Hello , wondered if. Any body had any pictures of there sheep handling pens / system , looking to build some for approx 90 ewes plus lambs and not quite sure of dimensions needed for pens and races ideally wanting a wider race for dosing etc and a shedding race as well . Any info or pictures gratefully received , thanks
Fixed sheep handling pens
- Thread starter jackp
- Start date
- Location
- North Yorkshire
Have a search on here, few good ideas
An ancient git
Member
Main thing is to make main initial penning area big enough to stuff in your 90 ewes plus all the lambs you expect , and not too tight . It'll be a lot bigger than your initial thoughts , when the lambs are (say) 4 months old !! I just work with that concept and have a race/shedder thereafter . Put your ewe gang in 'whatever space' needed currently , and then 3X that as a minimum . And have some 'squeezer' gate apparatus or they'll drive you nuts by running back on you .....
- Location
- West Wales
45x20 shed here holds 70 texel and 140 fat/near fat lambs.
3ft dosing race is ideal as you can turn ewes around in it and walk between 2 ewes. Length would depend on your space and how many you want to treat at a time? My dosing race is 35’, 4ft wide taping down to 2ft, it holds 30 texel ewes if pushed tight but probably to big for what you need, 16ft on the Rappa works very well! Are you going to expand the flock? Would you split into groups of maximum of 90 ewes with lambs or allow for 150ewes/300lambs for future proofing.
the main drawback to my static system is the shed before the race limits me to 70E/140L so I can’t run mobs any bigger (not that I really want to either as I find growth rates can drop over this)
3ft dosing race is ideal as you can turn ewes around in it and walk between 2 ewes. Length would depend on your space and how many you want to treat at a time? My dosing race is 35’, 4ft wide taping down to 2ft, it holds 30 texel ewes if pushed tight but probably to big for what you need, 16ft on the Rappa works very well! Are you going to expand the flock? Would you split into groups of maximum of 90 ewes with lambs or allow for 150ewes/300lambs for future proofing.
the main drawback to my static system is the shed before the race limits me to 70E/140L so I can’t run mobs any bigger (not that I really want to either as I find growth rates can drop over this)
loading yer forcing pen is the biggest challenge. this layout gets them looking at a unsheeted gate coming in .... if thats to the south or sun light then all the better, once theyre in the funnell /forcing pen youre away....
that layout s a bit 'buddy box' or bud box
that layout s a bit 'buddy box' or bud box
the cattle handling idea 'bud box' is good way of doing it for sheep as well .... especially for smaller numbers / smaller flocks ir
that one would be suitable for those without suitable dogs as well ..
Last edited:
ShooTa
Member
- Location
- Denbighshire - In the vale of Clwyd!
^^doesnt work well with shearing - from my amateur trial this year...
- Location
- Scotland
This is the one I have. Pretty good but the race is high so you're sore at the end of a day dosing. I got the flap things as an extra in the race so the sheep can't reverse to far.
It's the Ritchie extended trombone I think it's called
What sort of dimensions is this please and how many does it hold ?, I have looked on the Ritchie web site , but can’t read the dimensions on there, thanks
- Location
- West Wales
The race i think is 8ft panels, each pen is 12x8.
If you look on IAE website they have the same size systems but I think it says capacities on?
- Location
- Lancashire
But Shearing is a different matter, they dont like it, its either the noise or the different unfamiliar ness of the trailer/ pen/ floor ,
Turning the radio off and only one Shearer helps pen loading as when they finish a sheep the machine is quiet when catching...
Shearing pen in use all year round makes a darn good buddy box or for a small group , pouron application drenching even with a marker, or just sorting sheep with all the doors for drafting etc. The good point with it is that they get used to going through it so that when shearing time comes its same as...
The sheep dipper man
Member
- Location
- north east
Last edited by a moderator:
ShooTa
Member
- Location
- Denbighshire - In the vale of Clwyd!
do you have a shedding gate in that system? @The sheep dipper man
- Location
- Yorkshire
Looks like there's one at end of race on right
The sheep dipper man
Member
- Location
- north east
Yes its a 3 way shedder at the end of it
The sheep dipper man
Member
- Location
- north east
Ill post more photos
Chapelton
Member
- Location
- Castle Douglas
Our Prattley set up is inspired by Proway designs (they have good stuff on YouTube) where you're always working off the inside of the curve. They come in one corner of the shed, run up the passage, around the top 270 degrees and run down the race heading directly for the place they entered the shed. The sheep now find their own way to the draft gate / handler. The gates at the back of the race are almost never shut.
