School: Gráinseach Ailt an Chaistín (St. Johnston)
- Location:
- Saint Johnstown, Co. Donegal
- Teacher: Seán Ó Seanacháin
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 1106, Page 51
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- XML “The Care of Our Farm Animals”
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- (continued from previous page)kept clean far more easily when their hair is short. They are combed every night and morning with a "curry" comb and they are also brushed clean every night and morning.Eggs for hatching are marked with either a pencil, a blue bag or a bit of polish. It is unlucky to set eggs on a Friday. Thirteen eggs are always placed under a hen. A piece of iron is always placed near the nest to guard the eggs from the shock of thunder. The people believe that if thunder occurrs during the time the hen is sitting that the birds will be dead. A hen takes three weeks to hatch hen eggs and it takes four weeks to hatch out turkeys, geese or ducks. When duck eggs or goose eggs are within a day or two of being finished their hatching period they are "floated" in a bowl of warm water to see are they alive and ready to come out of the shell. When the eggs are placed in the water the young birds begin to kick the shells about on the water. If the shells about on the water. If the egg sinks it is infertile or as the folk say it is "rotten"
