Lambing Ewes – Observations So Far

The ewes we have currently on Ochre Arch began lambing in earnest on 12^th August 2009, 11 days ago.

So far we have:

• Lost 3 ewes prior to lambing, one in hindsight we may have been able to save by putting a splint on its broken leg.
• Lost 2 ewes in the process of lambing. In both cases the lamb had died in the mother and the mother could not give birth. In one case we did came across the ewe before she died but could not get near her over a couple of days to help. With the other, the ewe died without us even knowing she was in trouble. The paddocks we have them lambing in provide excellent tree and shrub protection against the wind and rain, but a downside is that it is near-impossible to see all of the sheep in the mob.
• Saved 2 ewes. In one case the lamb had died and was very difficult to ‘pull’, and in the other case the lamb lived, but curiously was the second of twins. Both twins lived as far as we know.
• Picked up a very weak and apparently abandoned lamb, taking it home to poddy. Unfortunately it did not survive.
• Observed probably about 15 or so lamb carcasses so far, with their deaths being for a variety or reasons. Most, if not all, we believe were either still-born or just not destined to survive.
• Seen a mixture of single lambs through to in some cases triplets. At face value it looks like the overall lambing percentage and survival rates are pretty good. We won’t know the real story until lamb marking.
• Observed Australian Ravens in amongst the mob. They seem focused on eating the after-birth and have ‘had a go’ at the lamb carcasses.

When the ewes are due to give birth they seem to deliberately distance themselves slightly on the perimeter of the mob. In the first paddock they were in (Poppy’s) those lambing were mostly on the highest elevation part of the paddock. While the new lambs are still ‘finding their feet’ for a day or two the recently lambed ewes do tend to be together, although spread out. Obviously, immediately after lambing the ewe and her lambs are less mobile and extreme care needs to be taken to try and not disturb them to ensure the mother does not abandon her lamb/s. Those that have not had lambs are both more densely mobbed and mobile, covering more area around the paddock. In the case of Poppy’s Paddock, they travelled to the lower sections and returned to the higher ground at night. Once the lambs have gathered strength after a couple of days they and their mothers rejoin the portion of the mob that has yet to lamb.

We’ve made minerals constantly available to the mob in two troughs. The mineral mix is an even (3-way) combination of ‘Medium Course Salt’ (Sodium Chloride), ‘Fine Limestone’ (calcium) and ‘Causmag’ (Magnesium Oxide). Some of the sheep are taking some minerals but the quantity being consumed is very low at present. We placed the troughs on the track (bare ground) just inside Poppy’s Paddock to begin with. In hindsight this was not the best place as we think it may have inhibited the sheep moving out of Poppy’s Paddock (see later).

After the sheep had been in Poppy’s Paddock for about 5 days we felt it would not hurt if they moved on voluntarily and progressively to the next (Amphitheatre) paddock. To avoid the risk of a rush through the gate with potential lamb abandonment we opened the gate when the mob were so far away from it that they did not see it occur. It transpired that none of the sheep either found the opened gate or went through it after 3 days. We ended up splitting the mob with as minimal disturbance as possible by walking through some thick timber that seemed to form a natural separation point. Once one half (vast majority were ewes yet to lamb or with more mature lambs at foot) of the sheep were in the next paddock we left them all alone. On return the next day we herded most of the balance through to be with the first lot. In doing so there were 4 or so lambs that looked as though they may have been abandoned. However we made the decision to leave them all just inside the ‘new’ paddock given we were confident their mothers were still alive and that it was possible those mothers would come back to get them. The next morning there were no abandoned lambs. It’s possible they were taken by predators, but who knows. It was on this next morning that we moved those few remaining ewes with new lambs to be in with the main mob. It was necessary to do this by individual ewe with accompanying lambs.

We don’t really know whether what’s occurring with rescues and losses and such like is good, bad, or otherwise. What we do know is that we are doing the best we can; balancing our desire to look closely at what’s occurring within the mob to identify problems early against the possible impact on lambs where the mothers might choose to abandon them in the event of being disturbed by our getting too close and looking.

History of our Earmarking Pliers

Earlier today we received our reconditioned sheep earmarking pliers in the mail from Hummelstad Earmarkers based at South Grafton. We decided to have this work done in readiness for lamb-marking – especially as the spring in the handle of the pliers was broken.

I rang Hummelstad Earmarkers to find out their account details so that I could pay the account and spoke to Tom; who happened to be the person who had done the work on the pliers. What follows is some of the information he passed on, which I thought was worth recording for future reference.

The process of reconditioning pliers entails:

• Removing the centre pin from the two sections
• Heating the metal to a temperature which removes the previous tempering (hardening)
• Re-building and aligning the metal in the cutting section to a precision level where the pliers will cut paper (in the shape of the pliers)
• Inserting (in our case) a new spring in the handle
• Re-heating and tempering (hardening) the cutting section
• Grinding and polishing the pliers

In reconditioning our pliers Tom noticed two specific aspects that caught his attention. Firstly, the initials ERH were stamped neatly and discretely near the inside of the hinge of the pliers. The initials were his great-grandfather’s, Eivan (pronounced Ivan) Raganvaldt Hummelstad. It was his practice to place his initials on all pliers he made, being very proud of his craftsmanship. Eivan emigrated to Australia from the Oslo region in Norway in approximately 1860 and in time established the Hummelstad Earmarkers business, which has remained in the family ever since. There is a region in Sweden known as Hummelstad, which may have been where the family first came from. Eivan died in approximately 1920, thus our pliers have to be at least 80 years old. Secondly, the pliers had “J P Cusack” prominently stamped on one of the handles. J P Cusack was the purchaser of the pliers at the time of manufacture. Mr Cusack was a farm produce merchant; a big man of Irish background who was a bully by nature. Eivan tolerated JP Cusack’s behaviour as he saw it as just a part of being in business.

What we don’t know is when, where and how my father originally came to own the pliers and thus where they may have been in the intervening period from the time J P Cusack first bought them from Eivan Hummelstad. Tom suggested that the volume of earmarking pliers sold to JP Cusack was such that they may have been owned by him for many years prior to purchase by the first person who started using them.

Hummelstad Earmarkers is currently owned and run by three brothers. In addition to making and servicing earmarking pliers they also manufacture brands: hot, freeze and oil based.

First Ewe Assisted in Lambing

Earlier today I received an email from a close relative who lives in Perth which read in part: “Glad to hear lambs are being dropped, have you had to deliver any as yet? I would like $10 for everyone I have back in the mid sixties.” My response read in part: “(Touch-wood) I’ve not had to deliver any lambs to this point. It may happen in time, but I think that the ewes are in just the right physical condition for lambing, coupled with the fact that, as I mentioned, this is their 4th time - with any that have not raised a lamb previously having been culled. We’ll see.”

Jan and I have been checking the lambing ewes regularly and, you guessed it, I spoke too soon in sending the above reply.

We saw a ewe not far from the mob but out on her own with the head of a lamb visibly protruding from her behind. She lay down and immediately a couple of Australian Ravens were focusing on her rear. Whilst we were quite a distance away it became clear that something was ‘just not right’ with the lambing process so we edged our way around to the other side of the paddock to were she was, trying to minimise the disturbance to the rest of the mob, most of which that were close to her were ewes with lambs at foot.

We ended up assisting in the birth, the process of which is termed locally ‘pulling the lamb’.

