Caitlin’s family run sheep and beef on their 425ha farm in Greenfield.
Her mother Paula Steel said Caitlin had always shown a strong interest in sheep and was keen to start breeding black-headed Dorpers, so she was given a ram by her aunt as a Christmas present in 2020.
Caitlin now runs her own flock of 64 mixed-age ewes and two Dorper rams she has named Nigel and Norris.
Mrs Steel said 12-year-old Caitlin and her two younger brothers were very much involved in the farm on a daily basis.
"It’s just what we do together as a family. The boys feed dairy beef calves, and Caitlin has her sheep.
"She loves animals and seems to have a real way with them."
Caitlin initially put the ram over her 50-odd pet sheep and kept 14 ewe lambs from that first season which she had lambed as two-tooths this season to a different Dorper sire.
With one two-tooth left to lamb last week, her lambing rate was at 208%.
"I am pretty pleased with that," she said.
The black-headed Dorper breed sheds its own wool and is known for its intelligent and friendly nature.
"I just love spending time with them.
"The ewes and their lambs will come over to me looking for a head scratch," she said.
The lambing season had gone particularly well for her this year with no issues.
"I check them every morning and after school.
"If there’s a lambing issue with a pet sheep that’s easy to catch, I can do it on my own, but if it’s a bearing or a ewe that’s not as tame, I will get Mum or Dad to help me."
The concept of letting their child run their own flock might seem like extra unwanted admin to some parents, but Mrs Steel said that had not been the case for them.
"Caitlin puts in the work.
"She is out there every day.
"She just naturally wants to do it — the novelty hasn’t worn off.
"She’s always thinking, planning and strategising about what she’s going to do.
"The only thing she needs to be reminded to do is to come inside for tea," she laughed.
Caitlin has plans to increase her flock, and that was where Mrs Steel said she and husband Gareth needed to apply the brakes.
"What Caitlin wants to do and what her dad has agreed to are quite different."
- By Alice Scott
