Mixed flocks of sheep and rams grazed outdoors from early spring. Every farmer kept a record of how many animals went off to pasture. In the autumn the sheep returned home and were recorded.
The sheep dairy farm or shieling, in Slovak “salaš” was administered by a warden, called “slašník” and the organiser of the life in teh farm was “bača”. He seldom went out with the flocks staying most of the time in the farm where he cooked and processed the cheese, moved the fences on the meadows and prepared the food for the men. His hands called “valasi” cared after and milked the sheep. They had their salary called “salár” paid in money and in kind. The grazing sheep and their supervision was assisted by the men called “honelníci” who were temporarily contracted as the need arose. White sheep dogs were the best assistants to the bača and the men. The most feared enemy of the sheep dairy-farmer was the bear. The men defended the sheep as best they could by setting fires around the fences, by shouting, accomparied by the barking dogs. But the occasional attacks by the bears were difficult to prevent and consequently the farm lost one or two sheep, usually the fattest and biggest ones.