The main points / observations were:

• It was not difficult for us to catch the ewe. She seemed quite prepared for us to come up to her slowly and only made a dash for it at the end. It was a relief that we caught her quickly as we don’t have dogs and wanted to minimse the disturbance.
• The other ewes with lambs moved away, but not that far really, and watched from a safe distance.
• It was immediately apparent that the lamb was dead. Its head and right foot were protruding and the Australian Ravens had inflicted some damage around the mouth area.
• We lay the ewe on her side. It was much harder to pull the lamb than we’d expected.
• On removal, the lamb was enormous. I think this was a factor of genetics as well as swelling from the ordeal.
• The smell of the lamb was, shall we say, not pleasant.
• Immediately post the removal the ewe lay there for several minutes, recovering from some level of shock I suspect. After that she stood up and wandered away gradually.
• Only a few days ago my mother told me that my father had found rubber washing-up gloves very useful for assisting ewes with birthing. We were pleased to have heeded this advice given what we experienced.
• Jan and I have agreed that we will replicate if need be what we did today. That is, I will ‘pull’ the lambs, and Jan will clean and disinfect the gloves.
• I took the lamb away from the area and disposed of it in the adjacent paddock.

Keeping our Farming Business Simple

One of our goals is to keep our core agricultural activities as simple as possible. We define agriculture as the capture, packaging and marketing of sunlight/photosynthesis derived products. On Ochre Arch this is currently the business of growing grass which is directly accessed by livestock to produce progeny, meat or fibre.
To reduce the risk of stock poisoning we’ve been working on getting rid of the Oleander (Nerium oleander) shrubs just to the north of the cottage near where the original house. In this photograph you can see the results of a full day’s exertion, removing the branches and leaves.

An attempt was made to dig out the roots and base stems of one of the shrubs. To say this was a significant challenge would be a gross understatement as the base is akin to some species of Bamboo. In the digging process we uncovered the three bottles you can see in the following photograph.

The beer-bottle was manufactured in 1935, which lead us to think that maybe the Oleanders were planted then by the Bokeyar family. They purchased the farm at about that time.We then allowed the Oleanders to re-grow for a short period and applied a well-known Glyphosate based product; however before too long the re-growth was thicker than ever. Rather than hire or call in help in the form of a tractor or similar our latest approach has been to cover the remaining Oleander shrub with tarpaulin as you can see in this photograph. Eliminating solar energy flow to the leaves and reducing access to water should hopefully do the trick in at least killing the plants. In time it should also be easier to then remove the remaining stumps.

Over many years trees of various species have regenerated on the fence-lines. Whilst these do provide valuable habitat they also create additional cost and time wastage through damaging the fences. Examples include trees growing through the netting and around the wire, contact accelerates rusting, and branches and in time the trees themselves fall on the fence. Given that we are seeing and permitting tree regeneration in the paddocks themselves we’ve decided to progressively kill those trees that are on the actual fence-lines by either lopping or ring-barking. Here you can see one of the White Cypress Pine trees we’ve ring-barked.
What we found particularly curious about this tree was that it took in excess of 6 months before the tree showed any signs of being ring-barked. We’d expected the impact to be evident in just a few days.

Single Sheep Rejected by the Mob

On Friday 10th July we moved the sheep from the Valley Paddock to the Big Pine Paddock. Our approach is pretty standard now in that because the sheep are so good at mobbing-up we don’t bother going looking for strays. The Valley Paddock does, however, have a very dense thicket of White Cypress Pine; referred to by conservationists as an Invasive Native Species (INS) due to the prolific way in which it can regenerate in particular seasons and in response to fire.

On Monday 13th July we had some visitors and took them on a bit of a farm tour. Whilst showing them the sheep in the Big Pine Paddock we noticed a single sheep still in the Valley Paddock. This seemed most unusual given past experience. With sheep having very strong herding instincts, to the extent that they will fret on their own, we decided to move the single sheep from the Valley Paddock in with the rest of the mob. Whilst doing so we all noticed that the behaviour of this single animal was unusual: it tripped at one point, allowed me to walk right up behind it and touch its back, and when we had it in the Big Pine Paddock it seemed like it just didn’t want to be there and went over and lent against the fence and started shaking. Another observation was that it seemed to have a small amount of wool near the front of its left shoulder that had been pulled, and we assumed that a fox may have had a bit of a go at it.

In the interest of getting the animal settled as quickly as possible we went and herded the mob of sheep from where they were at the southern end of the paddock to where the single sheep now was. As the mob approached the single animal (that as little as 3 days ago was a part of the mob) none of the main mob would go within 3 metres of the single animal, with the sheep closest to the single animal standing around it in a circle and ‘baaing’ at it as if to say ‘stay well away from us’.

As luck would have it one of our visitors was our niece, Kim, who just happens to be studying Veterinary Science. She is in her 4th year of study, although she had not yet completed the sheep module which she was due to commence in the up-coming semester. We decided to catch the single sheep and see if there was anything else noticeably wrong with it. Given the earlier ‘tripping’ event Kim went through a process of checking the eyes, ears and mouth looking to see any discolouring which may indicate a neurological (nervous system) problem. All clear. It was then that we noticed on the left shoulder an abscess that had been filled with a yellow-green puss-like substance and had just burst. This was where the loose wool had appeared previously. Further inspection brought to light a similar / mirror abscess on the other shoulder. Kim drained this carefully using what we could find on hand from the medical kit we keep in the car – specifically a safety pin and some surgical scissors.

The accompanying photograph gives an insight into what the abscess looked like as part of Kim applying her surgical skills.

We left the sheep where it was and returned to the house as it was late and getting dark. Kim checked out a website used widely by Veterinarians and it seemed that the single sheep most likely had what’s commonly called ‘Cheesy Gland’. That being the case I decided it was best to return to the sheep the next day and kill it to eliminate further suffering and to protect the rest of the mob from potential further spreading of the disease. When I returned to the single sheep early on the morning of the 14th July nature had taken its own course and the animal had died overnight.

Subsequent to the above we have learned several more things. The local fellow who helped us with renovating the cottage was a shearer for 37 years and refers to the abscesses as ‘Yolk Boils’. They occur normally in sheep mobs at the frequency of roughly 1 in 1,000 and are pretty messy to have to deal with when shearing and (when not noticed) the hand-piece cuts through them. Under normal circumstances the sheep are left in with the mob and recover. Another local believes they can be a natural response to vaccinations, which makes sense given we’d vaccinated them not long before-hand. I also spoke with the local Veterinarian based out of the Lachlan Health and Pest Authority. She recommended that we closely monitor the rest of the mob and to let her know if there was any reoccurrence. So far so good! Another person we know commented that sheep tend to ‘separate’ from the mob for one of two reasons: when lambing, and when sick. This is quite natural, it seems.

MLA Levies Survey 2008-09

Yesterday in the post we received a heap of guff from Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) titled ‘Levies Notice 2008-09’. I’m now at a stage of my life where I’m ‘over’ sitting down and poring through bucket-loads of literature I’m not familiar with and have not asked for, especially when the crowd that sends the guff to me have a 1800 number that I can call. Accessing the help centre saves my time and enables me to quickly get to the point of what I’m expected to do and what happens if I opt to do nothing.

We signed up as members of MLA a year or two ago. We did this as part of accessing National Vendor Declaration booklets. Completing and making available these declarations are the primary mechanism for complying with legislation - providing (quality) assurance to purchasers of any livestock we sell in respect of, for example, how long it has been since we may have applied some form or other of chemicals onto or into our stock for health reasons. The ‘buzz words’ are ‘Withholding Periods’; that is, we have to (with) hold the stock on the property for varying periods (depending on the treatments) prior to selling or transporting them to ensure that any animals (including we humans) who end up eating the meat and by-products are not adversely impacted. In my view this is a very valid and necessary process.

