Auction Day

Well today was my first livestock auction sale.  We didn't have many lambs but it was worth the experience.  Last night, me and the hubs tagged up the ears which turned out to be easier then I thought.

It was a first for us and I had no idea how difficult or not it would be, turns out it was very easy, but definitely a two-person job.  Hubs had to work today so it was just me and Farm Girl delivering the animals to the barn.  We elected to use the livestock box for the pickup rather than the trailer.  We only took six lambs and two older ewes so it seemed a waste of gas to lug the trailer.  Also, I'm not very good at backing a trailer up and I knew I would have to back up to unload.

That was all fine and dandy however I forgot how hard it is to get heavy lambs and sheep up into the livestock box.  There is no ramp so we literally had to take one sheep at a time from the pen and "walk" them to the truck. This was interesting...and rather funny.  They were too heavy to carry so by accident we discovered that they could actually walk on their hind legs if we held up their front legs.  It took both of us on either front leg, but we got them to the truck and then heaved them onto the tailgate and into the livestock box.  Believe me, it was exhausting.

But, thankfully, it was also the only strenuous part of the day.  The rest went smoothly.  Our drive was only about 15 minutes away from the sale barn and once we reached there, we were a little confused on where to go and what to do but once we got that figured out, we unloaded the sheep rather easily.  The most confusing part was when Farm Girl and I got separated when she followed the lambs into the barns and I headed off to the office.  It was like a maze in there, coming across small corridors and multiple doors.  At one point we spotted each other over several pens but could not find a clear path to one another.  Another time I was up on the catwalk looking down and we spotted each other once again.  We finally met up and to our surprise that was the end of our day at the livestock auction.  I anticipated a long day but to our delight we were informed that once the sheep were sold they would send us a cheque, no waiting around.  So we went into the city and did a little bit of shopping instead since I had told those at home I wouldn't be back until late.  All in all, my first experience at the livestock auction went well.

My lot is in the enclosed pen on the right.