Fixed V's portable sheep handling pens

[hubbahubba]

I know it's been done before but can't find my answers.

I am needing to make or buy new pens. Run ewes in 7 lots of 100 ish plus lambs. I am/was looking to put a clamp in around 3-4k within a fixed set. Now I wonder if a big set of rappa's or scotpen would be better option.

I have watched so many videos but there doesn't seem to be much happening with the sheep. How do people get on with shedding and weighing lambs? Is foot bathing possible or a bit pointless if just going back in grass?

None of my fields are overly far away but need to go through 3 or 4 fields to get them back to steading or where my old pens are. How long does it take to set up and dismantle?

There looking about £8k which would build a good fixed set with a clamp. Would be a bit of a luxury to have mobile pens and a clamp for sure and would probably mean two trips to the set up point.

Any thoughts appreciated.

 

[quavers]

if you have a ring fenced farm and do not take grass out and about I would go for a fixed set up , if you need to go mobile build your clamp on to a trailer to your design and buy alloy gates from your preferred supplier .

 

[Jim75]

Have a Scotpen mobile yard (smaller one) and a clamp that goes on the front with weighing. Prefer using the Scotpen in the shed to having a permanent setup as it's so adaptable. Although we are largely ring fenced some field are 1.5 miles along forestry tracks so makes life easier taking the yard to them. You'll get a clamp and Scotpen for that kind of money mentioned

 

[reverand]

Setting up mobile races does get tedious. Is your original race central to your fields. I have two static pens at each end of land. Both under cover, both hard floor and both for well under 8 k. I have a cheap alligator for for set stock sheep for marking very young lamb that don't move very well. And also wintering.. in fact I bet the whole lot was less than 8k

 

[David.]

I"ve got both and believe me, constantly moving and setting up a mobile soon grows old.
Static yard, forcing race and footbath with a mobile handling section/clamp might be a less hassle compromise.

 

[JD-Kid]

if on farm then fixed yard work best
if spred out blocks then them yards work well but become old hat realy fast unless a good set up

 

[exmoor dave]

Kind of got both here, home made hurdles in 12ft lengths that isnt actually fixed but so heavy that it just as well be, but can be taken down to put cattle race up.

Then got a mobile system made up of 5.5ft hurdles.

Basically ended up having the mobile system set up in the shep shed from may -Jan with the clamp/ weighter/ drafter on the end.

Do all the dosing & big 2 way drafting job in the "fixed" race.



So yeah, after a year or two dabbling setting the pens up in off lying yards, we now just walk everything home, much nicer working on concrete (& under cover with the mobile system in the sheep shed).

 

[Rappa Ltd]

I know it's been done before but can't find my answers.

I am needing to make or buy new pens. Run ewes in 7 lots of 100 ish plus lambs. I am/was looking to put a clamp in around 3-4k within a fixed set. Now I wonder if a big set of rappa's or scotpen would be better option.

I have watched so many videos but there doesn't seem to be much happening with the sheep. How do people get on with shedding and weighing lambs? Is foot bathing possible or a bit pointless if just going back in grass?

None of my fields are overly far away but need to go through 3 or 4 fields to get them back to steading or where my old pens are. How long does it take to set up and dismantle?

There looking about £8k which would build a good fixed set with a clamp. Would be a bit of a luxury to have mobile pens and a clamp for sure and would probably mean two trips to the set up point.

Any thoughts appreciated.

Here is some info that might help. If you need anything else feel free to give us a call (01264 810665). For bunches of 100 a Series 10 Compact would work and you can always add to it if you increase your flock or mob sizes. We would be more than happy to put you in touch with a farmer who has a mobile yard and they can tell you how they use it, the Pro's and Con's.

• Static Vs Mobile: http://www.rappamobileyards.co.uk/advice#advice-block-1
• Set up Yard and Working Sheep
  if you skip to the last minute/30 secs of the video it shows sheep being worked through a race. This takes about 7-10 mins to set up.
• Sheep working through race https://youtu.be/ags4jE1KKss skip to approx 1 min 40 secs and shows double fill in use. This does not come with the Compact yard but gives a good overview as to the flow of sheep.

 

[exmoor dave]

Get a mobile but set up in the main yard- ideally on concrete, even better if under cover.
You're covered both ways then.

We've got both fixed and mobile, both home made.