Until this last correspondence yesterday I have had two additional periods of time when I’ve looked into MLA. The first was seeing what free publications and services they offer. From this I now receive an emailed glossy newsletter at the end of each week which tells me what’s happening in the livestock marketing scene in Australia. The second was reading material inviting members with ‘voting rights’ to cast a vote for directors as part of the annual process. In reading this material it was illuminating to see that the MLA Board has in place a mechanism that allows it to filter out any possible Board nominees that might have ‘radical’ and different views to those who are already on the Board (my interpretation, not theirs). Both nominees for the vacant Board positions at that time were large feedlot operators. The overall composition of the Board is ‘the big guys’ in the industry.

In the material received yesterday the instruction line near the top of the ‘Levies Notice 2008-09’ reads “To secure your full voting entitlements: Complete * Sign * Return by 6 October”. The information requested is basically figures on how many animals of varying types we’d sold during the period 1/7/2008 to 30/6/2009 together with the $ value of ‘transaction levies’ paid. A supporting document gave a summary of the nature and amount of levies that are charged when stock are sold through selling agents. With sheep the breakdown of levies is:

• MLA (R&D) - 0.77 % of sale price
• MLA (Marketing) – 0.87 % of sales price
• Animal Health Australia – 0.18 % of sale price (See http://www.animalhealthaustralia.com.au). The company profile states “Animal Health Australia (AHA) is a not-for-profit public company established by the Australian, state and territory governments and major national livestock industry organisations. The company's mission is to ensure that the national animal health system delivers a competitive advantage and preferred market access for Australia's livestock industries.” And “There are 8 major programs managed by the company: 1. Animal Disease Surveillance. 2. Emergency Animal Disease Preparedness 3. Animal Health Services 4. Disease Risk Mitigation 5. Livestock Welfare 6. Training 7. Communications and Information Management 8. Corporate Activities.”
• National Residue Survey – 0.11 % of sale price. See http://www.daff.gov.au/agriculture-food/nrs. This is run by the Federal Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Quoting from their website: “NRS monitors residues of agricultural and veterinary chemicals and environmental contaminants in Australian food commodities”
• Total levies – 2 % of sale price.

I rang one of the 1800 numbers in the literature to find out what I was being asked to do and what the implication were if I did nothing. Basically what I’d received was a survey which would form the basis of how much ‘power’ I’d have in voting on MLA matters. The greater the levies paid when selling stock the more votes we get. This is another way in which the ‘big boys’ get to continue to go along their merry way without fear of small players making any noise. Whilst good for them it does suggest that MLA is most likely a dull and staid entity that does not need to do much other than care for the interests of the big players. By not completing and submitting the ‘Levies Notice’ it simply means I’m unable to vote. Given we are small players anyway there is no point in taking further action so I’ve filed the material received yesterday in the WPB.

One observation that comes to mind from the above is understanding why there is a fairly active market in selling outside the saleyard and agent system.

White Basket Fungus Find

On 3rd July 2009 Jan and I were in the process of moving our sheep out of the White Box Paddock. I took the route around the perimeter of the paddock in the process of trying to locate the animals. Not far from the north-west corner I came across one of the most bazaar looking naturally formed (as it’s turned out) fungus structures imaginable, evident in the attached photograph.

You can see the 9-holed softball sized ‘cage’, and the base is evident in the top right just above the case. The base and the cage were separated when I came across the whole thing, and when I broke one of the links in the frame the cross section was honeycombed internally.

A friend of mine, Jacqui Stol, from CSIRO had previously assisted us in identifying what was called a ‘Slime Mould” from a photo I’d included in a previous edition of Ochre Archives. With this as a background I sent her a copy of the above photo and asked if she could assist with identifying this latest find.

Courtesy of Jacqui sending on my email I've subsequently received an email from Jim Trappe , an Oregon State University mycologist who is currently a visiting scientist with CSIRO and a colleague of Jacqui’s.

Here is a slightly edited copy of Jim’s email:

“You are right. It is a fungus in the stinkhorn group, Ileodictyon gracile (I use that name, although that species usually has about twice as many holes as your specimen…yours could be a related species but new to science). One common name is the White Basket fungus. I think of it as the Whiffle Ball fungus.

It forms belowground in a truffle-like form in which it becomes fully formed but tightly compressed. When it reaches maturity, it takes up water and its cells swell, creating great tension within its relatively tough covering skin. The slightest jar will cause it to expand instantly. More than once I've been startled by having it leap out at me like some huge, jumping spider when it reaches that stage.

The honeycomb structure enables it to expand far more at less need to build tissue than if it were solid.

Its spores are formed in the inner surfaces of the "basket." They are suspended in a foul smelling sticky fluid, which attracts flies. The flies get the sticky spore suspension on their feet and carry the spores as they then fly around.

The web has a number of articles about it, just Google the name.”

Prompted by Jim’s final comment my web-search brought to light the following article which gives even more detail: http://australianfungi.blogspot.com/2009/06/32-ileodictyon-gracile.html. What’s now clear is that our find was just a tiny specimen, really.

Jim has kindly granted permission for me to post this blog article. My sincere thanks go to both Jim and Jacqui for their wonderful help. Given his comment that what we found could be a 'related species new to science' we've agreed to see if we can find another and send it to Jim for identification.

In closing I’ll share another comment from Jim’s email which is spot-on: “As the saying goes, ‘Ain't Nature grand!’”.

Property Identification Codes Information

Some time ago we obtained via application to the local Livestock Health and Pest Authority (at that time it was known as the Forbes Rural Lands Protection Board) a Property Identification Code (PIC) for Ochre Arch. This was done in the context of compliance legislation essentially designed to give protection to the end consumers of agricultural products.

Background to Property Identification Codes

To quote from the NSW Department of Primary Industries website:

“In NSW a Property Identification Code (PIC) is assigned by Livestock Health & Pest Authorities for the purpose of identifying land used for agricultural purposes. Livestock Health & Pest Authorities also maintain PIC registers which keep information related to PICs up to date. Producers usually pay a fee for this service, or the service is covered by the rates paid by the producer.

Normally each property has its own PIC; however, one PIC may be used for more than one property provided the properties are used for a common purpose and are proximate.

PICs are fundamental to the operation and integrity of the National Livestock Identification System (NLIS) for cattle, sheep, goats and pigs. The PIC provides traceability to specific properties. Every livestock producer should have a PIC because:

• the PIC is printed on approved livestock identifiers;
• the PICs are recorded with every cattle movement;
• the PIC is recorded on stock movement documents;
• a PIC is required for industry quality assurance programs, e.g. Livestock Production Assurance (LPA) & Australian Pork Industry Quality (APIQ) programs;
• an National Vendor Declaration (NVD) or PigPass is required for each consignment of slaughter stock.

Property Identification Code Formats

The identification code format comprises eight characters. The first two characters are letters and the last six characters are numbers.

With PICs for properties/holdings, travelling stock reserves, public land and public roads the:

• 1st character: State code. The default state code is ‘N’ (for NSW).
• 2nd character: Check letter, between A and K. The check digit is calculated according to an algorithm, allowing computer programs to automatically check whether the data entry is correct and the code is valid.
• 3rd and 4th characters: District number. This number identifies the Rural Lands Protection District in which the property principally lies.
• 5th to 8th characters: Property number, assigned in sequential order from ‘0001’ to ‘9999’.”

