A visit to oom Lukas in Rooiberg
A small-stock farming community in Namaqualand [13 Nov 2024]
On the N7, before the Sishen-Saldanha railway bridge, there's a sign to Rooiberg and Beeswater. I'd picked up a goat herder there a while back who told me that there was kleinvee boerdery [small-stock farming] community at Rooiberg. I didn’t know what kleinvee boerdery actually entailed and asked oom Toekie about it: “My een broer woon daar, ons kan gaan kyk” [“One of my brothers lives there, we can go and have a look”].
On Tuesday this week, I got a message: oom Toekie was in Rooiberg. I didn’t need to be asked twice! Off the N7, it's a well-maintained dust road with only one farm gate before Rooiberg.
It wasn't long until, about five kilometres, I saw informal dwellings and a crumbling structure on my left. “By die huis op die bult, daar draai jy links. En dan vra jy net vir oom Lukas,” [“At the house on the ‘hump’, you turn left. And then you ask for uncle Lukas”] were oom Toekie’s driving directions. Oom Lukas, that’s oom Toekie’s brother.
I stopped at the first hut, number 15. Eight greyhounds came out to greet me, barking loudly but not aggressively. A young man, Jeremy, stepped out of a hut, and after a short geselsie [chat], he pointed me towards the kraal of oom Lukas.
Oom Toekie was already waiting, he’d probably seen me coming a way off. Oom Lukas had a bit of a babbelas [hangover], he'd been drinking the deurmekaar water [wine] the previous evening. Then there was also Klaas and Oom Jan from next door. Oom Lukas has been living in Rooiberg for about eight years and currently has 22 sheep.
How do these people survive?
They farm with sheep and goats that graze in the veld, it’s free-range here. The herding skills of Tjommie [buddy], one of the sheep dogs was demonstrated when he was sent out to get the sheep. No guiding shepherd, only the dog. As we watched, Tjommie circled and gathered the flock, and then ‘drove’ them to the kraal. A few dogs like Tjommie on the plaas would make life a lot easier, as well as probably teaching the border collies here a trick or two.
Each person or family has their own hut and a well for water. There’s no electricity supply; solar panels, gas or petrol are used to power pumps, fridges and lighting. And fires, of course.
Oom Lukas also sometimes ‘pans’ for diamonds, though without luck to date. Not an unreasonable notion, there are leftover pilings from industrial mining not far away.
Oom Jan wants to sell his sheep, I might buy some for oom Toekie. The sheep are hard work, oom Jan says, they need a shepherd to look after them. In contrast, goats are more independent, returning to the kraal each evening. A kraal provides protection against predators such as jackal and rooikat [caracal cat].
It’s a harsh, dry, barren landscape that reminds of Namibia. There’s water not far below the surface. Oom Lukas has dug a shallow well, about one meter deep, in the dry riverbed. A small petrol pump is used to get water up the hill to his hut. The pump is playing up at the moment but getting it fixed is not straightforward. The nearest town is about 40 kilometres but his bakkie [pickup truck] doesn’t have brakes!
Before leaving, it was starting to get hot, we enjoyed a coffee. Then we collected oom Toekie's travel bag and drove back home, talking about sheep and the plaas [farm].
It was 34C in the car - it's not even high summer yet!
A part of me is attracted to living in Rooiberg. Could I live there? The harsh environment and desolation are attractive. Water would be my first priority. And then a small dwelling, a caravan maybe. A few sheep or goats, and dogs. Why not?
Some interesting information about sheep:
The Ruminant Digestive System1, which I discussed in a previous blog2
Sheep Teeth:3
A sheep has 32 permanent teeth
There are eight incisor teeth at the front of the sheep’s lower jaw and no incisors in the upper jaw. The upper jaw has a hard plate, instead.
An animal with two adult incisors at the front center of its lower jaw is a yearling.
If the sheep had two pairs (four total) adult incisors, it would be a two-year-old.
When the sheep reaches about four years of age, it will usually be “full-mouthed.”
Beyond this age, sheep may start losing teeth (or become “broken mouthed”).
The incisors are separated by a space from the molars.
Molars help with chewing cud, meanwhile sheep use the incisors and plate for cropping and chewing on grass as they graze.
Head-Turning Facts About Sheep:4
Also known by the scientific name Ovis aries, the sheep is one of the first animal species domesticated by humans for agriculture.
Sheep are ruminant mammals, which means that their stomachs have four chambers. The first chamber, called the rumen, is the largest one. The second chamber is the reticulum, the third one is the omasum, and the last one is the abomasum.
Sheep have rectangular pupils. This gives them a wider field of vision estimated within 270 to 320 degrees. As prey animals, having rectangular pupils allow sheep to detect motion better without turning their heads, so they can immediately flee when they spot predators.
Ewes (female sheep) typically weigh between 45 to 100 kilograms, while rams (male sheep) weigh between 45 to 160 kilograms.
Isolated sheep or those separated from their flock show signs of depression by hanging their heads low or avoiding positive actions.
Sheep have an amazing memory. They can recognize up to 50 faces of other sheep and remember them for up to two years. They can also recognize human faces.
Sheep can also recognize different facial expressions, preferring a smile to a frown.
The gestational period of ewes is about five months.
When ill, sheep can self-medicate by eating specific plants that will help cure them.
Sheep prefer drinking from running water instead of water from a trough.
Sheep’s milk is high in nutritional substances like protein, calcium, iron, minerals such as magnesium and zinc, and vitamins such as Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, and Vitamin D. It is also rich in amino acids and linoleic acids.
Lanolin or wool wax is a by-product of sheep wool.
Lamb is the meat from a sheep under 12 months old, while mutton is meat from a sheep that is over the age of one year.
Wool proteins are used to create wound dressings, bone graft implants, and medical sutures with the aid of nanotechnology.
The Ruminant Digestive System [RaisingSheep.net]
A tiring 'Stamp en Stoot' week on the plaas - 26 Oct 2024 [OpPadSubstack]
Sheep Teeth (how they grow, and what they tell you) [RaisingSheep.net]
Head-Turning Facts About Sheep [RaisingSheep.net]
Another great post!
Love the gate...best memories ever. :-). Hope to make some more of these...
If you're thirsty...then what can do? 🤪🤪
So fulfilled& content, yet the farm worker's seem happy. And look how nice& clean the area is. We could certainly learn from them.
Nice!!!