Currently got both set up in the main yard!
One for dosing/foot bathing/ big 2 way draft jobs.

Other set up under cover with the clamp/weigher/ drafter


Tried the idea of setting up the mobile out in off lying yards but IMO it's just less hassle walking the stock home to do jobs, just seems nicer working in the yard, got supplies to hand to cover can extra jobs etc.

 

[sean m]

Get a mobile but set up in the main yard- ideally on concrete, even better if under cover.
You're covered both ways then.

We've got both fixed and mobile, both home made.

Currently got both set up in the main yard!
One for dosing/foot bathing/ big 2 way draft jobs.

Other set up under cover with the clamp/weigher/ drafter


Tried the idea of setting up the mobile out in off lying yards but IMO it's just less hassle walking the stock home to do jobs, just seems nicer working in the yard, got supplies to hand to cover can extra jobs etc.

you mean supplies like tea and cake

 

[lou]

Anyone use something like these handling trailers.....
http://www.penderfeed.co.uk/sheep_handling.htm

 

[quavers]

Anyone use something like these handling trailers.....
http://www.penderfeed.co.uk/sheep_handling.htm

got the modulamb trailer which is advertised as the medium trailer here , had it a few years now , good but difficult to pull the gates round when filling the pen with sheep a closing them in . just bought some rappa gates to go with it to expand the pen and make it easier for closing in .

 

[shearerlad]

I know every farm is different but this works for me.
I have a 3m scotpen mobile with 22 x 2m hurdles, 2 x 3m hurdles and a couple of swing gates in frames.
Blocks of land between 70 and 120 acres, from 1 to 8 miles from 200 acre base. These blocks have a central point where I can set up my pens to work with several different mobs of sheep. Just now it's set up at the closest block to home to give lambs hept, clik and min bolus. One mob still to do then pack up and move to next block. Takes approx 20 mins to set up or pack away if doing it myself.

 

[unlacedgecko]

Anyone use something like these handling trailers.....
http://www.penderfeed.co.uk/sheep_handling.htm

I was lambing for a client who had one. We had ewes at 4 sites in bye. I split the trailer and set up "permanent" pens at each location so we could process ewes and lambs daily as we drifted them. It worked ok for what we were doing, but wouldn't want to use it at home for daily tasks.

 

[yellowbelly]

Tried the idea of setting up the mobile out in off lying yards but IMO it's just less hassle walking the stock home to do jobs, just seems nicer working in the yard, got supplies to hand to cover can extra jobs etc.

^^^ +1
Our set up is mobile but stays in the yard 90% of the time - but it is very very handy to be able to move it the other 10% when it's needed elsewhere.

 

[Yale]

Mobile works for us,too many off lying fields/ blocks to build everywhere.

Have an old permanent set up in the yard but will also set up the Rappa in the shed to work under cover or for scanning.

By the time you have walked sheep across 3 fields you can be near set up with a mobile ready to go.

 

[Grassman]

Mobile is handy away from home but can be a bind moving it all when you know you will want it back in the same place a few weeks later.
My permanent yards are about knackered but won't be replaced. I thought it's best just to put a building up and put the mobile in there rather than an outside set up.

 

[glasshouse]

I know it's been done before but can't find my answers.

I am needing to make or buy new pens. Run ewes in 7 lots of 100 ish plus lambs. I am/was looking to put a clamp in around 3-4k within a fixed set. Now I wonder if a big set of rappa's or scotpen would be better option.

I have watched so many videos but there doesn't seem to be much happening with the sheep. How do people get on with shedding and weighing lambs? Is foot bathing possible or a bit pointless if just going back in grass?

None of my fields are overly far away but need to go through 3 or 4 fields to get them back to steading or where my old pens are. How long does it take to set up and dismantle?

There looking about £8k which would build a good fixed set with a clamp. Would be a bit of a luxury to have mobile pens and a clamp for sure and would probably mean two trips to the set up point.

Any thoughts appreciated.

Depends if you own the land

 

[hubbahubba]

Depends if you own the land

Heh own the land. Going to have a look at the highland and get a portable set. As some say a portable don't have to be set up as portables all the time. I.e set up in a shed when the cattle are outside.

 

[Tubbylew]

if you have a ring fenced farm and do not take grass out and about I would go for a fixed set up , if you need to go mobile build your clamp on to a trailer to your design and buy alloy gates from your preferred supplier .

This.