Compliance requirements for meat exported to Europe

To quote from our latest Lachlan Livestock Health and Pest Authority newsletter:

"Half way through last year a small group arrived in Australia from Europe". They were Eurpoean Community auditors and "their purpose was to check the standards of our compliance with sheep identification. The Eurpoeans insist that we are able to trace every sheep from the point where the carcase commences breakup, back to the last property that this sheep came from."

Importing Electric Fencing Materials

Recently we imported some electric fencing materials from KiwiTech International in New Zealand. The factors contributing to the decision included: recommendation from friends near Young who use materials from this manufacturer, pricing, innovativeness and creativeness of the manufacturer and our desire to 'have a go' at importing and see what we would learn from the exercise.

All-in-all there were 3 distinct and separate parties we ended up dealing with:

1. Supplier. We found the team at KiwiTech first class to deal with. Not only do they really know their stuff and offer a 1800 number making it cost effective to call them, but they also have an AUD account that you can pay what's owed into. No question was a problem. They also adjusted the price to allow for freight built into the price that would have been duplicated had they posted the items to us.

2. Customs and Forwarding Agent. Getting through all the red tape with importaing can be a real nightmare. At KiwiTech's suggestion we accepted a referral to Express Customs and Forwarders based at Tullamarine in Melbourne. The role of this business is basically to get goods cleared through customs and arrange for it to be delivered as directed. In our case we elected to arrange collection of the goods from Sydney Airport. That said it was ECandF's responsibility to liaise with our 'Aussie end' freight company to give them specific directions and documentation enabling them to collect the goods. We found this company very good to deal with.

To give readers an insight into the number of palms that have to be greased before goods can survive the jouney through to collection, here are all of the itemised costs that were listed in the Tax Invoice from ECandF:

• International Terminal Fee
• Security Levy
• Documentation Fee
• Cargo Automation Fee
• Agency Fee
• Sundries
• GST / Customs Compile - which in turn was made up of GST and 'Other Charges'

3. Domestic Freight. We elected, again based on a recommendation from our Young based friends, to have Cowra Freight arrange collection of our goods from Mascott and deliver same to their Cowra depot. They were excellent to work with.

Some of our learnings from the overall exercise included:

• We only had a small amount of goods really (70 kg) and the transport and transaction costs were comparatively high at around one-third of the total expenditure.
• Aussie Post have a rule restricting the total length of parcels they will handle to 1100 mm. The fibreglass posts we ordered were 1250 mm which meant we could not use this option. Having the goods posted would have been much simpler.
• When shipping goods (i.e. getting them sent via ship rather than air-frieght) the minimum shipment is always assumed and charged at 1 pallet weighing 1 tonne and comprising 1 cubic metre.
• Where packages are less than 20 kg discounts apply. In our case we had 3 packages all slightly in excess of 20 kg.

Would we go down the import path again? Most definitely, although we have purchased the energiser for our electonic fencing efforts locally as this is where warranty issues are most important.

Vaccinating Sheep – An Extreme Learning Experience

On Tuesday we vaccinated our recently purchased sheep. The decision to do this was based on advice from many sources, including the vendor (who used the same product we used on the sheep in 2008), the Lachlan Livestock Health and Pest Authority veterinarian, and one of my key mentors.

While we did manage to get the job done on the day there were more ‘school of hard knocks’ learnings than we would have liked. The rest of this blog posts describes some of the main experiences.

Product Choice
The vaccine product we chose was “Cydectin Ewe Guard 6 in 1 Vaccine and Wormer for Sheep” which is manufactured by Forte Dodge Australia Pty Limited based at Baulkham Hills in the Sydney metropolitan area. The carton states “For the prevention of 5 clostridial diseases and cheesy gland, and the treatment and control of internal parasites, nasal bolt and itchmite in sheep”. Whilst this product is expensive at around $130 for a 500 ml container the fact that it provides protection against so many things SHOULD result in savings in the long term from reduced stock losses and labour in reducing the number of treatments.

The vaccinator we used was a “Quickshot™ 5 ml Vaccinator” manufactured by NJ Phillips Pty Limited of Somersby in NSW, and distributed by Pfizer Animal Health.

Preparing the Vaccinator and Feeder Tube
We followed the instructions to the ‘T’, which included sterilising the vaccinator and feeder tube by boiling in water for 20 minutes.

Coaching in Vaccinating Sheep
I had no previous experience in injecting sheep (or anything else for that matter) and so made arrangements for a neighbour to call in at 8.30ish to provide me with some coaching on vaccinating. Our sheep average around 65 kg so I set the syringe dosage to the recommended 3 ml calibration.

Mustering the Sheep
I was confident we would have no trouble getting the sheep at least into the large holding pen annexed to the sheep yards without dogs for several reasons: the yard was well grassed and had not been grazed for over 9 months meaning the sheep would enjoy moving onto fresh pasture, the sheep had not been into the area before and so would have no stress related memories, we had no trouble doing this with the wethers we had on agistment last year, we were confident of our own skills and could draw on the experience of moving the sheep a few times on the farm already. With this and the fact that we wanted to minimise the time the animals were in the yards we set off to get them in from the Front Paddock which adjoins the yards at around 8.00 am.

We had no trouble getting them into the holding yard, but it was from there a small challenge presented itself. Two obstacles became apparent: there were very tall stinging nettles in the yard AND our new chooks were in the background line of site at the entrance to the yards proper. Both presented a barrier for the sheep. We did not have them in the yards proper by the time the neighbour turned up, but with all 3 of us on the task we did achieve the objective soon enough. It was during this process that our neighbour spotted what appeared to be a small area of body fly-strike on the back of one of the sheep. On close inspection the area looked to be still active. We did not have any treatment products for fly-strike on hand.

Getting Going with the Vaccinating
Our neighbour was most helpful in trying to get the vaccinator working properly but the gun was doing two things of concern: leaking, and allowing a small quantity of air into the chamber. After completing the first pen-full in the drenching race I was sufficiently confident to ‘go it alone’ and our neighbour left and got on with the rest of his normal daily activities.

After we had done another pen of sheep we decided to take a break and have a ‘cuppa’ and to have a very close look at the vaccinator to see if I could find the cause of the air and vaccine leak. I’d tried a couple of times to tighten the fittings a few times. The cause of the problem became apparent: the tube from the vaccine container into the base of the vaccinator gun had not sealed properly due to the sterilising process softening the feeder tube. We replaced the tube and had no further problems in this respect.

The sheep with fly-strike was in the second pen of sheep we’d just finished, so we put it into the tiny yard that leads into the drafting race (with a few other sheep for company) to deal with later on.

Fatigue
After we’d finished another couple of pens I felt quite tired, mainly I suspect due to anxiety from doing something completely new, coupled with the physical aspects of moving along the sheep in the pen, and making sure I had them in the best position possible (for both the animals and me) to inject them under the skin at the base of the ear. In good “Aussie spirit” I decided to ‘soldier on’, rather than take a long break.

The Intense Time Kicks in
We had completed about ¾ of the sheep when I happened to notice that it was likely I might not have sufficient vaccine to finish the mob, which was puzzling as I’d calculated that there would be ample left over even allowing for wastage. It was at that point that I looked at the calibration on the vaccinator and was aghast to notice that it was set at 3.5 ml rather than 3 ml. Yes … it was obvious we would not have enough and that I’d need to go to town for more. I was angry with myself. After doing another two sheep I then knew that it was best to stop (even though I was only about half way through the pen) in the interest of my own well-being, not to mention the sheep who should not suffer due to my attitude.

