Since we’ve arrived in Patagonia, we’ve seen literally thousands of sheep.  We pass them driving all the time, grazing in their pastures behind an endless fence that marks off each estancia (ranch).  We’ve passed gauchos (cowboys) on horseback followed by their herd of sheep or cattle herding dogs.  It seems that each gaucho has at least 3 or 4 dogs with him at all times and that’s not to say there aren’t more back at the ranch.  While driving past these estancias, we’ve often wondered about the life of these sheep, how sheep farming works, what the paint spots on the sheep indicate, and how these huge estancias work.

We were fortunate to go to an estancia with an Argentinean friend of ours, Adrian, from Rio Grande.   We met Adrian and his family on Ruta 40 in the small, windy outpost town of Bajo Caracoles.  We were enjoying a beer in the only bar/restaurant/grocery store/bus stop in town along with a few other passing travelers, mostly folks looking for a break from the bone jarring Ruta 40.  It felt a little like an old western movie: us in a saloon drinking beer, when in through the swinging door enters Adrian with his family.  Tame night though, Adrian and his family were just looking for a few sandwiches for dinner.  While they waited for their food to come out, we chatted and hit it off.  They were kind enough to invite us to their house when and if we pass through their town, Rio Grande.  And so it was to be, several months later, we were at Adrian’s house.  Unfortunately, Maria-Elena and kids, Andy and Candelaria were in Cordoba as they are in the process of moving, so it was only Adrian at the house.  We had a very nice time with Adrian and really appreciated his hospitality.  It was also great staying in his warm, comfortable home for a couple days. 

For additional photos with Adrian at his house, including cooking some delicious empanadas, click here: Cooking Empanadas with Adrian.

That is how we ended up with Adrian at Estancia Maria Behety touring the sheep barn.  Estancia Maria Behety was the second estancia to be established in Tierra del Fuego.  First of all, the barn was immense and completely deserted.  I imagine more than a thousand sheep fit in that barn easily.  It had holding pens, then a hallway where the sheep were sheared and on the other side a slide down which the sheep were sent down to another holding area when they were done.  In the central area was a press where the wool is condensed into packaging for shipping.  I think the wool processing, cleaning and treatment is done somewhere else.  We were able to see the sheared wool off the animals and also piles and piles of sheep skins drying out.  This was a little uncomfortable, as many of the skins still had hoofs and legs attached.  A few also had the face of the sheep still attached.

Adrian explained for us the specifics of sheep selection and breeding.  In these areas sheep are used for one of two things, meat or wool.  Depending on the length of the curl in their fleece, young sheep are selected for either wool production or meat.  In reality, my understanding is that they all end up as meat eventually.  The ones selected for meat are usually taken under one year old for lamb meat.  Also at a young age, depending on certain characteristics that are genetically positive some males are selected for reproduction while the others become muttons.  Muttons are castrated males.  This is accomplished by tying a string around the balls, which simply dry out and fall off.  Super isn’t it.  The paint on the sheep we saw out in the fields is applied for identification of which sheep have “coupled”.  The males wear the color on their underside and when they mount a female, the paint marks her fleece.  The other information I remember is that sheep are sheared twice each year.  The first shave is on the face and back side, so the sheep can eat and be relatively clean when they go potty.  The second time, they shave the whole sheep.

So there you have it, that’s pretty much the information I learned on our tour.  Thanks to Adrian for showing us around and explaining everything.  My Spanish understanding is still somewhat limited, so I probably didn’t pick up all the details in the explanations.  Seeing the barn and especially the carcasses definitely made us feel sorry for the sheep.  We might get a nice hat or sweeter from their short, ardous life, but they get shaved a few times and then chopped up in the end.  Doesn’t seem fair.  We feel grateful to have seen firsthand an unsterilized view of where wool actually comes from.

To see all photos inside the sheep-sheering barn, click here: Inside a sheep estancia.