[DartmoorLiz]

I'm trying to make working the flock a one woman job.  I have seen youtube clips of super automated systems that weigh and sort the sheep at the touch of a button.  This is a little over the top for me but I would like to take some of the  and stress out of vaccinating, dagging and drenching. 


Any suggestions?

[SallyintNorth]

Were I was previously, we researched and bought the Alligator system from Cox Agri.  It's mobile, you can tow it to wherever.  If you don't need mobile, then just a selection of sections of the IAE sheep penning, treatment race and so on might suit you.  (There will be other makes too; I'd certainly look into what Bateman do if I was buying for myself now.)

On the moorland farm, we had solid pens for collecting and treating, and a triangular / funnel made up of one solid side, some IAE solid panels and a swinging gate.  This led into a drenching race with an inline sorting gate and a weigh crate, a holding pen at the top and the side.  Very simple and very effective - we managed 530 ewes and all their lambs with this setup.

[Rosemary]

[member=2128]Womble[/member] built one and I think the plans are on here somewhere. The Alligator system is pricey but great if you need to be mobile - it's really light - but the basic system if about £3k, I think.

Tim Tyne's book has a layout for a simple system.

[Womble]

Yes, there are some photos of our setup on this thread. It wasn't cheap, but it wasn't £3K either!





My only regret was that we used large stones for the base, which are hard on hooves and tipped up sheep, so I wish we'd used something smaller and rounder. Apart from that, it works really well, and it's nice that once the sheep are in there, I know they're absolutely secure (ours will jump out of hurdle pens if they feel like it).


We use it by catching them in the biggest square, then using the 10' internal gate to herd them into the top rectangle, then shoo them into the square at the top-right for dosing etc. Although it's not a race as such, it's easy enough to dose or inject and then use a sheep crayon to mark the heads of the animals that have been done.


The sheep can then be 'shed' by opening the gates out into different fields, or into the trailer.


I hope that's helpful 

[DartmoorLiz]

Thank you Sally, Rosemary and Womble.  The pen layout looks like it could be installed in a junction between 3 fields, thank you for the heads up on ground coveringl.  That's not the first time I have had Tim Tyne's book recommended - I will add it to my Christmas list.

[Tim W]

take a look at the Ronmey Ranger too , you may get some ideas from it

[henchard]

There was another thread on this a few months back where I posted two photos of mine built from mostly posts, rails and gates with a short S/H sheep race.

Easily built when I fenced the field; just had to knock some extra posts in.


There is a holding pen and a small forcing gate that leads into a narrowing race (built with rails) that turns the sheep back into the race against the container. The space between the holding pen and the race is a clean area to work in. Costs; some posts, some fence rails, some sheep wire, two gates and an old S/H race. Has made life much simpler.