What occurred next was pretty intense … and reflects poor decision making on my part during a period of high stress.

I was holding those sheep in the pen that had been vaccinated apart from the others while Jan moved sheep in the larger yards to make room for us to let those that were in the drenching race out with the others – treated and non-treated. When Jan had managed to get what I was thinking (in my confusion) were the non-treated sheep from the back of drenching race into a separate pen I then opened the gate at the front of the drenching race and started letting the sheep I thought were the treated ones in with the large lot that had been treated. Jan then (entirely appropriately) asked why I letting non-treated sheep in with the treated ones. I quickly realised my error and closed the gate, but by that time about 10 or so non-treated animals were in with the treated ones. They are impossible to distinguish.

I got my thinking a bit clearer. We were both moving a small lot (10 or so) of treated animals around to put back in with the large lot. All but one went through the gate into the next pen, but this one turned back for some reason. Finding itself isolated and (due to yard design) not being able to easily see the open gate it reacted under stress and attempted to jump the fence to get with the rest of the sheep. In the process one of its back legs got caught in the top row of the weldmesh below the pipe that runs along the top of the fence and I watched in horror as the sheep’s leg broke under the strain, with the sheep being unable to free itself. I quickly jumped to the other side of the fence and lifted the sheep back over the fence and onto the ground. It sat there totally still and in what I’d considered to be pain induced shock.

Jan and I do not want animals to suffer. I’d never heard of anyone setting broken sheep legs before. We knew the sheep was pregnant and to expect it to have to deal with a broken back leg and have, and raise, one of more lambs seemed a ‘huge expectation’. It was also not cost effective to get a veterinarian out to look at a single sheep. The decision we made was to ‘put the sheep down’ in a very quick manner, which I did out of the sight of the other sheep.

Time to Get More Chemical
After killing the injured sheep we went to town and purchased more vaccine, more spare needles and some fly treatment chemical; leaving the mob in the yard. Given we only needed to treat one sheep for fly-strike I ended up buying a can of “Extinosad – Aerosol for Wounds” which is “For the treatment and prevention of blowfly (Lucilia cuprina) strike in mulesing, marking and other wounds of sheep, including strains resistant to organophosphates. Contains antiseptic.”

Finishing the Vaccinating
After returning to the farm we finished vaccinating the rest of the mob without incident. We also caught the sheep that we thought had a small amount of fly-strike and, after removing the wool surrounding the strike area using some shears I had, we treated the area with Extinosad. We were pleased to note that the fly area did not appear to be still active.

Releasing the mob and tidying up
After the sheep were treated we released them all into the Airstrip Paddock. This paddock has not been grazed for over 9 months and so is what is describes at ‘clean’ of worms and such like.

I took the sheep carcass to the Saddle Paddock and left it on some bare ground. Whilst there may well have been other ways to use the carcass at least in this way the organic matter will be returned to the soil ‘in the circle of life’.

Events Subsequent
We’ve since learned that it is not unusual for sheep to break back legs trying to jump fences in yards AND that it is common practice to put splints on the legs, with common methods being stiff cardboard or polythene pipe held in place with string. Recovery in lambs is very rapid, and sheep suffer no long term impacts aside from the occasional limp.

We are considering contacting the manufacturers of the vaccinator and vaccine to alert them to the problem we experienced with the leakage at the base of the vaccinator due to softening of the tube during the sterilisation process.

We will also obtain a good skinning knife so that if it ever proves necessary to put a sheep down in the future we will be better able to salvage whatever is appropriate.

In Summation
Far from the best of days, however we are now much wiser. Two good points: I did manage to complete the vaccinating without injecting myself, and Jan did a marvellous job watching and remembering which sheep had been vaccinated on the odd occasion that sheep ran back and forward past me whilst I was doing the vaccinating.

New House Tank Now Installed and Connected

We purchased a new replacement galvanised iron tank for the house some time ago. After it being delivered and placed on the stand we were advised to fill the tank to a depth of 10 cm or so to ensure it did not blow away in the event of a strong wind event. After we did this it became apparent that there was a slow leak. The advice from the tank maker was to leave it for a while to see if the leak would ‘take up’. After a couple of months it continued to leak.

A couple of days ago the manufacturer called at the farm and after draining and drying the tank he applied more silicone to the lower joins which should mean it no longer leaks. This was the prompt for us to finally connect the two downpipes from the house, which we finished yesterday.

The tank was custom-built to the same dimension as the old one. By so doing it meant that we did not need to alter the tank-stand foundations. We did replace the old cypress pine boards that were between the concrete base and the old tank bottom with new galvanised iron sheeting. This is much better for the tank longevity as it means there is minimal damp or wet contact with the bottom of the tank itself.

Now we will just wait and see how long it takes to fill the tank from normal rainfall. In this context and out of general curiosity I decided to see how much rainfall we will need to fill the tank, assuming no usage or water loss with all water that falls going into the tank. Here are the calculations:

Tank Volume in Litres
The formula for calculating round tank capacity from Page 198 of the publication “Lysaght Referee” 27th Edition published by John Lysaght (Australia) Limited in 1985 ISBN 0 909349 23 1 is:

C = (∏/4) x (Diameter)2 x height.

The diameter of the tank is 2810 mm and the height is 1760 mm.

In order to get a capacity calculation that is in litres one needs to use measurements that are in decametres. A cubic decametre (100 mm x 100 mm x 100mm) equates to 1 litre of volume. To do this, divide the diameter and height measurements by 100 if they are in millimetres. This gives a diameter figure of 28.1 (decametres) and a height of 17.6 (decametres).

Working through the formula with the actual dimensions:

C = ([22/7]/4) x (28.1 x 28.1) x 17.6
C = 10,915 litres

NB: A potentially easier way for those with internet access is to go to the following website and input the diameter and height figures in the appropriate fields: http://www.spry.net.au/?q=node/6.

Roof area of the house
The house is 12.3 metres long by 11.6 metres in width, giving a total roof area of 142.68 square metres.

Millimetres of Rain Required to Fill the Tank
1 millimetre of rain on 1 square metre of area produces 1 litre of water. Thus to calculate millimetres of rain needed to fill the tank we simply divide the tank volume in litres by the roof area in square metres:

Required Rainfall = 10,915 / 142.68 = 76.5 millimetres.

Why We Opted for a Galvanised Iron Tank
The logic is basically:
• We had an existing tank stand in place, needing little repair
• Grenfell has a business that makes galvanised iron tanks. Buying locally supports the local community. Product pricing is fair.
• The concrete tanks keep the water cooler in the summer, but the water tends to be ‘harder’ from these tanks. We already have a concrete tank at the Shearing Shed
• Plastic tanks come in fixed sizes. We needed a custom built tank, removing the need to alter the tank stand.
• There is some research coming through suggesting that some plastic containers (including drink bottles and tanks) ‘leak’ unfavourable chemical residues into the water they hold. Amway, for example, is apparently reverting all of its products away from plastic containers to glass.

Observations: Sheep Grazing the Duck Dam Paddock

We moved our sheep from the Duck Dam Paddock to the Front Paddock late this afternoon, meaning they were there for just over 4 full days. The Duck Dam Paddock is just over 7 hectares in area. Here are some of our observations:
 
The sheep seemed to spend quite a bit of the time around the dead Kurrajong Tree near the south-western corner of the paddock. We are not sure why. Maybe the grass quality was comparatively better due to the slowly decaying organic matter. Here's a picture of the dead tree with the sheep in the background. Some trivia: we were successful in finding some Witchetty grubs in the timber not long ago.
The sheep did a good job of trampling herbage mass onto the soil, whilst a good percentage of leaf area has been left post grazing to enable effective photosynthesis and plant regrowth. 

