If you are not from the country then this glossary might help understanding what the hell I'm talking about!!
A&P Show- agriculture and pastural show
All Hat and no horse- A talker, not a doer
Baleage- equivalent of silage in a bale; green or wilted pasture that has been baled and then wrapped either individually or in a tube in plastic to create anaerobic conditions that allow the ensilaging process to occur
Bindertwine/ Baling twine- twine used to hold hay bales together and to fix anything around the farm (if you can’t fix it with bindertwine you shouldn’t own it)
Break fencing- using temporary electric fencing to divide a paddock into smaller lots so that the animals can only eat a little of the feed at a time, usually in strips.Can't make honey out of dog shit- description for a bad hay season or anything else that is beyond being attractive or successful.
Coin- money
Crutching- removing wool from the hindquarters of a sheep
Cull- to remove from the mob, an animal that is no longer suitable for breeding that is to be sent to the works- or to the farm freezer
Cut out- the celebration at the end of shearing. Usually a few beers and a BBQ for the shearers but on by the farmer.
Dippy- the abbreviated description of a student at Lincoln University enrolled in a diploma of agriculture and/or farm management
Dog Tuckers- second rate sheep separated from the general flock generally held close to the house, that will be killed to feed the farm dogs
Dog walloper- farm hand or shepard
Down the road- Fired from your job
Drench- Orally administered to stock (cattle, sheep, deer) to give them resistance against disease and parasites. No heavy rain involved!
Just down the road- a measurement used by rural people that could be anywhere from 1km to about 50km, interchangeable with 'a couple of miles'
Four tooth- sheep- 20-24 months old
Full mouth- a fully mature ewe with its four pairs of teeth, more than 40 months old.
Going to town- either a horse bucking or someone yelling obscenities loudly
Hard Yakka- really hard work, also used to describe someone that is hard to talk to or a polite way of saying you don't particularly warm to a person; i.e. "John's girlfriend is hard yakka"
Hay- pasture, lucern, oats etc, that has been mown, dried and baled to be used as supplementary feed
Heading Dog- a dog that, without barking, heads off an individual or group of animals, controls the front of a moving mob or herd; also called an eye dog
Hill Stick- a tool for a shepard, usually made from Manuka and about 1.5m long that a shepard carries to balance on a hill, give stock a hurry up, discipline dogs and check the depth of creeks with.
~I am going to take my hill stick to heaven so I can fight off the angels trying to fence me in~
Hogget- a young sheep between a lamb and a two-tooth, approx 10-16 months old. Also Dave's best mate whose real name is Sam.
Huntaway- a driving barking sheep dog that barks on command to help move stock from behind
Mocker- Clothing
Mountain Oysters- sheep's balls
On the board- the area in the shearing shed where the actual shearing is done
Peaked- exhausted
Poked-used to describe something broken, tired or badly mended
Rousie- rouseabout, odd job worker in the shearing shed
Rural contractor- a contractor that makes hay, baleage and silage for farmers. They use their own machinery and charge the farmer for their services.
Set Stock- move stock into a large paddock or block and leave them there for two or three weeks- sometimes more
Silage- pasture, lucern, barley, oats etc conserved for supplementary feed by mowing, compacting and anaerobic preservation (ensilaging) in sack or pit covered with plastic held down (often with tyres).
Six tooth- a 26-30 month old sheep, a three year old
Snow raking- to rescue sheep from a heavy snow. To walk up to the sheep and create a channel for them to walk in. No rakes, just legs used for this!!
Spiker- yearling male deer that has grown its first set of antlers that are usually in the form of two single point spikes
Stocky- Stock and station agent
Swag- Bed roll. Great for when you are away mustering but also great accommodation for rural parties!
Smoko- Morning tea break around 10.30am, also used for afternoon tea at about 3pm.Tailing (south island)/docking (north island)- removing the tails from lambs
Tally- the number of sheep in a 'tally' is 100 so if tally is yelled four times in the yards you have 400 sheep. Also used as a lose term for the number of sheep counted, so a shearing tally might be 2000 for the day.
Taranaki gate- a makeshift wire gate made from battens and netting or wires.
Tarn- a small mountain lake
Two tooth- a sheep with its first pair of adult teeth, anywhere from 12-18 monthsuntil about a year later when it becomes a four tooth.
Wayleggo- "come here dog"
Weekend warriors- town folk who head for the hills in the weekends armed with 4WDs, hiking boots, skis etc
Wether- castrated male sheep
Wilding pines- pine trees that have self sown, the seeds are scattered by the wind. These are becoming more and more of a problem in the high country of New Zealand.
Workbench- Bed
