Farm Tales - 4. FT Chapter 4 - Marking Time

One job each year is the Lamb Marking season, which is when the new season lambs, who are by now a month or so old, are rounded up, separated from their mothers for a short while, so that they can have their tails cut, putting rubber castrating rings on the male lambs, and giving them all an injection.

I must admit, it was not at all my favourite chore on the farm, and thankfully that practice has now be phased out on most farms, with more modern and humane procedures now in place, that’s just how it was back in the days when I was on the farm.

Before any of this work can commence, the temporary fencing has to be out into place, usually one corner of a paddock so as it is easy to get the mobs into the temporary yards, and also the stock has to be mustered to get them into the yards, which was usually my job.

But with this happening in the late winter months, musting sheep out in the open paddocks very early in the morning, when the temperatures are very low and the chilling winds are biting, it is a very tough job to do, riding a four-wheel motorbike out in the open, with your face, ears and hands, exposed the cold weather, and the rest of the body wrapped in as many layers of clothing as possible to stay warm.

The day started at dawn, with a quick bowl of cereal and a hot cup of tea, before rushing outside to start the mustering. Grabbing the farm dog from his kennel, and him jumping onto the back of the bike, we would head out to the first paddock of the day.

Dogs are usually very helpful with the job of mustering, but when it is an extra big paddock, and the sheep usually bunkered down under some trees for protection from the cold weather, it can be often difficult to get the mob starting to move, and instead of getting the sheep to move forward in the direction of the years been set up, the dog will often go around a bit too much, and that causes the sheep remain bunched up but to start going around in circles.

Often there is one or two sheep that decide they want to break away from the mob, and when this happens, others will follow, and if I don’t react quick enough, it is harder to get them back together as one mob, and shouting instructions to the dog, when the wind is blowing the wrong way, doesn’t help either, so often I have to charge off down the paddock to round out the sheep on the bike, with the dog chasing behind.

By the time I have the mob all together again, after shouting and swearing at the damn dog for a good ten to fifteen minutes, we push the mob of sheep towards the yards, which are usually ready for the mob by the time I arrive with the mob. Exhausted from the cold air, freezing exposed parts of my body, and a sore throat from shouting at the dog, the day has only just begun, as we start to mark a few hundred lambs before morning smoko.