grown to 6,000 hens. From this
6,000, about 4,000 eggs are laid daily. Andrew and
his family sell their fresh produce to shops and
supermarkets throughout the peninsula, the rest of
Donegal and Derry. "There's a living in it but not
big bucks," he admits. And do you have to be 'egg'centric
to keep hens? "It's amazing the amount of people
who've been coming to me in recent weeks enquiring
about how they could go about keeping their own
hens. Maybe it's a sign of the times," he adds. |
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