A Day Wandering the Farm

I borrowed Becky's wellies and headed off with Henry for a tour of the farm. I had viewed the property on GoogleEarth but it's tough to tell what the landscape is like; I was surprised by the steeply rolling hills. We drove into the hills and Henry pointed out ancient burial mounds and a huge foundation circle that can be seen on GoogleEarth. The two dogs, Snip and Tucker came along; Snip did the work and Tucker, the younger one, yelped about being left out.

Henry giving a pedicure to a lame sheep with Snip holding the flock in the background.

Beef cattle and sheep are raised organically on the farm. No nasty cramped quarters in barns. On Christmas Eve when Henry chose some sheep to take to slaughter, they were collected from an open field with ocean views... I figure that's a pretty good life for a sheep to lead. Richard runs a butcher shop in town and the meat is sold there. He wanted some new photos for the walls so I took along my camera for the day to give him some shots to choose from.



While we were driving around and Henry was explaining the logic behind combining certain sheep and rams he spotted a dog chasing sheep in a neighbour's field. He stopped the Landrover and hopped the fence to run and find the owner and stop the dog before it did any damage. I had previously asked him the most horrible part about running a farm and he said he doesn't like dealing with the people who wander the fields off the public footpaths, let their dogs chase the animals, damage the fences, and engage in all manner of stupid and rude behaviour. I hated watching the dog chasing the sheep and then hearing the men's voices raise as the dog owner justified and excused his dog's behaviour. People are stupid sometimes. A sheep was down but it got back up on its feet and seemed to be okay. Henry said later that the sheep in the field thankfully weren't expecting lambs, but if they were, the dog chasing can make them abort their lambs. It was tough to see that side of farming but also interesting to witness firsthand how disrespectful people can be of the animals and another person's livelihood.

After returning to the house for a hot lunch, we headed to a nearby field so I could watch Snip work with the sheep. There is something incredibly beautiful about watching a sheep dog at work. Her alert eyes begging for a command. The body unceasingly tense and poised to spring into action. The bottomless energy. The speed in the full-out run as she circled the field. As she ran up the hill a fox was flushed out - my first sighting in England.

Evidence of Snip at work.

Snip gathering the sheep around Henry and waiting for the next command.

Henry asked me if I wanted to have a go at catching a sheep and as the big fluff-balls ran around I wondered if he was just joking but I figured I might as well give it a try. It's always fun to learn something new, no matter how obscure. Also seemed like something that just ought to be done while spending Christmas on a sheep farm! He snagged one with the crook and showed me how to lift a hind leg, push the chin towards the sheep's side, and lift the front legs off the ground. Didn't look so difficult when he did it.

I asked him which one I should go for and he laughed and said, "A slow one."

The dog herded the sheep right in front of us and they didn't really move much. I figured I should go for both slow and small. Sadly, the first one I hooked ended up just laying down in front of me. I was a little perplexed about its instant submission until Henry said it was actually a sick one that was likely to die soon. (gulp) I felt horrible as it just lay there and took a while to finally stumble to its feet and walk away slowly. Poor thing.

My next plan was to just hook anything close to me. I ended up with one that was so big that Henry had to help push the head towards me so I could grab its chin. I was shocked by the power as it squirmed and then suddenly stopped dead still when the chin went to the side. Definitely wasn't expecting that! With the front legs off the ground, the sheep just sat there quietly. Henry was holding my camera for me so he snapped the pic below. Certainly not something I expected to do during my Christmas vacation when I decided to move to England! So much fun!

My first sheep-catching experience.

The sheep Henry collected on Christmas Eve were being kept in a field near the house so we walked over and Snip brought them in so Henry could choose some to take to the slaughterhouse tomorrow. I've never had trouble eating lamb but it sort of seemed mean to eat such cute little animals. I was surprised to discover that the lambs that go to slaughter are actually really big! They're far from the cute, fluffy lambs in children's picture books. Lose the guilt - dig in and enjoy!

Snip.

The belly and hindquarters of the lambs are sheared in preparation for going to slaughter. I'm up for trying it sometime but I was worried about gashing them so Henry clipped them.


Watching and experiencing the stillness of the lambs when their forelegs are off the ground made me think of the reference to Jesus' crucifixion in Isaiah 53:7.

He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.

Although a couple of lambs squirmed around during the shearing, most just sat there, still and quiet. Early in the day when Henry was working on the feet of the sheep who were having trouble walking, I was in awe of how they just sat there quietly and let him poke and prod. They run around so madly when you simply walk past so I was expecting them to be frantic when in such close quarters with a human, but they just sat there calmly.