forest kingdom

Chapter 44 Trimming Sheep's Hoof 2
Evening, sunset

"time to eat!"

Lawrence's voice came from the door of the house.

After hearing this, Sofia began to drive the sheep home, and the sheep walked along the road to the hillside in an orderly manner.

When Sofia drove the sheep into the sheepfold, she saw Lawrence feeding the chickens.

Sophia happily leaned over and took out a handful of grasshoppers from her apron pocket.

“I picked up these bugs to feed the chickens!”

Lawrence saw the bug in Sophia's hand and said unhappily: "Don't do this kind of thing in the future. If you touch the bug with your hands casually, it will be contaminated with dirt. You should wash your hands first."

"Oh." Sophia, who wanted to be praised, was reprimanded and said disappointedly: "Yes, Master."

Lawrence did not comfort Sophia, but said directly: "Leave these bugs alone, the chickens will eat them by themselves."

"Okay." Sophia quickly dropped the bug in her hand.

The hens and chicks nearby gathered around, quickly looked at the bugs on the ground with their heads tilted, and then pecked at them.

The eyes of these stupid guys may not work well, and their pointed mouths often peck the side of the insects.

However, when several chickens competed for food together, their accuracy improved a lot, and soon the grasshopper crawling on the ground was caught by the hen and swallowed into its throat.

Sophia became happy again and continued to take out bugs from her bib.

Lawrence looked at the bugs in Sophia's pocket and knew that the little girl had not done much today and had enough free time to catch bugs.

Lawrence continued to feed the pigs, dogs and sheep.

The three dogs were eager to eat. Lawrence took out a bucket of dog food from the kitchen and poured it into three wooden basins.

The three dogs have their own food bowls. The dog food is gruel mixed with oats, peas and wheat bran.

Salil couldn't bear to feed the three big dogs flour.

Lawrence had no say in this. The three dogs were borrowed by Andrew. Andrew didn't have any dog ​​food to express his opinion. Lawrence couldn't say anything.

Today's dog food was a little richer. After Lawrence brought back the rabbit, Sariel added rabbit blood and intestines to the dog food.

There are even a few bones.

"woooo~"

The sled dogs waggled their tails, using only their noses to determine the luxury of today's dinner.

That's the smell of meat!

Lawrence divided the food according to size, giving Tim first.

Tim wagged his tail, impatiently and patiently running around the rice bowl, lowering his head and forelimbs to pay attention to the hot rice poured from the bucket into his rice bowl.

The other two sled dogs, Tila and Tier, were licking their tongues and squatting behind their respective rice bowls, craning their necks and waiting eagerly.

The three dogs were named after Doug's friends. The tavern owner had a dead friend named Mural, so he gave the three dog brothers the names Tim, Tira, and Till.

Tim is the eldest of the three brothers, and the other two dogs recognize him as the boss.

However, Tim was not the boss of the sled team, and Lawrence could not guess the specific status of these three dogs in the sled team.

The three sled dogs have established a clear sense of status, not only for themselves and their brothers, but also for the livestock and humans on the farm.

Lawrence continued to feed the pigs and sheep. The three little pigs were easy to take care of, and they took the initiative to eat and sleep every day. The only troublesome thing was preparing food for them, cleaning up the excrement, and cleaning the pig pen.

Fortunately, the three little pigs are now less than knee-high, so they can handle eating, drinking, and diarrhea very easily.

Lawrence went into the sheepfold to clean again, using a pitchfork to clean out the dirty wet grass, and using a broom to sweep out the excrement.

The current scale is very small, so as long as it is cleaned every day, the daily workload is actually not large.

Lawrence fed Dome sheep carefully prepared fodder.

The hens we brought back have not settled down yet, and they still have no intention of laying eggs today.

Fortunately, the other hens at home laid an egg. Lawrence opened the egg and dropped it into the forage. The Dom sheep ate better than the three dogs. In addition to the eggs, the forage also contained fish bone meal, wheat flour, pea cakes, and salt. Wait for fine feed.

After finishing these tasks, it was already dark. Lawrence closed the fence at Sofia's urging, washed his hands, and ate with the two of them.

In addition to toasted bread and baked potatoes, today's dinner also includes roasted rabbit.

There is an oven in the kitchen dedicated to making bread, similar to the oven dedicated to roast duck.

Andrew had enough thought to make soups and dishes when he was here, while Salil was used to making simple meals because she had a lot to do.

The side dishes are pickled pickles and salted fish that have been stored for a long time.

Lawrence was eating food as usual, and while he was eating, he suddenly heard Sophia's shout.

"too delicious!"

Lawrence showed a look of astonishment. He looked at Sophia and found that Sophia's face was filled with joy and contentment.

Lawrence looked down at the rabbit meat that Sophia was eating. He had already eaten some of this meat. It was just barbecue without any seasonings and tasted meaty.

The taste is not bad. If Sariel asks if it is delicious, Lawrence will also say it is delicious.

