Sheep Sorting and Puppy Playing

It's been a CRAZY and busy few weeks. Helen, Ron and Greg are keeping us busy on the farm. I thought it would be a fun for everyone to see a typical day on the farm: 

Bright and early in the morning, we would make our way to the farm to help with morning chores

First thing in the morning we would feed the puppies, which always turned into playing with the puppies until Greg came to get us.

This little one's favorite thing to do is take naps in the wool

I don't know what's worse, the pups using my hand as a chew toy or them chewing holes through what little clothes I brought with me to NZ...

We are here on the farm just in time for mating season. So I spend the mornings with Greg, mustering the sheep in from the paddocks. They are spread among 1000 acres in the hills, so it takes a few days to bring them all in. 

The dogs ready and eager for a hard morning of work

My job was mostly opening gates and keeping a lookout for sheep. The dogs did the rest of the work.

Sometimes we would have to hike a ways to find the sheep

Hannah and Stefanie (another WWOOFer) trying to find the path through the brush

Quick photo op on top of a hill that had BEAUTIFUL sights! Mate (the dog) wanted to be in the picture too!

Not a sheep...but close...kinda

There are some pretty ladies!

Bringing these "Super Models", as Greg called them, in to be sorted for breeding

Mustering some rams over to the farm yard

In between mustering sheep, sorting sheep, feeding all the animals and playing with puppies, there were also tour groups that came in from the cruise. These were always entertaining, and many of them were Americans who have never set foot on a sheep farm before...rookies...oh wait...

Greg showing how to shear a sheep

Helen demonstrating how to weave the wool 

Hannah and I were also there right before the grape harvest. Ron would bring in samples of the grapes to see if they were ripe enough to harvest. Since we are grape experts... or so we claimed...we decided to test them out for him. 

Hannah is very serious about grape juice testing

Ron, Helen and Greg taught us a lot about farm work, but they also taught us about farm fun. We gathered some sheep bones from the yard and Helen taught us how to play knuckle bones. 

Hannah's a natural 

After lunch, it was time to feed the puppies again...which of course turned into playing with the puppies until Greg came to get us. 

These pups are getting older and are starting to attack each other 

"Please take me in your backpack with you"

With the puppies worn out, our job was done, time to find Greg

Most of the afternoon's were spent helping Greg sort the sheep that we had mustered in that morning. The sorting was hard work for Greg so we made it easier for him by holding sheep, writing down numbers, and marking their noses. Each ewe (female sheep) was matched with one of the six rams based on wool density, size, ear thickness, teeth, and more. There are a whole array of things that Greg had to think carefully about. 

Every now and again the rams would need a little pedicure, gotta look good for the ladies

Ready for "action"...if you will 

After the sorting, we helped with the evening feeding. Usually it involved feeding hay and sheep nuts. With the sheep trying to breed, they had to be fed more. 

Sometimes we had a random job. For example, collecting Walnuts.

This friendly ram needed a little snack

These girls are excited for their dinner

and to end our day with a beautiful sunset! 

The days go by so fast here. I'm going to be really sad to leave this place. I've really enjoyed working with the animals and learning more about farming. I think people take farmers for granted and this experience has really taught me to appreciate all the work they do to feed the world. 

We are heading to Wellington to start our new adventure. Hopefully we can find some paid work and a decent place to stay. Update soon to come!