About our animals

Passing on a Living gift - what it means?
Each family that takes part in Bóthar projects must formally agree to pass-on to another selected family the first female offspring born to their animal. (In the case of the bee, rabbit and chicken projects the recipient family must save money earned from the sale of produce and offspring and with this must purchase breeding rabbits, flocks of chicks or hives as well as paying for the cost of training for pass-on recipients). In this way the gift is multiplied and over time many families and even whole communities benefit. Passing on the gift is an integral and essential part of all Bóthar animal projects.

Bees:
Bees provide many benefits to our project families in Uganda Tanzania, Ghana, Cameroon and Zambia. Native stingless bees produce both a sweet and medicinal honey and also valuable wax, both of which are in high demand at market. Each family that receives a gift of honeybees through Bóthar is provided with training in the art of beekeeping, as well as the harvesting and marketing of the honey and wax. Beehives require almost no space and, once established, are inexpensive to maintain. After all, bees do not require feeding. More importantly they pollinate trees and plants in the surrounding area, thereby improving some fruit and vegetable crop yields. In this way beehives can improve the lot of a whole community.

Rabbits:
A gift of rabbits to a family in China with little land and few resources yields incredible results. Did you know that our breeding rabbits, of a large meat-producing variety called New Zealand Whites, will have up to six litters a year, with each litter consisting of about eight kits (baby rabbits). That's almost 100 offspring per year that can mature quickly and be ready for market in just three months. Rabbits eat leftover vegetables and in return produce nitrogen-rich manure that can be used on crops or sold as fertiliser. The living gift of a trio of rabbits (one buck and two does) is one of the most practical ways of assisting a struggling family. Bóthar also has rabbit projects in Moldova and Uganda.

Layer Hens:
Through Bóthar's chicken project in West Africa, families receive a flock of up to fifty chicks along with the training and assistance required to establish their own egg-producing unit. Eggs and meat mean improved nutrition and, over time, improved income. Having reached maturity at six months, hens can lay up to 200 eggs per year. Pecking at insects and weeds the chickens also scratch up the soil with their sharp beaks and claws and enrich it with their droppings, making crop yields more fruitful. Families can sell extra eggs to help pay school fees and provide much needed cash for food, clothes and medicine. Bóthar has poultry projects in West Africa, Asia and South America.

Breeding Sows:
In West Africa, Bóthar's pig project has been improving the lot of poor families since 1999. Pigs need little land, and as they can even consume vegetable and garden waste they are not in competition with humans for food. In return they produce manure which acts as a valuable fertiliser to enrich the garden, so increasing vegetable crop yields. The gift of a breeding sow gives a struggling family a valuable source of protein-rich meat. An average sow can provide a family with 16 - 20 piglets a year, which fatten quickly and are ready for market in a few short months. The income generated through their sale helps the family to take the first step towards self-sufficiency and provides money for necessities like school, clothes and housing. Bóthar has airlifted pigs from Ireland to projects in Eastern Europe.

Dairy Goats:
Your gift of a dairy goat can supply a needy family with up to four litres of nutritious milk per day. This is five times the quantity produced by a local cow. Irish pure-bred dairy goats are very well suited to our East African project countries; they are also present in Asia, Easter Europe and South America. A family can sell the extra milk that is produced or use it to make butter or cheese. Manure collected from the goats is also used as a rich fertiliser on land and helps to increase vegetable crop yields. Dairy goats are friendly and easy to manage. They will kid each year, and, because they often produce twins, a family can quickly start to build up a small herd. Money from the sale of milk, cheese and butter means that parents can pay for food, medicine and an education for their children.

Yaks:
Your gift of a pair of breeding yak in Tibet will lighten the load for a struggling family there. The yak is a multi-purpose animal: it can provide a family with milk and butter for consumption and sale; it’s long hair makes wool for clothing and is also used in some aspects of house-building; its dried manure is used to make fuel for cooking, and these strong animals also provide draught power for ploughing and transport. A yak will give birth on average twice within three years. The gift of a pair of yak will transform the lives of a destitute Tibetan family. It will give them a chance to live in relative comfort and provide them over time with the means to change their lives permanently.