This photo was taken looking north along the western fenceline of the paddock, and shows what the pasture looks like in both the Duck Dam (right) and Airstrip (left) paddocks.
The sheep continue to be totally silent, except for the sound of the feet when walking.
During the move, the sheep seemed to be 'spooked' by two things:
1. Walking over the black polythene pipe that is laying on the top of the soil (all were uneasy walking over it)
2. Some were very hesitant to go through the gate on the north-east corner. They did go through after not too long. There were a few sticks on the ground which we noticed after they'd gone through, and have now moved.

Preparing the Airstrip Paddock for Grazing

In two of the paddocks we have some Skeleton Weed plants dying off, a legacy of past cropping activity and a reflection of plant community succession. These plants are not liked by croppers as they get caught in the header comb. They are, however, a forb with a deep taproot, which will help us in our endeavours to address compacted soils. Some of the plants look abnormal, like the one you can see in this photograph. 'Cousin James' when he was here a month or two ago when seeing these plants commented that the cause is generally residual 'nasty' chemicals, such as DDT. I don't know if this is correct, but it does sound plausible. It is many years since chemicals such as these would have been used here.
 
In getting the paddock ready for grazing (not planned for a few days yet) I decided to place a guard around a Kurrajong Tree seedling, evident in this photograph. What stuck me was the comparative richness of the green vegetation at the base of the tree, between the rocks we placed around it quite some time ago. Maybe the distinctly deeper green is due to protection from wind provided by the rocks, or increased biodiversity resulting from the habitat the rocks provide, or minerals brought to the surface by the Kurrajong Tree with its deep taproot, or improved water cycling due to the protection from the rocks. Who knows!
 

While walking across this paddock we startled about 6 or so Quails. Within moments an Australian Hobby appeared from nowhere, ready to catch the next Quail. A Quail did fly up but was sufficiently fast enough to land and find cover before the Hobby could get to it. The acceleration of the Hobby in the pursuit process was something to be seen.

New Chooks Produce First Egg

One of our recently acquired chooks produced its first egg on Tuesday 9th June. Seen here in the photo is Jan ready for the 'taste test'. Delightful! 

Lambing Period for Recently Acquired Ewes

I contacted the previous owner of our recently acquired ewes to ascertain the precise dates the ewes had rams with them leading to current pregnancy. From this we can then determine an accurate total lambing period, for planning purposes.
Here are the dates and forecast dates:
"Teasers" were introduced to the ewes on 2nd March 2009 and were removed on 16th March. The theory of having 'teasers' with the ewes is that it is supposed to heighten readiness for service.
Rams were introduced on 16th March 2009 and were removed on 20th April. Thus, based on the standard 150 day gestation period for sheep, we can expect the ewes to lamb from 12th August through to 16th September 2009, although there will be some variations outside these dates.

Grazing Plan through to Post Lambing

Yesterday morning we set aside a couple of hours to develop a plan for sheep moves through to the end of lambing, which should be around 20 September 2009.
Our objectives are to:
1. Move them past / through the sheep yards in the next few days when we will give them a booster (annual) vaccination. It is the right time now given they have only just arrived on our place and are about the right stage of pregnancy so that the lambs in situ will benefit as well.
2. Move the animals reasonably frequently ensuring good nutrition levels are maintained. We'd like to lift the condition score slightly to around 3 to maximise the ewes' ability to lamb comfortably and raise the lamb through to weaning.
3. Graze what we have designated the 'reserve lambing paddocks' first, meaning that they will have as much recovery time as we can give them before the next grazing. We expect this to be immediately post lambing but we may need this to be slightly sooner if the lambing paddocks end up not providing as much feed as we believe they should.
4. Graze all of the other paddocks except for the lambing paddocks prior to lambing. Importantly this will include the heavily timbered paddocks as it will be much more difficult to move ewes with lambs at foot through them later on. We expect that on average the time in each paddock will be around 4 to 6 days, and we will only remove 20 to 30 % of the existing herbage mass from each one.
5. Not graze any of the lambing paddocks prior to lambing to ensure maximum quantity and quality of feed. These paddocks will be 'set-stocked' during lambing to ensure the best mothering is provided. We have determined the lambing paddocks based on topography and tree cover (for shelter) and open grassland.
Now to implementing the plan and monitoring the results!

Observations: Sheep Grazing the Saddle Paddock

Yesterday we moved the sheep from the Saddle Paddock to the Duck Dam paddock. They were in the Saddle Paddock, which is just over 13 hectares in area, for 6 days in total. Our observations follow.
When we drove around the paddock in the utility to check on the sheep they at no time ran up to the vehicle, confirming that the previous owners were not in the habit of substitution feeding. For us this is a good thing as the animals don't tend to get unnecessarily excited and more importantly there is then no risk of someone accidentally running over any of them.
The Saddle Paddock and the Yabby Dam paddocks were recently 'created' out of us sub-dividing what was previously called the Contour Paddock into two. Under the previous set-up the sheep had their regular camp on the highest point of what is now the Yabby Dam Paddock ... on the southern border toward the east. Thus this was the first time sheep had grazed the 'new' Saddle Paddock.  They selected their new camp location on the highest point along the north eastern fenceline. This area has been bare ground for many years, due mainly to the impact of the trees just through the fence, but also in part due to firebreak maintenance. The animal impact of the sheep on the new camp site is apparent in the accompanying photograph. There is a heavy load of manure and urine now in place and it will be interesting to see how this area of land changes over time.
We had expected that the sheep would have found the dense stand of green pasture in the bottom of the creek and in the contour banks at various points particularly palatable and desirable. This proved not to be the case at all, with very little evidence of the sheep even walking through these heavily grassed areas. We received approximately 40 mm of rain during the 6 day period. The sheep did make an impact in breaking some of the mature capped areas of bare ground in the paddock. The hoof marks evident in this photograph will help in slowing run-off in the future to a limited extent at least.
We remain determined to leave leaf matter on the growing plants allowing for effective and immediate significant photosyntheses when the sheep leave the paddock. 

This photograph gives an indication of what a large proportion of the paddock looked like close up as the sheep were moved out. To quote from one of the Holistic Management Certified Educators I work with from time to time "The more you leave, the more will grow".

Conditions Suited to bird species Brown Treecreeper

Recently I had the pleasure of meeting Jane Paul at a field day at Bathurst. She is an avid birdwatcher and a member of NSW Bird Atlassers Inc. Subsequent to this meeting I’ve been corresponding with Jane, seeking information on what we may or may not have done here on Ochre Arch that has seen the exit from a small area in what we now call the Hopbush Paddock of the bird species Brown Treecreeper (Climacteris picumnus) which have a NSW conservation status of ‘Vulnerable’.

Jane referred my query to Neville Schrader from who is very knowledgeable of birds Parkes who responded and advised:
"The Brown Treecreeper is one of about 20+ woodland species considered to be decliners or put bluntly headed for extinction. This can be contributed to over clearing and habitat fragmentation. Reid in his study of Threatened and declining birds in the NSW wheat belt 1999, identified that Brown Treecreepers (and Hooded Robin) needed both standing and fallen. Ford noticed around Armidale that the distribution of Brown Treecreepers decreased westward by 40 to 60 km over 30 years. What he established was that small isolated populations in a fragment landscape were untenable and considered this to be due to power dispersal in such a landscape. This agrees pretty well what is happening in this area (Parkes) the first to go was the small family populations in fragmented habitat and by 1998 the larger state forests were starting to decline in population. So I’m inclined to think there are a number of factors. One would suspect that if vegetation growth was the problem because the species spends a lot of time on the ground feeding then the drought should have seen the species recover. If you may recall the only pair of brown Treecreepers we got on our outing at the Atlas camp at Grenfell had good ground cover so whilst I don’t completely reject that it may have some influence in good years, I believe that there are a number of factors that is causing this species any many others to decline. I put this down to habitat size, loss of vegetation complexity and structure, species competition, feral animals competition.”

