What does a shepherd do?
You look after a flock that hides illness by instinct, and for six weeks a year you deliver lambs at three in the morning.
Also called: stockperson, sheep farmer, lambing assistant.
A day looks like
- 1You walk the flock and count, and you are looking for the one that is not doing what the others are doing.
- 2In lambing you work in shifts around the clock and sleep in a caravan in the yard.
- 3You put your hand inside a ewe and work out, by feel alone, how a lamb is lying.
- 4You lose one, and you go straight to the next pen, because there are forty more to get through.
Hardest part
Sheep are prey animals and hide being ill until they are nearly gone. By the time one looks poorly to an untrained eye it has been poorly for days, so the whole skill is noticing at a distance.
Best part
A lamb that was presented wrong, that you turned by feel in the dark, getting up and finding the udder.
How you actually become a shepherd
- At schoolNothing formal. A season's lambing tells you very quickly whether this is for you.
- TrainingOn the job; agricultural college and specific lambing courses help.
- How longA season to be useful, several years to run a flock and its breeding decisions.
- Your first jobLambing assistant — seasonal, intense, and the standard way in.
Frequently asked questions
- Why do sheep hide being ill?
- Because they are prey animals. Any animal that shows weakness is the one a predator picks, so sheep instinctively keep up with the flock until they physically cannot. It means a shepherd is looking for very small differences in behaviour.
- What actually happens during lambing?
- Six or so weeks of round-the-clock shifts. Most ewes lamb unaided; the shepherd's job is to spot the ones that are not progressing, correct how a lamb is lying by feel, and make sure every newborn is warm and has had colostrum.
- Do you need qualifications?
- No. Lambing assistant work is seasonal and open to beginners, and it is the normal way people find out whether they want to do this at all.
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