Deadstock transport. Good image for farming?

windymiller

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
mid wales
I remember a few years ago an artic passing through Newtown taking a load to burn or whatever, having to brake suddenly and his load slurped out over the front of the trailer, on to the cab and down the front on to the road. Think the cops struggled to clear that one up and got the council in to do it.
 
Dead stock is a fact of life, i dont see why it should be kept behind closed doors ?
I find most people are completely OK with it if you stop to explain what has happened. I have sometimes had to remove an animal from our meadows on the tow chain and you can guarantee you will have to go past a gaggle of fishermen on the way back to the farm for collection, but if you stop to explain your loss, they are invariably sympathetic, and even help keep an eye out in future .also, they are amazed by the passports and disposal regulations Secretly,I think most townfolks want to be seen as proper countrymen!
 

Chae1

Member
Location
Aberdeenshire
Douglas brae offer a great service, they hover around lay-bys waiting for a call. A bit like vultures!

Yes great. Especially since they halved there collection costs overnight after north east fallen stock started. They were charging local farmers in Aberdeenshire more to collect animals than those miles away. Won't use them again.
 

Hilly

Member
Yes great. Especially since they halved there collection costs overnight after north east fallen stock started. They were charging local farmers in Aberdeenshire more to collect animals than those miles away. Won't use them again.
They were coming down here an collecting for less than on there door step, whole thing is just a job creation scheme its ridiculous, bio security ticking time bomb.
 

Chae1

Member
Location
Aberdeenshire
They were coming down here an collecting for less than on there door step, whole thing is just a job creation scheme its ridiculous, bio security ticking time bomb.
My wife came across one on local side road where back door had came open! Dead animals all over road. Guess it must happen.

I used to hang out on the knackery stand at local show and have a beer with drivers. Father said it was a bad sign. Must be here too often.
 

tomtom8

Member
my local knacker yard is 6mls away charge £40+ just for the transport,..so i get the pickup out and do it myself like in the picture,i do sheet up though,.1 mate did the same had to travel further though i said"did you sheet it up""nar he said **ck em,..but i think people should see this,they should understand,because they are getting so far removed from country life/death
 
Don't see the point of the beast not being covered, bad treatment of animals or bad codes of practice, but I do think we are getting over the top in hiding the reality to the general public, which creates an issue when they see something that in fact is reality. Had a friend up last weekend with his wife and 3 youngish kids, hadn't seen him in 20 odd years, hes a "townie" but a market town a mile or so from real country. Obviously hid 2 sheep in the adopter, put away a lamb skinned that morning, he said amazing the difference of seeing a real farm from the lambing day farms they have visited around my area. He was talking seeing placenta, one ewe that hadn't fully cleansed. Was amazed, though he was innocently saying it, how pure,tidy, clean, unrealistic they want it. Lambing days around here are hugely profitable, obviously with a lot of hard work, ive thought about it, and what would I do? Finish lambing and do a lambing day when I have 25 stragglers left and I can chase up after piece of stray afterbirth, and wash and cleanse each ewe post lambing. Think our push for best welfare has gone too far, in that whilst good and admirable, as ive said on another thread, they ought to be shown how bad it is elsewhere, not right, but general public shouldn't be afraid of seeing afterbirth or a skin on a lamb, they should however value animals cared for yet accept it doesn't come without the odd loss or disaster that isn't caused by negligence, simply nature?
 
We,ve just discussing this after I showed Mrs F the photo, and her view is that it should be covered up on the public road, because it gives the impression that the farmer is rough and lacks attention to detail, which doesn't give a good impression of our production methods. As she says, if your dog died you wouldn't parade it round like that, so even a dead cow should have some basic respect, to show we are not just treating it as a commodity. It does seem to show an attitude of "Up yours, Jo Public!" which isn't the best way to treat our customers.
 
Quite agree, but if in madness of middle of lambing should you be expected to remove a dead lamb from a footpath for fear of upsetting someone? If its a slip, or say had eyes or backend pecked out by a carrion crow which we have had issues for last couple of years? Which then creates an issue with wanting to shoot these crows? Or should they see the result these crows have, which is horrible, and honestly upsets me, and im no hobby farmer. Same as should we not show cows that are about to birth that are tb reactors or twice inconclusives, that are allowed to birth but then culled to leave calf an orphan? Just a reality check in my eyes and make the oh so sweet badger possibly not be so defenceless?
 
Dad had a call from Trading Standards once to say that one of the heifers was causing a nuisance down on the marshes at the estuary, and would we collect her. This caused some confusion as she had been present the day before and we couldn't figure out how she had travelled 15 miles downstream overnight.
It turned out she had been pushed into the river in a tussle and drowned, and had been left at high tide next to a footpath by a big housing development.
Actually, the locals were quite interested when we turned up with the flat-bed to collect her, but after loading dad would insist on driving twice round the town centre "to give them all the full benefit!" As he said, at the next high tide, she would have left on her own anyway" :)
 
Old school, and I think id get on with him!! Remember only time on farm we had a pneumonia issue, bought a bull that failed our annual tb test so we were shut down. Milked then and used to sell our male calves, force to keep them, and as not set up for it we had our / month old suckled calves from beef herd housed with 4/5 month old dairy calves, too many in sheds, mixed ages, mixed bunches a disaster but had no choice. Awful foggy misty dec, pneumonia was rife and from memory lost 4/5, when lost would be removed waiting collection, buildings could not be seen from footpath, yet we had a card dropped in from rspca that dead animals were being left within sheds of live ones. They would have been, but a max of 10 hours if one died at 8 at night, to have seen this, someone was trespassing, no negligence, cruelty, yet another check. Rspca were absolutely fine, but its the insult of answering an accusation that your not guilty of
 

fermerboy

Member
Location
Banffshire
I'm surprised Douglas Brae have not been mentioned yet. Open back with sides, no collection tanks for blood etc. They do cover their loads but not uncommon to see a hoof sticking out. Seen them throwing sheep from one lorry to another if they are overloaded. Also never have your heater on if following them.

View attachment 504016
We aren't far from Douglasbrae so see plenty of their lorries going past.
They used to run 40 like the one in the pic, not so many now though. Our local smiddy makes the bodies for them.
The JCB mechanics love going there to service the loadalls mid summer!!!!!

The deadstock isn't the problem, but I have heard from some of the drivers of more than one animal that has "recovered" enough to sit up in the back of the wagon and require a sharp stop to dispatch before continuing the journey.

As for the original post, i have no issue with moving the animal in a truck or trailer or whatever, but for Christ's sake cover it up and keep it tidy.
 
Only problem I have with this pic is that if you look at the pickup it seems to be riding pretty high for something that's carrying the best part of a ton? We often put dumpy bags in the back of ours and it sits a bit lower when loaded.

Maybe the Best Pickup thread would be best place for this thread [emoji6]
Brings back memories of taking a sow to the vets for a PM in the back of a Viva Estate with the long sloping window and stopping at traffic lights to turn right - truck pulls up slowly alongside and driver opens window to have a retch
 

Hilly

Member
My wife came across one on local side road where back door had came open! Dead animals all over road. Guess it must happen.

I used to hang out on the knackery stand at local show and have a beer with drivers. Father said it was a bad sign. Must be here too often.
My mate did knackery, i used to do a bit of driving for him holiday cover you could call it, fuk its a stinking job !!
 

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

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