We’ve looked at each of the factors Neville raised to see whether our decision making may have impacted on the exit of the Brown Treecreepers. Here are our thoughts:
• Habitat size: If anything habitat size is now expanding on our place, although only marginally
• Loss of vegetation complexity and structure: Now improving
• Species competition: I don’t know what the competitors are, so cannot comment
• Feral animals competition: This may well be the main factor. We’ve done nothing to control foxes since taking over the place … so they may be worse.

So … our not controlling fox numbers may well be the problem. We will be addressing this shortly in conjunction with staff from the Lachlan Livestock Health and Pest Authority. Let’s hope the Brown Treecreepers return!

Our thanks go to both Neville (gave permission to publish his comments) and Jane for their help and input, as above.

Observations: Sheep Grazing the Spring Paddock

Our recently acquired sheep were in the Spring Paddock for a total of four days. What follows are some of the observations, together with a few pictures.
During the period the sheep did an excellent job in knocking down much of the aged dry herbage mass, placing it against the soil surface. This will act as a mulch (although only slight) and help stimulate activity within the soil. The length of time they were in the paddock was such that there is still good plant leaf area intact, which will enable the plants to continue photosynthesis and re-grow. This photo is fairly indicative of ground cover post grazing.
The paddock contained quite a number of plants which seemed to be unpalatable - mostly Curly Windmill grass and Purple Wiregrass. Both of these are native. There is a good side to this in that the general habitat is maintained, and we were especially pleased to note that several Quails were still in the paddock. This photo shows some of the Curly Windmill Grass plants, with some of the sheep in the background. The sheep themselves all appeared very bright and attentive. We were fascinated to observe:
1. They were totally silent
2. They seemed to graze the paddock in stages over the four days
3. In doing the above they stayed loosely together as a mob, and were very quick to bunch up densely when we were moving them.
4. Surprisingly they did not touch the long Couch Grass around the Spring itself, or take water from the Spring. Clearly there was sufficient moisture in the pasture to meet all of their water requirements.
There is at least some Dung Beetle activity in the paddock, although we did only see this one bit of evidence.
The Spring Paddock is now only just over 5 hectares in total area and this was the first time we'd grazed it at this size, having completed new fencing last year. The sheep seemed to have determined a new camp site, at the highest point and in the narrowest section of the paddock. Heavy dung and urine is now in this area, which we know will lead to a lessening of native perennial plants in the short term and promotion of high nitrogen tolerant annuals such as Stinging Nettles, Barley Grass and Marshmallows. That said, we are hopeful that the level of actual ground cover will increase.
The sheep camp area also happens to be across the farm track.
You can see in this photograph that they have done an excellent job in levelling out what was a mini-erosion area, although the longer term impact is as yet unclear.
We are hoping that the addition of the organic matter (dung and urine) and animal impact through breaking some of the soil capping will trigger more subsequent plant growth.

5 Chooks now part of the fauna on Ochre Arch

Two weeks ago Jan's brother generously gave us 5 chooks, which are due to commence laying soon. We've set them up temporarily in one of the run-out pens from the shearing shed. We went to quite a deal of effort to make the enclosure fox-proof. So far so good!

Our First Foray into Livestock Ownership

On Thursday we took delivery of a truckload of sheep, our first foray into livestock ownership. What follows are some of the factors we took into account in making our decision.

Sheep V Cattle
All things being equal our preference would be to have cattle as they are more effective at land regeneration due to the way in which they graze (cattle from the top down using their tongue whilst sheep nibble from the bottom up) , the animal impact they produce (cattle are more effective at breaking the soil surface to allow water infiltration on capped soils, their dung creates a more effective micro-climate and supports dung beetle activity, and they spread seed delivering greater pasture biodiversity due to the way their digestive system works) and the fact that once trained they have higher regard for electronic fences. We opted for sheep given higher current profitability, we have sheep handling facilities (sheep yards and a shearing shed, although the latter needs some work, and we don’t have cattle yards) and sheep only require minimal water at this time of the year (they source most of what they need from dew and green pasture, and we have yet to install our on-farm water scheme). There is also a quirky alignment in that our solar farm power system will generate more power during the warmer months and be better placed to drive our on-farm water scheme pump during the same period when sheep water demand is also higher. Cattle require less water during winter but sheep water demand can fall to zero. Both of us grew up on sheep / wheat farms and have had very limited experience with cattle.

Timing
The last herding animals we had on our place were agisted sheep. They departed at the end of August 2008 and we were determined to allow time for full pasture recovery. During spring 2008 we did have some Australian Plague Locusts which were sprayed when banding in accordance with legislative requirements. They did impact on pasture growth, and rainfall through summer was below average. It has only been in the last few weeks that we have seen sufficient growth to give us confidence to take on stock. We also did not want to leave things for too much longer as we believe we need to ensure that there is appropriate and effective mineral cycling to stimulate plant growth, which the animals do for us. Also, we wish to take advantage of annual plants that flourish during the cooler months – hopefully also reducing the impact of sharp-seeded species such as Barley Grass and Corkscrew Grass.

Breed of Sheep
We looked at many options. Meat sheep such as Dorpers would be good but from an income perspective they can only be sold as breeders or for slaughter. Cross breeds are by reputation ‘hard’ on fences, however a critical factor is making sure they always have access to good quality and adequate quantity of pasture. Merinos provide good quality fibre (wool), can be sold for meat (wethers), and as breeders. We opted for merinos as we believe there will be a return to favourability in the eyes of end users of good quality wool once the mulesing issue is resolved. Gross margins are not too bad either!

Class of Sheep
Our plans for Ochre Arch include tourism, so having breeding animals fits in with giving those not familiar with farming the ability to see and understand animal breeding activities. We wanted older ewes as they will already have been culled several times (the best remain) and ewe losses and problems should be low at lambing. We do have some concerns about how we will source and manage rams but this can be addressed later.

Vendor of the Sheep
We’d not given much thought to this and had made contact with a few friends who generously offered to help us in the sourcing and decision making process (given we’d never purchased stock before). It was looking like we’d go to a store sale not too far from us. Last week, however, we participated in a two-day field trip the run by the Lachlan Catchment Management Authority. Day 1 involved almost a full day visit to a merino stud near Yeoval. During the course of discussions the owner mentioned that he was looking to sell his 2005 drop ewes in view of the extended dry seasonal conditions. Discussions commenced thereafter and were concluded in 2 days.

