The last three weeks have been incredibly eventful here. We are down two sheep, up 27 chicks, have 28 eggs in the incubator, and we actually went on a "holiday". Even beginning to put everything into a time line seems daunting considering all that we had to pull off. The beginning is usually the best place to start.
One of the biggest challenges for any new small-holder or farmer is when your animals have reached the end of their time at your farm. This time had come for our sheep, Scratchy and Mr. Tufts. This is something that both of us had debated about whether we were going to do or not. We went back and forth, do they go to the abattoir or do we keep them. There were good cases for both. We really liked Mr. Tufts and he was born here. The four sheep made up a flock and we wouldn't have to get more, Everyone got along most of the time. Scratchy didn't really have a good side except that Tim had a soft spot for her. On the other hand we had three black sheep, one was dangerous, one was a bully, and we couldn't have lambs without getting another ram. The final decision was not actually made by us but by circumstance. We were going away Jeanne, my Mum was coming to look after our farm. We were scared that Scratchy or Mr. Tufts may knock her down. If we wanted to go away then to the abattoir we go. Itchy and Scratchy arrived here in our Matrix so logic says that we can use that as our transport vehicle. On May 11 we loaded them in and off we went to the abattoir. Both were fine in the car once they were in. We had tried to make sure that we would arrive at the last possible minute so Scratchy and Mr.Tufts wouldn't have to wait around. Both animals were unloaded out of the car and into the abattoir. they were in there for no more than half an hour as there were not any other animals ahead of them. Neither Tim nor I could go in and watch. The rest of the day was taken up with how it felt and could we do it again. Both of us cried at times but our final conclusion is that yes we could. The next day we were able to watch the butcher's cut up the carcasses and find out how the entire process worked. It was really interesting to see how an abattoir worked. We were able to see the kill floor, holding pens, freezers, and we had a really good chat with all of the butchers. Each of them had years of experience and knew exactly what they were doing. It is amazing to see a good butcher transform a carcass into cuts of meat. We went home with 84 pounds of meat and now our freezer is full. We are so thankful to both Scratchy and Mr. Tufts. That night we had a Scratchy roast. We cooked it in the slow cooker with our own herbs. It was the best roast we had ever eaten. Thank you Scratchy and Mr. Tufts.
We have at least three bags full. Over the weekend we had our sheep shorn. It was something that was quite stressful as we had trouble getting a shearer here. Having so few sheep means that we really aren't worth it for many shearer's. Not to mention that shearer's are hard to find in the first place. It isn't really a skill that is taught in technical school on a regular basis. We were lucky enough to have a wonderful shearer, Irwin, come round. We are so thankful to him as without him we would have been a bit, well, screwed. 
