Electronic lamb weighed with 3 way drafter

[Bury the Trash]

Focus on the main event.

Modify your current crate ......or better still build a simple one from steel tube ..build in 2 side doors .........easy enough ir. ...then buy an electronic weigh head and an 'extension' load cell (if that's the right word)....... or a set of load bars for the latter....if you think you might want to put the clamp on it in the future better make it load bars .....

Then reap the benefits of an easy to read , steady / 'stopped ' accurate, weight .

 

[alltddubach]

Have just bought a Ritchie combi clamp with weighing an eid panel reader etc. Only thing we didn't go for at the minute was the auto drafting as with the clamp it's easy enough drafting manually but can be added later as everything is there. Not saying we won't do it but thought we'd see how it goes first.
If you're feeling flash go for the tepari if you can get shearwell to come up with a demo

Will be very interested to hear how you get on with the panel reader. We are waiting on a combi clamp with load bars, plan is to have the panel reader in future to work with the Shearwell psion.

 

[neilo]

Will be very interested to hear how you get on with the panel reader. We are waiting on a combi clamp with load bars, plan is to have the panel reader in future to work with the Shearwell psion.

Border Software apparently do an antenna loop that fixes on the moving (flexible) side of the Clamp, which seems a more sensible idea that bolting a rigid plastic box on. That's what I have my eye on, if I ever get to adding EID properly. Currently, I am reading anything of interest with the Psion, which then picks up the weight from the Trutest head by Bluetooth.

 

[alltddubach]

Border Software apparently do an antenna loop that fixes on the moving (flexible) side of the Clamp, which seems a more sensible idea that bolting a rigid plastic box on. That's what I have my eye on, if I ever get to adding EID properly. Currently, I am reading anything of interest with the Psion, which then picks up the weight from the Trutest head by Bluetooth.

That's the plan here too for now, then see what's available in a year or two. I've heard border software are pretty helpful to deal with. How do you find the combi clamp to weigh with @neilo?

 

[neilo]

That's the plan here too for now, then see what's available in a year or two. I've heard border software are pretty helpful to deal with. How do you find the combi clamp to weigh with @neilo?

I've only had the weigh bars under for a month (thank you @Allied Weighing ), but seems OK at the moment. I think it all needs bolting up rigidly to make things less wobbly/slidey (if 'slidey' is a word), but it was handy to be able to weigh some lambs, tag and draft out at the same time.
I did turn it on when I was dagging & drenching some in-lamb hoggs the other day, and the shearing machine swinging round on the end of the mounting arm seemed to through some wild results.

 

[hillman]

Mine is all bolted together,solid @neilo now , it had the same problems as yours , the difference is unbelievable

 

[TGM]

Have you seen the new Ritchie draft pro? 3 way drafting in a simple portable crate with the digital weigh cells built in. you only need to fit a digital scale to the top and plug in the cables coming from the weigh cells. Whatever crate you go for, home made or otherwise, a very effective EID solution is to use a stick reader instead of a panel - then the stick can be used to record a complete range of other things (depending on the stick of course as only some stick readers let you enter management data). The Agrident stick allows full range of management recording covering birth records, tupping, condition score, health (up to 3 medicines per treatment, with quantity, medicine, illness, operator etc, all the stuff needed for inspections). The stick reader will be cheaper than adding a fixed antenna panel and associated control box, plus the stick doesn't a external battery connected for it to work. Finally, the Agrident AWR300 stick has a comprehensive look up database for looking up data on animal - batch, type, dam, sire, lamb numbers, last weights, last medicines etc.

 

[Tim W]

The thing about all these systems is their definition of ''portable''
If you have off-lying land and you want to be a one man band (these things are meant to save labour) then you only want to make 1 trip out ----with a handling system
Which is why in my view the whole setup needs to be incorporated into the handling system race

A panel reader is best IMO because it leaves both hands free for treating/handling stock ---- I only have a hand reader at present but hope to connect the Psion to an extended wand that will sit at the front of the crate(race) which will then make me ''hands free''

 

[ford4000]

It all sounds very complicated. ...think I'll stick to using a tagger, marker and experience to draw fat lambs ! [emoji6]

 

[neilo]

It all sounds very complicated. ...think I'll stick to using a tagger, marker and experience to draw fat lambs ! [emoji6]

But for £7-8k you can get a crate that will spray mark them, draw them on weight and record the numbers on a list while you stand back and watch them. The whole job would be faster, easier and you'd have a shiny thing to look at. You wouldn't need to actually handle the lambs to see if they're fit, which is so yesterday, just draft on weight. If you saved an hour each time you drafted lambs, and did it 30 times in a year, that's 30 hours a year saved. Isn't that worth investing several thousand pounds?

