It has been a busy term for the school egg company Gugalaí Gug, which is run by 5th class pupils. Business has still gone from strength to strength, with parents and pupils in Ms. Delaney’s and Ms. Collins’ classes buying free range eggs. The next class to be able to buy eggs is Ms. Murphy’s senior infants.

However, in bad news, one hen passed away during the term. It had blood coming from its back passage and was very unwell. It died very quickly. Now we have more drama. The scales on some of the hens’ legs were swollen and dusty. It seems that the hens have scaly leg mites! They burrow under the hens’ scales and irritate them. While it is not painful it can spread to the other hens.

The solution is Vaseline. The pupils have been covering the hens’ legs with it every day for the last two weeks to suffocate the scaly mites. Hopefully it will do the trick.