Cotter-Crate

[neilo]

I see there has been a new sheep handling clamp launched a few weeks ago. Made in Ireland out of stainless steel and looks to have a drop floor so sheep are suspended like in a conveyor.
They claim that you can handle ewes and lambs together, which is one of the downsides of the CombiClamp IMO, and the (steep?) lead up ramp has a rubber floor and anti-backing wings.

It looks to have some clever thinking in the design. What do the collective think?

Cotter Crate Sheep + Lamb Handler | Cotter Agritech

www.cotteragritech.com

 

[hally]

Looks good but not very mobile. What’s the cost?
Just finished dosing/jabbing/clicking and dagging out 250 pair today which is away from home and needed a prattley and our te pari with associated compressors/ batteries etc so could really do with something simpler for the first dose as they are too small for the te pari so need a race but still like the te pari for saving my back when dagging and fluking the ewes.

 

[Al R]

Looks good although wouldn’t want to try and line it up bang on up to a Rappa yard.

I like the idea of the weight gain/smart worm but that would require all lambs tagged, both quote around 35-40% reduction in wormer, basically they missed one, could that have been down to the 3 exceptional periods of dry weather last year reducing worm activity to start with

unsure if it has a dagging facility?
What’s great is the lads have come up with a new design, hopefully they can get some more ideas going

 

[Al R]

Looks good but not very mobile. What’s the cost?
Just finished dosing/jabbing/clicking and dagging out 250 pair today which is away from home and needed a prattley and our te pari with associated compressors/ batteries etc so could really do with something simpler for the first dose as they are too small for the te pari so need a race but still like the te pari for saving my back when dagging and fluking the ewes.

TePari/Combi clamp type is definitely a must for dagging ewes, I was to stubborn to move my combi clamp 5 mile away this year so did 140 ewes in the Rappa race

@hally what I do when lambs are under 8 weeks is put the dosing pens the other side of the Rappa yard and draft all the ewes out except for 1-2 Judas ewes to keep the lambs quiet, far easier on the knees and less likelihood of small lambs getting squashed or hiding underneath

 

[hally]

If you are only worming some lambs will that mean they will need to be handled very regularly to keep on top of a worm burden. We tend to just handle them every six weeks but wouldn’t like to miss some lambs which will not be handled for another six weeks?

 

[neilo]

Looks good but not very mobile. What’s the cost?
Just finished dosing/jabbing/clicking and dagging out 250 pair today which is away from home and needed a prattley and our te pari with associated compressors/ batteries etc so could really do with something simpler for the first dose as they are too small for the te pari so need a race but still like the te pari for saving my back when dagging and fluking the ewes.

I think the whole lot, with shedding gate and weighbar kit (without weigh head), is about £6,600.

 

[hally]

TePari/Combi clamp type is definitely a must for dagging ewes, I was to stubborn to move my combi clamp 5 mile away this year so did 140 ewes in the Rappa race

@hally what I do when lambs are under 8 weeks is put the dosing pens the other side of the Rappa yard and draft all the ewes out except for 1-2 Judas ewes to keep the lambs quiet, far easier on the knees and less likelihood of small lambs getting squashed or hiding underneath

That’s what we do, draft the ewes in the prattley trailer and put the lambs into the race and get rid of them, then put all the back through the prattley at the finish with the te pari on the end of the race. Did some Cheviot mule ewes the other day and as there was only 100 didn’t take the te pari but used my old self looking yoke at the end of the race, was bloody knackered when I got home

 

[Al R]

If you are only worming some lambs will that mean they will need to be handled very regularly to keep on top of a worm burden. We tend to just handle them every six weeks but wouldn’t like to miss some lambs which will not be handled for another six weeks?

The bigger issue is if you are worming 30% of a group is it not putting the other’s at risk? The old rule of thumb was leave 10% undosed, I’ve read quite a few articles which have said that that often accelerated wormer resistance on farms

 

[hally]

I think the whole lot, with shedding gate and weighbar kit (without weigh head), is about £6,600.

