Old MacDonald Had a Farm

“E-I-E-I-O. And on this farm he had some…sheep! E-I-E-I-O. With a baa-baah here and baa-baa there. Here a baa; there a baaa; everywhere a baaa-baaa.” After lunch, we decided to visit the Agrodome and learn more about all the sheep we’d seen in New Zealand. The Agrodome puts on a daily shows about sheep and sheep farming. They had at least a dozen or more different types of sheep “on display.” Who knew there were so many types of sheep? In addition to learning about what the different types of sheep were used for, we watched a sheep sheering demonstration.

"And on this farm he had some…dogs! E-I-E-I-O. With a woof-woof here and woof-woof there. Here a woof; there a woof; everywhere a woof-woof.” To help herd the thousands of sheep grazing all over the hillsides, farmers use dogs. Actually, two types of dogs. One is similar to a border collie tha herds animals from behind, using only eye-contact. S/he doesn’t bark at all. The other dog they employ is some type of shepherd dog. S/he helps get the sheep moving by running along the backs of sheep and barking.

“And on this farm he had some…cows! E-I-E-I-O. With a moo-moo here and moo-moo there. Here a moo; there a moooo; everywhere a moo-mooo.” In addition to sheep farming, New Zealand also has a very large dairy industry, which means they have lots of cows. After the sheep, we were treated to a dairy cow milking demonstration. They invited volunteers to come on stage to milk a cow. So, I nudged Greg to go, but he had no interest In milking a cow. “I didn’t want to violate the cow’s private parts,” says Greg.