Into the woods

Even though I have not managed to get much blogging done recently, does not mean that nothing is happening.
In fact, so much is happening that I am running behind in blogging..
About two weeks ago we started to take the ewes (recently weaned) out into the bush to graze.
It is great to be back in that routine again after the winter feeding period.
The ewes are a bit on the skinny side after weaning so this flush of new grass should do them good.

The morning routine involves taking the ewes out to the bush with the farm truck.
The collies walk the ewes about kilometer away to the bush, I bring the big dogs with the pickup.
Some mornings when I am not as overwhelmed with work as I am right now, I prefer to walk them out.
This walk is great.
But, with lambing, seeding, kids activities, calving, fencing and the million and one other things on our to do list, this just saves about 20 minutes.
The evening gather goes a bit differently!

Loaded up and ready to go:

The haze is the dust from the sheep.
Sheila is looking after the left flank, to keep the sheep nicely on the path.

We usually stop at this dugout, to let the sheep have a drink, the dogs usually like to take a dip before continuing on.

We use electric nets to fence the bush area in.

Here the sheep head off into the bush to spend the day grazing there.

Katcha, Snowy, and Fena have the day shift. 
As all the females are going to start coming into heat this month, the
groups will need to be changed.

Katcha just loves this work, when we get to the bush she is so excited and heads off immediately to go and do her rounds. With a few wolves, a cougar and lots of coyotes in the area, she has her work cut out for her.