We camped on the Billabong and enjoyed watching all the wild life.
This photo was taken from right behind the caravan where we were camped.
The Zodiac was great for traveling up and down the billabong and trying to catch one of those illusive fish.
The Trilby Station information below was supplied by the station owners Gary and Liz Murray.
TRILBY STATION POINTS OF INTEREST
Trilby Station itself is 127,721 acres (51,686 hectares).
Approx .26,000 acres is Darling River flood plain with heavy, grey self
mulching soils. The remainder of the property is red loam scattered with
Leopardwood, Beefwood, Sandlewood, Rosewood, Ironwood, Bimblebox and good
edible Mulga trees. The Mulga trees can be pushed with a bulldozer or cut in
drought times to feed stock. They regenerate over time. The branches of the Leopardwood
tree are also good drought fodder. In drought times the stock will come running
as soon as they hear the bulldozer - knowing they are about to be fed!
Trilby is sub-divided into 18 paddocks, with 4 holding
paddocks and is watered by the Darling River, ground tanks (you may call them
dams) and bores - one of which is a flowing bore. Most of the bores are
equipped with windmills, though we are gradually changing over to electric (or
solar) mono pumps. The West Trilby block is bisected by Cuttaburra Channel
Country, growing lignum and cane-grass and is subject to periodical flooding
from the Paroo River. In 2011 we saw the Paroo and Cuttaburra in flood for the first
time since 1990 and we are currently experiencing another smaller flood there
this year. Although this has necessitated the construction of a levee bank
around the West Trilby shearing shed and huts to keep the rising floodwaters at
bay, we are incredibly pleased to see so much country now underwater. It will
grow a magnificent volume of feed after the waters recede. It is 90km from the
Homestead to the West Trilby shearing shed.
In 2008 we added 'New Chum' to our holdings, and last year
'Mt Mulyah' and 'Pelora', bringing our total area to just over 320,000 acres.
These properties were all apart of the original Dunlop and adjoin Trilby,
simplifying management.
Feral goats are a very important income factor for us, being
the most widely exported meat out of Australia, mainly to Muslim countries.
And, believe me, there is no shortage of them out this way, as you've probably
noticed on your travels to Trilby. A female goat (Nanny) begins breeding at about 7 months,
has 2 'kiddings' a year... and often bears 2, 3 or 4 kids at a time!! Better
than rabbits! They graze on scrub rather than grasses so areideal for our very
scrub infested country back off the river. Being feral, they wander (into the
wind), going straight through your fences. The goats are only considered yours
to muster when they are on your property.
Sale price varies from around $14 per head to upwards of
$50, depending on the supply/demand at the time. 17kg is the minimum going
weight, and we can sell per head or 'over the hook' which is a cents per
kilogram rate. If the majority of our sale goats are smallish to average,
around 17-20k9 we take the per head rate, however if we have a big mob of huge
billies (yep, the guys) we'll choose the over the hook rate. Early last year the
per kg rate was $1.46.... making for around $60 for the big guys. As I type
now, the rate is around 50 cents a KG...making the big guys worth only around
$20!! This is due to the dry year we've had and an oversupply of goats. Farmers
are spending more time rounding up the goats to get rid of them off the farm
(more grass and feed for sheep and cattle).Sheep/cattle/wool prices have also
fallen in the past 12 months so farmers are again relying on goats for
increased income, and are therefore mustering more of them. Supply has overstepped demand.
We sell live to the local Louth goat depot, who pickup from
our yards at no cost. The goats are trucked to Albury Wodonga, on the VIC
border, blessed and slaughtered Halal style for the Muslim market. Without a
doubt, no grazier would still be viable here in the Western Division without
the income provided by feral goats over the years. In recent years we've constructed goat proof
fencing (electric and ringlock wire) on a portion of Trilby to enable us to
keep the nannies and kids, just selling off the billies. These paddocks have
one way trap gates, allowing goats to enter but not leave. They are very effective
indeed. We've also constructed small trap yards around watering points, with the
same one way gates as well as ramps ( as goats love to jump), and use these
over summer when there is no other water source for them to access... making
the catching a simple matter and forgone conclusion.