Dairy Cows:
Children in western society often take milk for granted, but in poorer countries many children are prone to illness due to an insufficient supply of this protein-rich food, so necessary for their development. Bóthar has been working to change this. Bóthar has been transporting in-calf Irish dairy heifers to developing countries since 1991.Our pure-bred Holstein Friesians are now present in Cameroon, Rwanda, Uganda, Lebanon, Malawi, Albania and Kosovo. Did you know that a good quality Irish dairy cow is, on average, 20 times more productive than a local cow in our African project countries? That's 20 times as much milk as a native animal produces every day.

Money earned from the sale of surplus milk allows parents to feed, clothe and most importantly, to educate their children. In addition, each family that receives an animal must pass on a gift of its first-born female calf to another needy family, who will do likewise in their turn, and so the gift grows. The difference that one Irish cow can make in the life of a struggling family is truly amazing.

Camels:
The Maasai tribesmen in Kenya favour Bóthar's Camels. A Camel can provide a family with milk, butter, meat and draft power for ploughing and farm work, which can dramatically increase a poor families crop production. Like all our other livestock programmes the receiving families are required to 'pass on' the first female calf their camel has to another poor family. They then keep all subsequent stock bred. As you can see Camels will give a destitute family the means to change their lives permanently and to start living a new life. Bóthar funds the Camel projects in Kenya thanks to the generosity of the Irish people.

Fish:
Bóthar's fish projects are found in Romania and Honduras where we provide each project family with fifty fish fingerlings. When they mature fifty fish fingerlings give an impoverished family a valuable source of protein. The family can also earn an income from the sale of fish allowing them to slowly improve their standard of living. When they are in a position of relative comfort they provide the funds to give fifty fish fingerlings to another needy Romanian family ready and waiting to receive their gift of life.

Sheep :
Entire communities depend on wool and meat from sheep. That's why a gift of a sheep can help break the cycle of poverty for a whole village you can help many hungry families through a gift of a high-quality breed of this hardy animal. Struggling families use sheep's wool to make clothes, or sell it for extra income. Sheep often give birth to twins or triplets. Sheep are housed in zero-grazing pens, to protect the environment and permit efficient collection of manure for fertilizer that improves soil and pasture land. Warm in winter, cool in summer, waterproof and durable wool is a valuable product that struggling families can use for clothing or sell for extra income. In India, Serbia, Burkina Faso and Peru Bóthar project families are raising sheep to advance the cause against hunger and poverty.

Guinea Fowl:
Drought continues to be a major hindrance in agriculture production in Zimbabwe. Binga is one such area, which lies in a low rainfall area and inhabited by the Tonga people. Major problems facing communities in Binga include food security issues, economic issues and other developmental issues such as gender, health and environmental problems. Each family receives a flock of 5 Guinea fowl, Guinea fowl play an important part of the Tonga diet - Guinea fowl help improve the diet by providing protein rich eggs. Guinea fowl are adapted to the harsh conditions of Binga and much easier to raise from locally available feeds. They also reproduce faster with each hen being able to produce up to 90 eggs per breeding period. Families are able to sell fowl and eggs to neighbouring towns. This goes a long way in improving the families' income. They can then start to clothe and educate their children.

Trees:
There is an alternative to eroded hillsides, vanishing farmland and forests, polluted water and urban sprawl. Maybe not one big solution, but lots of little ones. Bóthar believes in small successes. Taking root in one family, one local group at a time, positive and sustainable change branches out to ever-wider communities. Every project carries a long-term commitment to both people and land. Trees are essential to life on Earth. They breathe out oxygen and breathe in carbon dioxide. They hold water in the soil and moisture in the air. They provide food and medicines for birds, animals and people. That's why planting fast-growing trees that put back nitrogen in the soil, serve as wind-breaks and provide fodder, fencing and firewood is often the first step in Bóthar's livestock projects.