Last of the shearing



Fridolin crutching away

Since getting back from our Christmas break of two days, it was back into the final of the crutching and preparing for shearing.

Last of the lambs to be crutched



Mal and Fridolin getting through the crutching

The lambs at the end

 Today, the 29th December, it was another early start with the shearers arriving, hoping to get the shearing done and/or the sheep in the shed dry before this predicted wet weather arrives.  First up this morning were the wet hoggets (n=78).

Wet hoggets with their full wool emptying out in the yards

Whilst some had lambed but not reared a lamb, the majority of the hoggets came out of their full wool fleece in good condition.  A hint of fly is sneaking into the flock, and a few of these girls, along with the odd lamb, are now being struck.  The warm, wet, humid weather is ideal conditions for fly.  As all these girls were scanned in lamb, they were identified after shearing with a small age mark near the station mark for future reference.

Then it was onto the black face lambs left (n=296). 

Lambs waiting in the catching pen





Shearers and woolhandlers working at it




Today's shearers



 

Lambs without their coats

This afternoon it was onto the white face lambs.  This took the shearers till the end of the day (sorry don't have the tally book).  Hopefully by lunchtime tomorrow all the shearing will be done.  It has been quite patchy in getting it all complete and seems more day than usual.

Hopefully the wool will be picked up sooner rather than later and a cheque in the bank!

Encouraged that shearers and woolhandlers receive training for several reasons:

1. shearers learn an good efficient technique which helps them achieve their goal (numbers shorn) and remain in reasonable physical condition.
2. shearers don't miss treat the animals or make unneccessary cuts which can be distressing for all.
3. shearers reduce the amount of second cuts which decreases the value in wool
4. woolhandler is confident in moving the wool around the shed without disrupting the shearer
5. that the woolhandler is quick and efficient in separating the wool, at least seconds and main line, and be observant in preparing the main line that it is of similar length and colour (all else is removed).  This enables the farmer to maximise their income from the wool.
6. Presser to be confident in blending wool (especially second shear and lambs) before it enters the press and undertakes a QA job of removing any missed bits.
7. Press capable of pressing a bale of wool and recording it correctly
8. Presser aware of shearers and keeps the pens full of sheep.

To find out more about training see http://www.tectra.co.nz/





Fridolin's first week

We started the week with mustering the dry hoggets.  This task wasn't as easy as first expected due to the number of lambs in the mob.  Luckily though things went our way and we managed to get them all on the road for the trip home.  We had the trailer with us, so for any lamb that was struggling, they were able to get a ride on the trailer.

Dry hoggets on their way home

Some of the stragglers getting captured for a ride the rest of the way

Fidolin has been having a bit of driving practice on the ATV.  At this stage only on flat terrain, going slow and well supervised.  An example was driving the bike home behind the hoggets, towing the trailer of lambs.

Fridolin with the trailer of lambs

Once we had the hoggets home, we took a Faecal sample and did a Faecal Egg Count (FEC), to see if there was a worm burden.  These hoggets were given a LA Cydectin injection on 3rd July.  After 100 days, by giving them an oral drench it cuts of the tail, which is when worms can become resistant.  Our FEC showed 0 epg (eggs per gram) indicating that the drench has worked to date.  We also weighed a sample of the hoggets before we drenched them, so we knew the amount of drench required to cover the heaviest animals.  The average was 45kg, which was a little disappointing, with the range 35 - 58.5 kg.

We then drafted off any hoggets with a lamb and any with dirty bottoms.

Calling for wet and dirty hoggets for drafting

We then docked the lambs.  A full detail of what is done at docking is found under 1st day of docking blog.

Fridolin getting first hand experience at docking

The wet hoggets and lambs were then reunited.  The dry hoggets were taken back to their paddock.  Finally the dirty hoggets were crutched.  We pulled out 7% of our hoggets - which equates to 22.  Of these approximately 16 were classed as daggy.  All 22, rather than be culled, have been transferred to our terminal mob so that we do not keep any of their progeny in the future.

Mal giving the 20 hoggets a bit of a touch up

Other tasks for the week have been shifting all the bull mobs on their rotation.  The spring grass is certainly beginning to kick away now.  We have on and off rain since the 10th - totalling 117.5 mls to date.  Have started on some fence repairs and maintenance (R&M) jobs.