Day 4
Agrodome in Roturoa, with a Merino sheep front and center. Agrodome On the morning of May 10 th , we attended a show at the Agrodome where we learned about different breeds of sheep in New Zealand and also about sheep shearing. New Zealand is home to approximately 19 different breeds of sheep including Merino, Romney, Corriedale, Cheviot, Texel, Lincoln, Perendale, Black Romney, South Suffolk, Suffolk, Drysdale, Dorset Horn, Poled Dorset, Southdown, Dorper, Border Leicester, English Leicester, Coopworth, and Dorset Down. Professional sheep shearer, Scott, gave a demonstration on how to shear a sheep and handle a sheep properly when shearing. At the end of the presentation, Scott brought out a few of his herding dogs which were mixed breeds specialized in either hunting or barking. We enjoyed getting to see the dogs in action and saw how the dogs can pick out a specific sheep from the flock. The Maori culture had their children learn disciplines at the ages of 15-18 and ...