Western NSW is lease-hold country and the Western Lands
Commission rate us at one dry sheep to every ten acres (a dry sheep is one
without a lamb at foot) on Trilby and one sheep for 12 acres on Newchum, Mt Mulyah
and Pelora. Our stock numbers have been down for many years, due to the extreme
drought. Until mid 2010 we have been consistently drought declared since
October 2001. Over a three day period in January 09 we received 105mm (420
points) of rain - our biggest fall in 92 months!! However, with no follow-up
rains, the grasses generated soon perished in the hot sun. The Gods have finally
seen fit to shine on us and since around October 2010, when we received five
and a half inches of rain overnight, we've been receiving reasonably consistent
falls.
In drought years we hand fed barley to many of the sheep for
a period of time, drought rations, but enough to keep them going... trying to
hang on to our breeding ewes as long as we could. . . till the rains came. At a
cost of about $ I per sheep per week, (Barley was costing us about $360 a tonne
plus freight.)... this understandably was restricted to absolute necessity
only.
Currently we're carrying around 20,000 merino sheep (up from
17,500 in2012). Approx 12,200 ewes are joined to Haddon Rig stud merino rams,
due to lamb out in spring.
Following the
improved season in 2010 we marked 7,384lambs that year - an average of 92%.
However in 201 1 we only marked around 690 , {6,400 lambs) and last year 6,041 lambs
- 57% - very surprising considering the fantastic season we were having. Low lambing
percentages was a common problem throughout Western NSW, resulting in a webinar
to attempt to unravel the causes.
One property in our area scanned 120 per cent fetuses per ewe
yet marked only 30 per cent - so it wasn't a fertility issue or lamb loss at
lambing, thus authorities tried to uncover exactly where and how those lambs
were lost.
Factors which could have contributed include: worms - a
major problem last season, they reduce body condition making sheep sick and in
severe cases causing death. A combination of heat and humidity can cause heat
stress which can produce small lambs with less chance of survival at birth.
Mosquitoes and other biting insects can transmit viruses and infections which
could directly affect unborn lambs, or indirectly through their mother's
increased body temperature. Increased fox, pig and wild dog populations due to
the excellent season and flooding could be impacting on lamb survival.
Sheep spending extended periods in waterlogged pastures,
leading to foot and skin infections.
In2004 we marked just 90 lambs and in 2005 we didn't join at
all, as it was just too dry and the ewes too poor. The ewes often don't 'cycle'
in a bad drought and if they do manage to lamb they often abandon them
anyway... rain arrived in June 05 - which was too late to join ... but
fortunately, thanks to a visitor who left a gate open.... we ended up with
about 600 'immaculate conceptions'.
Roughly half of each year's lambs are whethers ( so, boy
sheep that we castrate), and these are sold online via 'Auctions Plus'... which
is like Ebay for sheep, Our 2010 whethers were sold for $ 1 18 per head ! ! We
decided to hold onto our spring 2011 whether lambs until after shearing last
year, hoping to grow them out a bit more for an improved price. That way we
also got the wool from them. They sold for $80 to Country Fresh, an abattoir in
Tamworth. An accredited assessor visits the station to inspect a cut (around l0%)
of the mob to be sold. Each sheep is individually weighed and assessed for condition,
wool quality (such as length, whether there is a large amount of burr and dirt
in the wool for instance) and photographs of the mob are taken. These are then
uploaded onto the livestock auction site and on the day of sale prospective
buyers bid for your sheep. This system works very well for us as the nearest
sale yards are Narromine, 440km away. It costs a lot per head to cart sheep to
sale, meaning you are committed to sell, regardless of the maximum bid
received... as you simply can't afford to truck them back home again. By
selling online you have a reserve, so the sheep only sell once the reserve is
met. If they don't sell there has been no cost to you (as the sheep are still
in the paddock) ... and if they do, the buyer pays the freight to get his stock
home.
