On settlement day in July we arrived on the property to find six neglected sheep wandering around. There had been no mention of sheep included in the sale so we were shocked but assumed they were neighbours sheep acting as courteous lawnmowers.
Over the weeks that followed six turned into twelve, which turned into twenty and eventually we came to the conclusion that there were about thirty! Now don’t misunderstand – they weren’t breeding that quickly, they just kept appearing!
The poor things hadn’t been sheared in years. They were carrying loads of wool and we were skeptical about the rest of their health status. With this level of neglect it’s no surprise that they aren’t exactly friendly and so it’s been difficult to get close enough to check on them.
So in the months past we’ve gone through a complete saga trying to do the right thing for these sheep. We’ve worked with the shearer to try to navigate the logistics of this property with no proper fencing, steep hills and loads of blackberries. A plan was finally formulated and eventually we got the right weather, the dogs and the pens onsite.
An entire day, exhausted sheep dogs and a frustrated shearer later and we have thirty sheared sheep.
The mood of the shearer was captured when he told me the thing he hated most in this world was ‘F*#ken sheep in the f*$ken CBD’. He’s a nice guy – but definitely a sheep shearer!
Now I know the farmer part of me should stay practical and view them as lawn mowers, a woollen jumper and inevitably a Sunday roast. But seriously….look at that cute little brown lamb.
So the theory goes; that if it has a name, you can’t eat it. So naming suggestions please? This one is definitely going to stay a pet.
