Above is a brilliant picture of me all decked out--waterproofs and steel-toed wellies. This lovely get-up is required for all the farm practicals. Very sexy!
A very exciting practical was in store for all of us!! Today, we worked on sheep handle. Checking teeth, sexing and casting(a how-to below) them.
Farmers cast sheep to sex, check teeth, sheer or trim their feet.
1. Herd the sheep into one corner. Trying to catch a sheep by itself doesn't work, they are herd animals and tend to flip shit when alone.
2. Eye your sheep *channel your inner sheepdog* and walk swiftly toward it. At this point, the sheep start running around like chickens with their heads cut off. You must focus!!
3. Cup your hand underneath the sheep's chin and lift up. The other hand goes on the tail to prevent the sheep from backing up. It's quite handy to pin them against the wall.
In this position, you can check teeth and sex the lambs.
Up to a certain point, sheep can be aged by their teeth. The first set of teeth are milk teeth. Much like our baby teeth, these are small and similarily sized. At 1 year 3 months, the first adult teeth erupt. These are big, broad with a flat surface for grazing. Every 6 months, one more set erupts until the sheep is 2 years and 9months. In the end, the sheep have a total of 8 upper incisors and a thick dental pad.
4. Once in position, place your hand behind the rib cage.5. Simultaneously, turn the head toward the stomach, lift up on the hip and step backwards. The sheep SHOULD lose its balance and land on its bum.
If you have completed step 5 incorrectly, continue to spin in circles while you are outsmarted by a 4 month old ruminant.
However, a correctly completed step 5 will result in a correctly cast sheep that is fairly comfortable and relaxed.
MORE INFO:
The lambs we flipped range from 35 to 50 kilos (77 to 110 lbs). At 5 months old, these babies literally are my-size. The lambs are either future breeding ewe or fat lambs to be sold at market. There was a big cull ewe--that's an ewe, for whatever reason, is no longer a useful breeder--that I unsuccessfully tried to flip. Her weight was guesstimated to be in the 70 kilo range.
We spent the rest of the time condition scoring, weighing, catching(but not casting) full grown sheep. In one of the groups, a HUGE ram was in with the ewes. He stood 6 inches taller and outweighed the girls by 15 kilos. Despite his size, he was easily handled as long as he had his harem with him.
For a pictorial guide to casting, please check out: http://woolshed1.blogspot.com/2009/01/sheep-farm-husbandry-sheep-behaviour.html
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