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Shepherdess Lohse: “I always have to be vigilant”

Photo:

Jasper Engel

Starting your working life is exciting, exhausting – and often completely different than planned.

In the series “My First Year in the Job,” young professionals talk about how they experienced this time.

This time: Marthe Lohse, 26, travels through Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania as a shepherdess with her flock.

»On one

During the working day I shout “Määäh” countless times.

Yes, I talk to the sheep and build trust in them, sometimes they bleat back.

I never knew before that you could learn to be a shepherd.

But after a school lecture about dying professions and an internship lasting several weeks, I was thrilled.

Sheep are reliable and radiate calm.

And because I'm also a calm person, we complement each other well.

There are only two vocational schools for prospective shepherds in this country, one of which I attended in Halle (Saale).

Block lessons took place there for a week once a month; we trainees lived in a boarding school during this time.

I learned how to raise sheep, how to produce meat, how to produce wool and milk.

I completed my training after three years.

The practical part took place in my teaching company, where I am still employed today.

I've been hiking for five years now, my territory is the farmland and nature conservation areas around Schwerin.

I am accompanied by around 1000 animals, including Schnucken, Skudden, Rhön sheep and some goats.

Sometimes I stay in one place with them, sometimes we hike 15 kilometers in one day.

My friends complain that I work too much and don't take enough care of myself.

But I like being alone with the animals.

I don't get bored, sometimes I listen to crime podcasts.

I certainly don't want to romanticize the profession.

You have to know what you're getting into.

The effort is great: I

work every day from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., looking after the sheep, carrying water troughs, pulling fences, checking the claws.

I always have to know whether all the animals are okay.

I am currently paid around 1900 euros net.

Converted to the hour, that means I earn about minimum wage.

Even if it's enough for me to live on, it would be nice to have more.

One thing I learned during my training is that you have to be able to work independently.

And have bite.

I'm outside a lot and have to get physical.

Summer is particularly stressful because the lambs are born in spring and then have to be cared for.

I counteract the cold wave in winter with several layers of clothing, lots of thermals, and exercise.

Autumn is the most relaxed season, as there is a lot of thick green fodder on the areas.

The sheep like that.

Poisoned sheep, attacks by wolves

Nevertheless, something can go wrong at any time.

Once I was herding a field with buckwheat, but the sheep couldn't tolerate the plant.

30 of them were poisoned and eventually died.

That was frustrating.

Another time my sheep escaped through a hole in the fence to the cows, who then chased the sheep.

The local farmer was very angry with me.

I always have to be vigilant: more and more wolves have settled in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in recent years, and I have already seen some myself.

In my first year after training, they tore a number of sheep from my flock.

To prevent this, I now set up electric pasture nets and train livestock guard dogs.

I am a rarity among shepherds, hardly anyone is as young as me, the average age in the industry is around 60 years old.

In recent years, many migrant shepherds have given up and my job is in danger of extinction.

That worries me.

We shepherds can also get further training; I, for example, started my master's degree alongside my work.

The course normally lasts two years, but you can also complete it in a compact form in half a year.

In it you learn business aspects such as personnel management and prepare for starting your own business.

I would only be allowed to train trainees if I had a master’s degree.

However, learning fell by the wayside due to the long working days.

Right now I don't know whether I really want to take the master's examination and run a business later.

What I know: I want to work with sheep forever.«

Have you just started your career and would like to tell us about it?

Then write to us at SPIEGEL-Start@spiegel.de.