 

[ford4000]

But for £7-8k you can get a crate that will spray mark them, draw them on weight and record the numbers on a list while you stand back and watch them. The whole job would be faster, easier and you'd have a shiny thing to look at. You wouldn't need to actually handle the lambs to see if they're fit, which is so yesterday, just draft on weight. If you saved an hour each time you drafted lambs, and did it 30 times in a year, that's 30 hours a year saved. Isn't that worth investing several thousand pounds?

Well when you put it like that....where's my cheque book! [emoji23]

I did borrow a weight crate once to see if I could improve the consistency of the weights of the lambs sold deadweight. ...it made no difference! [emoji15]

 

[Al R]

But for £7-8k you can get a crate that will spray mark them, draw them on weight and record the numbers on a list while you stand back and watch them. The whole job would be faster, easier and you'd have a shiny thing to look at. You wouldn't need to actually handle the lambs to see if they're fit, which is so yesterday, just draft on weight. If you saved an hour each time you drafted lambs, and did it 30 times in a year, that's 30 hours a year saved. Isn't that worth investing several thousand pounds?

Does it take into account that a welsh x is fat and spoilt at 34kg live where as a texel x needs to be 40kg, a Suffolk 42kg and a BFL 45kg so that they all kill out/grade correctly? But then you also need to spent £1500 on a the psion and data and spend countless hours inputting data for each tag/animal. Sometimes and on certain things I really can't see how savings can be made by this technology :/

@neilo your pretty much full EID yet you cut the ewes year off if she's cull

 

[neilo]

@neilo your pretty much full EID yet you cut the ewes year off if she's cull

I don't have auto-drafting on EID, or ever likely too, so I'd still have to pee about reading tags before culling. When a ewe with a shortened ear comes up the race, I don't need to check her bag, teeth, etc, she just keeps going through to the cull without stopping.
I only square the end off btw, not the whole ear. Far less blood or trauma than the ministry used to create with hole punches.

 

[Lovegoodstock]

But for £7-8k you can get a crate that will spray mark them, draw them on weight and record the numbers on a list while you stand back and watch them. The whole job would be faster, easier and you'd have a shiny thing to look at. You wouldn't need to actually handle the lambs to see if they're fit, which is so yesterday, just draft on weight. If you saved an hour each time you drafted lambs, and did it 30 times in a year, that's 30 hours a year saved. Isn't that worth investing several thousand pounds?

I think I will sadly have to strongly disagree with the point you are trying to make @neilo . You are almost making working with sheep an entirely enjoyable experience, with little or no stress. It wouldn't be like working with sheep if the hurdle off of the shedding gate hadn't been tied back and just balanced from the previous time you had used it in the shed, resulting in first 3 lambs that were perfectly in spec when drawn a few days prior running back to the field with their mums at 5 am on sale day, resulting in selling them a week later, too heavy and a touch too fat just when the price has crashed at a tenner a head less!! Now that's working with sheep as I know it

 

[Lovegoodstock]

Does it take into account that a welsh x is fat and spoilt at 34kg live where as a texel x needs to be 40kg, a Suffolk 42kg and a BFL 45kg so that they all kill out/grade correctly? But then you also need to spent £1500 on a the psion and data and spend countless hours inputting data for each tag/animal. Sometimes and on certain things I really can't see how savings can be made by this technology :/

@neilo your pretty much full EID yet you cut the ewes year off if she's cull

I don't use much technology, if any at all, not against it at all, just need to see a justification for it and expense. Like I can see the attraction of seeing a report that shows certain lambs not gaining weight so may need selling or see if need worming, but I run ewes on average in bunches of 80, when they are at selling weights and have sold a few, I dot lambs at a certain weight a certain colour, you then see their dlwg as they go on the scales far quicker than having to input data then look at results

 

[neilo]

I think I will sadly have to strongly disagree with the point you are trying to make @neilo . You are almost making working with sheep an entirely enjoyable experience, with little or no stress. It wouldn't be like working with sheep if the hurdle off of the shedding gate hadn't been tied back and just balanced from the previous time you had used it in the shed, resulting in first 3 lambs that were perfectly in spec when drawn a few days prior running back to the field with their mums at 5 am on sale day, resulting in selling them a week later, too heavy and a touch too fat just when the price has crashed at a tenner a head less!! Now that's working with sheep as I know it

There's no problem with that. If you spend £7-8k on an autodrafter, it is just that unit. You still have to tie the hurdles to it with twine, so you'll still get the authentic lamb drafting experience.