So by the time it’s trailer mounted it’s going to be 10k so a lot unless it performs every job

 

[neilo]

Looks good although wouldn’t want to try and line it up bang on up to a Rappa yard.

I like the idea of the weight gain/smart worm but that would require all lambs tagged, both quote around 35-40% reduction in wormer, basically they missed one, could that have been down to the 3 exceptional periods of dry weather last year reducing worm activity to start with

unsure if it has a dagging facility?
What’s great is the lads have come up with a new design, hopefully they can get some more ideas going

It has a 'dagging flap' in the picture, which presumably drops down out of the way?

 

[neilo]

That’s what we do, draft the ewes in the prattley trailer and put the lambs into the race and get rid of them, then put all the back through the prattley at the finish with the te pari on the end of the race. Did some Cheviot mule ewes the other day and as there was only 100 didn’t take the te pari but used my old self looking yoke at the end of the race, was bloody knackered when I got home

Age, or is the TePari making you unfit?

 

[Al R]

It has a 'dagging flap' in the picture, which presumably drops down out of the way?

What about those inch perfect movements like you can do with the combi clamp, I’m no fan of the combi clamp for general use but for dagging I think it trumps everything else being able to make minor adjustments while working the animal…

 

[hally]

Age, or is the TePari making you unfit?

I was unfit before the te pari but late fifties doesn’t help. On the plus side I always look for an easier way to do a job nowadays

 

[Bury the Trash]

First impression, its too steep again worse than combi clamp. over complicated too expensive. too clumsy.

its good to see new design ideas but there is a great need for basic clamps of some sort ,made from galve steel so cheaper and made simpler but effective.
Handling sheep in the modern day needs a lot more thought to save the physical a lots has been improved yes, but there is far more can be done i bet.

The weight gain good /bad dose /not idea /software is a separate thing altogether . just obviously better drench with the lamb held .

Also for his set up i wouldve thought using a Tepari rev. gun would be even better if he wants to really fine tune drench use.

 

[neilo]

Yes, I thought it looked steep in the picture. Sheep certainly flow better through my clamp now I’ve made the ramp less steep.

I just wonder if sheep would stand more quietly with the drop floor, like in a conveyor, rather than fight the bolusing/drench gun each time?

I’m looking forward to seeing one in the flesh.

 

[hally]

A good test of it will be if they are happy to run through after a few times

 

[BELOWAVERAGE]

Yes, I thought it looked steep in the picture. Sheep certainly flow better through my clamp now I’ve made the ramp less steep.

I just wonder if sheep would stand more quietly with the drop floor, like in a conveyor, rather than fight the bolusing/drench gun each time?

I’m looking forward to seeing one in the flesh.

Apologies for being off topic but, had a few hours at Stafford show the other day, and the old boy who used to go round giving advice/helping was missing (the one who got mugged at Royal Welsh) do you know how he is/is he still about ?

 

[neilo]

Apologies for being off topic but, had a few hours at Stafford show the other day, and the old boy who used to go round giving advice/helping was missing (the one who got mugged at Royal Welsh) do you know how he is/is he still about ?

I’ve not seen him for ages, but maybe just not been in the same places? Used to bump into him pretty regularly.
His brother lived in a cottage here, but he sadly passed away a couple of years ago.

 

[BELOWAVERAGE]

I’ve not seen him for ages, but maybe just not been in the same places? Used to bump into him pretty regularly.
His brother lived in a cottage here, but he sadly passed away a couple of years ago.

OK thanks, just used to like having a chat and seeing his passion for the job.

 

[Johngee]

I’ve seen the crate being used at Irwel Jones’ farm near Lampeter (I think John Yeomans had one on trial too). Looked useful -although I haven’t used a combiclamp so can’t compare.
The principle of dosing according to weight gain is interesting and doesn’t have to be limited to this kit. The day we were there the bunch of lambs with Irwel had been done a month before and about half had been dosed then. That day about 90% needed a drench, i.e. their weight gain had been poor over the previous month