Characteristics of the Sheep
The people we purchased the sheep from have been operating their stud for the past 15 years. They are breeding sheep that have the following characteristics:
• SRS® (Soft Rolling Skin): A breeding system developed by Dr Jim Watts in the 1980's. It is based on driving fleece weights up and fibre fineness down (of both secondary [fleece] and primary [hair] fibres until they become almost indistinguishable), through the application of certain visible fleece traits which accurately reflect changes in skin biology. The term "soft rolling skin" refers to skin that is demonstrably thinner and more mobile than in many other animals. Finer wool generally commands a price premium.
• Higher weight gain and growth in young sheep, driven in part by the fact that skin thickness is reduced from the SRS® selection process. This means that lambs have the potential to be sold earlier and as ‘fats’ than might otherwise be the case.
• Plain body and larger framed sheep, substantially reducing the risk of fly-strike and enabling heavier carcass weights at slaughter. The sheep are now at a stage where mulesing of progeny to mitigate fly-strike should not be necessary. Minimal wool grows around the face and leg extremities increasing fleece yield (waste around the leg extremities) and virtually eliminating the potential for what’s called ‘wool blindness’.
• High fertility and mothering capability, delivering more lambs on the ground with higher survival rates, driving higher returns.

The vendors currently shear their sheep every 8 months (3 times in a two year period) to further help mitigate fly problems and at the same time optimise cash flow. Staple length averages 75 mm.

The sheep we purchased are 2005 drop (born around September of that year), all ‘scanned in lamb’ (meaning all of the ewes we purchased are currently pregnant) at 164 %. This means that multiple lambs in the wombs of the ewes have been ‘counted’ as well, and if all survived through to birth then there would be 164 lambs born from every 100 ewes. Last year the weaning percentage (lambs alive at the time of weaning as a percentage of the total number of ewes) was 128 % - a figure well above industry average.

All of the sheep have been handled using Low Stress Stockhandling techniques, originally developed by Bud Williams from the USA. We also use these techniques and know full well the benefits in terms of the health and wellbeing of both ourselves and the animals. The sheep have also been managed using electric fencing which we intend to use from time to time as part of our grazing management.

Feed Budgeting
Based on the number of sheep purchased and our estimates of feed quality and quantity currently on our farm (theoretically and assuming zero rainfall) there is sufficient feed to feed all of them for at least 6 months. Of course reality may be different, and we will be closely monitoring feed demand and supply so that we ensure we are not put in a position to have to ‘substitute-feed’, destroy our ground cover or place our animals under stress.

The size of our mob also aligns with what we think would be a worst-case all-year-long farm carrying capacity. These calculations are based on the productive farm area, 2007 year rainfall (a very dry year --- we’ve excluded what fell in December of that year), assuming pasture growth of 5 kg of dry matter per hectare per millimetre of rain, and various assumptions of the feed demand of the ewes and probable lamb numbers through to post weaning and sale (of both lambs and / or cull ewes).

Decision to Purchase rather than Other Options
Part of our personal goal is to engineer regular and new experiences. We have agisted sheep previously and decided to try owning and managing our own mob.

Tips On Using Public Computers While Travelling

A close family member is heading overseas for 3 months. I contacted the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy for advice in respect of accessing the internet while travelling overseas.

Below are the main points from the response:

• Don’t save your user name and password – always make sure that you turn off the option to save them when logging into your email account and other websites. Always click “log out” when leaving a website.
• Make sure no-one is watching you – when you are using public computers, people might look over your shoulder to obtain your personal information.
• Log out if you leave the computer – even if it is just for a moment. If possible, do not leave the computer unattended.
• Delete your browsing history before you log out of the computer – internet browsers store information about your passwords and the pages that you visit. Go to the tools menu of the internet browser and select “options” or “internet options”. Make sure that the browser has any auto-complete function turned off, delete any cookies, and clear the history.
• Don’t type in sensitive information – even if you take the precautions listed above the public computer may have malicious software called a keystroke logger installed on it. These can steal your password, credit card number and bank details. Avoid doing financial transactions that could reveal sensitive information.

To stay informed about e-security risks, the Department recommends that people subscribe for free to the Stay Smart Online Alert Service www.ssoalertservice.net.au

What Patterson’s Curse Tells Us About the Soil

We have 4 paddocks on Ochre Arch were Patterson’s Curse (Echium plantagineum) was prevalent during the spring toward the end of 2008. My previous research had suggested that it was a symptom of compacted bare soils that were deficient in copper. On this last point I’d heard that the plant actually attracted copper and by so doing is helping the landholders by addressing a soil deficiency. It was this feature that tended to cause copper poisoning in horses – especially where set stocking and low biodiversity is evident i.e. the horses have nothing else to eat. Another story I heard once was that the name Salvation Jane was derived in South Australia as the plant in some parts was at one point pretty much the only green plant that survived at different times of the year and kept stock alive.

In the latest edition of the Farming Secrets Digest Volume # 2 (See http://www.farmingsecretsdigest.com) under the heading ‘Weed of the Month: Paterson’s Curse or Salvation Jane’ Hugo and Helen Disler have included the following explanation which they’ve granted me permission to publish on Ochre Archives.

“Paterson’s Curse or Echium plantagineum is an introduced herb native to the Mediterranean region. The seed heads are up to 3 cm long. It flowers mainly late winter to early summer. Dispersal: Spread by seed. Long distance spread often via fodder.

Why does it grow?
Paterson’s Curse grows in compacted, acid soils with low levels of lime. It has a deep tap root which brings up copper and makes it drought tolerant.

Is it dangerous to stock?

It is if overgrazing occurs and stock consume excessive amounts of it. The following problems may arise: Liver damage, Reduced Weight, Gain, Reduced Wool, Clip Death in severe cases.

Solve the problem!
Provide supplementary dolomite as a stock-lick in conditions where stock has to graze. Seaweed is also recommended. Don’t overgraze so good ground coverage remains. Chip out rosettes and leave on the ground as a message to the soil. Get the soil biologically active so that other plants grow to replace the Paterson’s Curse.”

Vehicle Refuelling Tips

Occasionally I’ve found that the fuel nozzles on some bowsers at service stations seemed finicky in that the automatic shut-off cuts off all almost constantly with the result that it takes ages to fill the vehicle. My usual reaction has been to let the attendant know when paying for the fuel and avoid using that bowser in the future. Recently I had trouble filling the car at the United service station at Cowra. When I told the attendant what had occurred he was most helpful and explained what to do in the future.
The shut-off problem occurs mainly with unleaded fuel because of the safety insert just inside the fuel cap. The purpose of the insert is to reduce the diameter of the pipe to prevent motorists from using the wrong type of fuel. They were installed in vehicles manufactured after Australia made the decision to switch from leaded fuels to reduce the health hazard from the old fuels. The inserts have a small flap that is designed to stop fuel flowing rapidly out of the tank in the event that the auto-shut off does not function properly. The auto-shut off mechanism works off air pressure. There is a very small tube in the pipe at the top of the nozzle that provides the mechanism for the detection equipment to function.
To effectively stop the auto-shut off function from working two changes in the way the nozzle is positioned and used are required. The first is to insert the nozzle so that the end is only just past the small back-flow flap mentioned above. The second it to turn the nozzle 180 degrees from the normal position i.e. turn it upside down. I tried this yesterday when refuelling our utility vehicle, which is notoriously difficult to fill, and it worked superbly.
WARNING: Using the above method turns off the auto-shut off. This means that unless the motorist is extremely careful there is a high likelihood that the fuel tank will overflow, creating extreme risks of the motorists ending up with fuel all over themselves … with obvious fire risks. To avoid fuel spillage the motorist should reduce the flow into the tank from what might normally be the case, ‘listen’ to the sound of the fuel going into the tank and watch very attentively to stop the fuel flow early. When listening to the fuel flow it is normal that the pitch of the sound increases when the tank is almost full. This was the main mechanism we used to rely on before the introduction of auto-shut-off bowsers. It was the auto-shut-off mechanism that allowed service stations to change from having staff available to fill up vehicles to what we see almost everywhere today - self-service.