My goodness, the weather sure has been hot! For me on the farm, that means two things: firstly, more frequent checks on the sheep as it is fly strike season, and secondly, almost daily haulin’ of water.
I spoke in and earlier post about how we need to bring water to our sheep, and when the weather is hot like it is now, it means that those trips are more frequent. Whereas cooler temperatures mean bringing water once every two or three days, at the moment I am bringing it at least once a day.
Over the years, I have developed a strategy. I try to top up the containers, rather than allowing them to run completely dry and then having to totally refill them. Doing things this way means I can top up two tanks in one journey, leaving them full rather than letting the sheep get thirsty while they wait for a refill.
Experience has taught me this hard lesson. If the tanks run dry even for a short while, the sheep are inclined to congregate around the drinker. They know that that is where the water will come from and they can get very rowdy when the water does come, jostling and pushing each other. They behave like New Year’s Sale shoppers with absolutely no manners!
Don’t forget, a full grown lady-sheep can weigh in at up to one hundred kilos! When you have a bunch of those mommas pushing and shoving, often there is a risk of the drinker being pushed and toppled or else the feeder pipe may come out of place. Then, all of that water that I dutifully carried up to them will quite literally drain away into the ground leaving an empty reservoir and thirsty sheep in its wake. Day in, day out, the cycle continues!
So you see, this chore of bringing water can be made easier or more difficult depending on my management of the situation. As I stand in my cool kitchen, sipping a long, iced glass of water, I think of the sheep and I’m glad to be able to them with the same relief on a hot day.
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