We class our young ewes and cull off anything that doesn't
have a good conformation or who's wool isn't fine enough for our flock, and
while these are our cull sheep (rejects) they are top notch to others not quite
so fussy. Obviously... as the buyer paid $214 per head in 2012, a price we've
only ever dream't of in the past.
Our busiest (and most exciting time of the year as wool
producers) is shearing, which begins mid May for about a month. We expect to
get around 460 bales of wool when shearing is completed this year. A bale
weighs around 186 kg, which is the wool from around 32 grown sheep. A grown
sheep this year will produce about 6kg of wool, down just over a kg per head on
last year ... due to the super good season, too much rain etc. ironic isn't
it!! So for 17 ,686 sheep, which includes 6,152lambs - we expect to end up with
around 446bales. Wool prices are currently falling due to the uncertainty in
Europe, but we hope to achieve about $1200 bale. lt costs us around $12 per sheep to shear. $7
goes directly to our contractor (he brings the whole team... so 6 shearers,
shed hands, wool presser, wool classer, pen-er-uppers (a term our kids still
use, denotes the guy who pens the sheep up ready for the shearers to shear them!!),
cook and all the groceries they require. We provide a clean bed with mattress cover
and pillow per shearer and a clean set of quarters and the team simply moves in
for the duration. The remaining costs to shear a sheep include chemicals,
woolpacks, cartage of wool to sale and staff wages.
Due to the size of our station we have 4 shearing sheds,
each with its own shearer's quarters. The shed here at the homestead, one at
West Trilby - about l00 km from here, one at Newchum - about 40 km from here and
one at Mt Mulyah, about 65km from here.
As the sheep in the vicinity of each shed are shorn the team
moves to the next shed and mustering continues.
During the flood last year and for a similar period in 2011
we were completely surrounded by water here at the Homestead for three to four
months. We needed to either fly or boat to leave the island, a novelty to begin
with but it wore quite thin by the end, believe me. The flooding resulted from
the Dec 2011 flooding around the Moree area, and then the St George/Charleville
floods in January 2012.. Most rivers on the eastern side of Australia, and west
of the Great Divide, eventually end up flowing into the Darling River. Flooding
here is not overnight/instant... we have weeks to prepare, allowing us time to
move all of our stock onto higher ground, replenish the gas bottles, pantry etc
and be organized.
I leave my 4WD on the Louth airstrip, (20 kilometres away) so
that should I want to go to town Gary would fl me there, where I couldn't drive
to Bourke, as that road floods, but I could head Cobar way and beyond. With the
Toowoomba floods tagging onto the previous one, and the river not dropping
enough in between to allow us to resupply, we needed the assistance of the SES
on one occasion - they slung some drums of avgas fuel in for our aeroplane with
a chopper ... enabling us to remain self sufficient and not have to rely on
them totally.
We have 3 working dogs. Plugger is the black and tan Kelpie/huntaway,
Rudi is the brown kelpie and Tannie, the smallish black/tan Kelpie Huntaway
with the square house. During the floods last year a huge buck roo on our
island lured Chikka (Rudi's sister) into the rivervand drowned her. Kangaroos
are a very dangerous animal when cornered.
Huntaway's are a New Zealand sheep dog, very affectionate
and great workers - but enormous. We normally cross them with the Kelpie to
control size (can't fit too many huge dogs on the motorbike with you and they
take up too much room in the plane!).
We took a few photos of some of the history items around Trilby
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| Steam engine used to drive various machinery. The engine is mostly intact but like most others like this one, the boiler is rusted out. The engine was built by R Hornsby & Sons Limited, Engineers, Grantham. England. |
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| Two fencers that worked on Trilby full time started out with these 2 old Holdens. This is where they stayed when the broke down |
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| They then advanced to this old Chev truck and when it broke down...... |
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| ...they advanced to this double decker bus. Unfortunately, they hit a low bridge with it and wiped the front of the top section off |
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