But deep down, Lawrence... Sariel showed a happy and gentle look, "Thanks to Lawrence for bringing back fresh rabbit meat, otherwise if we want to eat meat, we would have to eat ham that has been stored for a long time."

In this era, hams were all made of meat, and there could be no hams made of flour.

As a substitute for fresh ingredients, neither ham nor pickles can be called delicious.

Perhaps in the mouths of those who have not eaten meat for a long time, it is a supreme delicacy, but most people who have no worries about food and clothing cannot taste this delicacy.

Lawrence did not have enough food and clothing, nor did he eat all the delicious food in the world.

But his heart was still as persistent as ever, and the meat and pickles in his mouth became more and more uncomfortable.

Roujiamo is better than this.

I want to eat something good...

Lawrence wanted fried chicken and broth laced with MSG.

What he pursues is not only delicious food, but also the difference between himself and the world, and his persistence that he has never given up.

But reality does not allow this.

Lawrence ate quietly.

Sofia noticed Lawrence, "Master, what are you thinking about?"

Lawrence said: "I am thinking about what work I will do tomorrow. Tomorrow I will collect stones and build the walls of the stone house as soon as possible."

After hearing this, Salil said curiously: "It will rain tomorrow, didn't you know?"

"I don't know." Lawrence really didn't know this, but he trusted the judgment of the mountain people on this matter, and said directly: "Then let me make some tools at home. I just found the Dom sheep when I was feeding the sheep. The sheep's hoof has become longer, I will help it repair it tomorrow."

Sariel looked at Lawrence with bright eyes, "Lawrence, can you trim sheep's hooves?"

"Yes." Lawrence thought it was nothing, and continued: "The weather is getting colder and colder recently, so I need to prepare some charcoal that can be easily lit."

Salil nodded, accepting the knowledge of charcoal quite naturally.

From the time they learned how to burn fire, humans have mastered the method of making charcoal.

The next morning, Lawrence got up early and found that it was not raining outside.

The weather is still sunny today and looks like it will be a good day.

Lawrence took three sled dogs to check the trap, but as expected, found nothing.

It takes a lot of time to set up traps, and if you want to cast a wide net to catch fish, you need to spend enough time to weave the net.

Setting up traps around requires walking a lot of places. If you can catch a rabbit in a busy afternoon, it's okay, but you often can't.

Especially recently, time and energy have been devoted to building houses, and as the weather gets colder and animals are reluctant to come out, basically no prey falls into the trap.

No matter how many prey have been caught in the past, as long as no prey is caught in the next few days, then relying solely on hunting to feed the family is a junk occupation with a very high risk factor.

Therefore, hunters in the mountains are mostly alone, and they are not as good as plain farmers with their families.

In the warm morning sun, Lawrence took out his dagger and began sharpening it while Sophia and Saryl inspected the sheep that needed hoof trimming.

Sheep's hooves are equivalent to sheep's nails, and they will continue to grow just like cow's hooves and horse's hooves.

If it is a sheep that goes out for running every day, its hooves will grow slowly due to wear and tear, and generally do not need to be trimmed.

Dom sheep seldom run, and because they are relatively large and eat a lot, slightly longer hooves would be a hindrance.

Once the nails are abnormally worn, split or bumped into the ankle, it will directly affect the normal pace.

Hooves are prone to disease when they grow long, and the same goes for goats and sheep. They are usually trimmed after they have been in the hooves for a winter.

When Salil came out with Dom the sheep, she saw the dagger in Lawrence's hand and asked, "Do you need scissors?"

Lawrence raised his head, "If so, that would be the best."

"Wait." Salil quickly entered the room and took out a pair of iron scissors.

Lawrence didn't want to damage Sariel's scissors, so he prepared an extra basin of hot water and used the warm water to scrub the Dom sheep's hooves repeatedly to remove the dirt and dirt on them, and also soften the cuticle on the hooves.

After Lawrence felt that he was almost done, he said to Sariel: "Let Nora lie down, I'm going to start."

"Okay!" Salil quickly comforted the Dom sheep to lie down. While feeding the Dom sheep grass to distract it, she looked at Lawrence who was squatting behind the sheep's hooves.

Lawrence used scissors to cut off the outer tip of the hoof, and then used a dagger to cut the thickness of the nails in the seams of the sheep's hooves. As if doing carpentry, he polished the sheep's hooves into smooth wood and removed the excess.

In the past few days, I have often made mortises and tenons on the branches to fit together, and this time it came in handy.

Even though it was my first time trying this kind of manicure, I managed to complete a hoof smoothly.

It's basically the same as cutting your nails, except for the extra ring on the outside. It should be noted that many places on the hoof surface are severely worn, so you need to cut off the damaged part, otherwise it will continue to spread.

The other three hooves were much more relaxed. Dom Sheep seemed to know that his hooves were being trimmed, so he lay on the ground and waited obediently.

This job is a bit dirty and tiring, and requires strength.

As long as you don't touch it with the tip of the knife, or accidentally plunge it into the leg of mutton, there is generally no danger to your life.

(End of this chapter)