We know that for the non-farmers reading some of the words and phrases in the farming dialect are difficult to understand. So, we thought we’d make an A-Z of farming help page. Please let us know if there is anything you are unfamiliar with as this page is going to be a working progress.
Ewe – Is a female sheep.
Gimmer – Is a ewe between its first shearing and second shearing.
Hogg – Is a sheep in the transition period between being a lamb and reaching adulthood. Usually between 6 – 14 months of age.
Pet Lamb – Is a lamb which is bottle fed instead of receiving milk from a ewe.
Shearing – Is the process of cutting off the woollen fleece of a sheep. If left uncut this could affect the welfare of the animal.
Shedder – Is a used to split sheep, often a shedder will comprise of a long race roughly the width of one ewe. The ewes will form a que travelling through the shedder one after the other. At the top a three way shedding gate is used to split the ewes in different directions. Two gates open inwards into the ewes direction of travel creating an opening into the desired pen. If neither of the two gates are opened the ewes will continue to run forwards out of the end of the race, creating the third gate.
Silage – Grass or other green fodder compacted and stored in airtight conditions, without first being dried and used as animal feed in the winter.
Tup – Is a male sheep used for breeding, sometimes referred to a a ram.
Twinning on – Is process of taking a triplet or a pet (caddy) lamb and giving it to a ewe with a single lamb. Effectively, the process where a ewe adopts a lamb that isn’t her own.
Rockking Agriculture 