Crutching

 The boys have been crutching sheep this past week. For those who don't know what that is, it's shearing off the wool from around the backside of the sheep. Cleaning the yucky bits up before full shearing starts in a little over a week.

 Crutching also helps clean up any poop and urine left behind that the blow flies find so attractive!!

 My husband and his brother in the crutching shed. Their father will still crutch sheep if need be, he is now 74 years old.

 Max the work dog in the sheep yards helping to push up the ewes and lambs into the pens for drafting. (The lambs are now old enough to separate from their mothers)

 Max is a 2 year old Kelpie and doubles as our pet dog. He's not a bad sheep dog either.

 Pushing the sheep into the pens, they then run single file though the drafting race

 My brother in law standing at the end of the drafting race. As the sheep run through, he switches the gate from one side to the other to separate the ewes from the lambs

Our son Ben, loves to watch all the goings on with the sheep. he is nearly 3 and already his pretend play sees him crutching imaginary sheep!!