A tiring 'Stamp en Stoot' week on the plaas

26 Oct 2024

Oct 26, 2024

Oom Toekie had an appointment with Mannekrag [Manpower] on Monday, so no plaas work. However, on Tuesday we ‘caught up’ as we had 315 sheep at Kranskraal to dose. I helped for a while; they were getting a topical medication for ticks and also an oral anti-parasite dose. It’s hard, physical work, but oom [uncle] Toekie and boervrou [female farmer] Katja had it in hand, so I went to clean the nearby dam, which had become infested with algae.

The dam had been left to drain and was dry, making this work a little easier, if dusty. I was supervised by the Lion dog [Leeu] on the ‘shop floor’ while management in the form of the jackal buzzard chick was watching me from the nest at the top of the windpomp [windmill]. The chick is getting quite large now and will probably be flying soon. Leeu is quite erg [‘infatuated’] about me; I’m not sure why, but I’ll take it. If I’m away for a while, on my return his tail is like a propeller; maybe I should connect an electricity generator?

Once finished at the dam, I went back to the kraal to help with the dosing. The sheep are ‘driven’ into a narrow ‘channel’, which requires a skillset that is difficult to explain. Once the ‘channel’ has been filled, we can medicate those sheep. It’s a bit stamp en stoot [push and shove], the sheep are out of their ‘comfort zone’. I got head-butted a few times, which is more of a surprise than painful, and the air was a bit ‘blue’ at times.

Boervrou Katja showed me an ewe’s udder that had been infected with ticks. This leads to painful inflammation and the ewe won’t suckle her lamb(s). We also spotted a lamb, where the tail was bleeding due to tick bites. Two exceptions, I think; the sheep are looking quite healthy and have been notably picking up weight since the good rains in the winter

It was a long day! Eventually 274 sheep went back to pasture and about 40 back to the farmstead kraal. It got a bit tetchy on the back of the bakkie, with rams, dogs and me. One or two of the rams were in a head-butting mood, which the dogs did not take to kindly, but I calmed the situation down with a harsh ‘talking to’.

Wednesday should’ve been quite simple, as oom Toekie and I were going to get a ‘slag lam’ [slaughter lamb] in the Slangkop camp and then butcher it. If only, it took us 1.5 hours of driving around before we found our ‘target’, then I helped oom Toekie before we could call it a day. The stomach of a sheep is ‘enormous’, which intrigued me, and I did some further reading later (see below).

Thursday was another ‘dosing’ day, this time in the Boysenberg camp; 348 sheep, of which 34 went back to the farmstead. The latter were two ‘loads’ on the bakkie [pickup truck] and trailer. I stayed behind with the dogs for the first ‘load’.

It’s about one hour for a round trip, which gave me time to do a short veld walk with the dogs; there were still some veldblomme [wildflowers] to be seen. As it’s getting hot now, the snakes are getting active; I’m so glad that I’ve received my snake gaiters, though vigilance is essential (I still want to do a snake-handling course).

On Friday, I was ‘n bietjie kort van draad [grumpy], the sheep sorting had been hard work. However, it was dorp [town] day. I wanted to go food shopping in Lutzville and took oom Toekie and ‘antie’ [auntie] Aletta along. We had a short visit to oom Toekie’s sister, she’s not well; his love for her was palpable, so mooi [so nice]. A few things at OK Foods and then the slagtery [the butcher’s] for dog bones before heading home again.

Oom Toekie and I still had some sheep work to do, separating the rams from the market ewes and lambs. The rams are going to the Slangkop camp for a rest before they resume normal service; I think that will be in December. As an aside, the rams have a somewhat ‘angry’ rectangular head while the ewes’ heads are more pointed.

As mentioned above, the stomach of a sheep is ‘enormous’, which both reminded me of Veterinary Medicine students (Why can horses run faster than cows?) and made me do some research on the sheep digestive system and metabolism (What’s the digestive efficiency of a sheep?). Naively, I did not realize that sheep and goats are ruminants, which may somewhat explain their behaviour during the midday period. This blog is a good starter:

The Ruminant Digestive System (explained in plain English):1
- Livestock animals that have ruminant digestive systems include sheep, cattle, and goats.
- A ruminant is a hoofed mammal with a special digestive system that lets them more effectively use energy found in fibrous plant material. The digestive system of a ruminant can ferment the food the animal eats and give the animal precursors for energy that the animal needs to use.
- Nearly 75% of the animal’s abdominal cavity is taken up by [the] four-compartment stomach (the rumen, reticulum, omasum, and abomasum).
- The reticulorumen houses a huge number of microorganisms (“rumen bugs” or microbes) … These “rumen bugs” are crucial for fermenting and breaking down the cell walls of plants, rendering them into carbohydrate fractions and creating volatile fatty acids.
- Examples of these volatile fatty acids are propionate (crucial in glucose synthesis), acetate (used in fat synthesis), and butyrate.
- Microorganisms in the rumen (mostly bacteria) help digest cellulose found in plant cell walls, as well as complex starch. They also synthesize
  vitamin K and B vitamins, as well as synthesize protein from nitrogen that has non-protein sources.
- The ruminant’s abomasum is referred to as its “true stomach.” It is the compartment most similar to a nonruminant’s stomach. Digestive enzymes and hydrochloric acid are made in the abomasum. The abomasum also brings in digestive enzymes that come from the pancreas.
- Question: Why can horses run faster than cows? Let me know in the comments whether I should (try to) answer this question in the next blog

Further reading and videos that I enjoyed this week:

Medicinal Plants of the Kamiesberg, Namaqualand, South Africa:2

It [Namaqualand] is also the traditional (original) home of the Nama people, the largest ethnic group of Khoisan speakers, who were historically concentrated in the highlands of the Kamiesberg area, from where they migrated seasonally to other parts of Namaqualand.
A total of 101 medicinal plant species was recorded in the Kamiesberg area during this study.
The medicinal plants of the Kamiesberg are still widely used for self-terminating and chronic ailments - more serious conditions are referred to the local clinics or hospitals.
Medicinal plants may be used as supportive treatment for serious ailments such as tuberculosis, cancer and diabetes, often after the patient has returned from the hospital or clinic.
The lack of specificity is noteworthy - it appears that there are numerous alternatives that can be used to treat the same ailment, perhaps as a result of local availability.

Die Nuwe Graskoue Trappers:3

Wuppertal, Cederberg mountains - home of the red veldskoen4 of David Kramer5 fame
“Dans dat die stof so staan [‘dance that the dust stands’] perfectly describes the Riëldans.”
- Riel (or Rieldans) is a Khoisan word for an ancient celebratory dance performed by the San (also known as Bushmen), Nama and Khoi. It is considered one of the oldest dancing styles of indigenous South Africa).6

Verlorenvlei Stories:7

"Verlorenvlei ['Lost Marsh'] is, to me, such a romantic name. Is it a place that is hidden, a secret place, or is it a place that is just on the other side of forgotten."
We lived in a palmiet huis [bulrush house], with walls of clay and cattle-dung floors.
Our mattresses were made of straw, with Bokomo-branded [flour-brand] sheets (which are now a ‘cool’ fashion item).8
We had kerosene lamps; in the morning, our nostril would be pitch-black from the smoke.
On Friday afternoons, when school had finished, we would heat the flatiron on the coals to straighten our hair, then we’d go dance.
I went to school until standard 3 (about 13 years of age), then I had to leave school to help on the farm; man-child.

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