Help with countryside productivity grant to upgrade sheep handling system

[Sir loin]

I have taken a few photos of my sheep handling system , very basic and built out of stuff laid around the farm to keep costs to a minimum. I have not claimed any grant in one and two so I assume I would be eligible to claim in 3.
I generally farm 130 ewes (texel x lleyn) on my own no dog .
Wish list includes
Hand held EID for data and performance recording.
Better weigh
Possibly a combi clamp.
Can the last two be incorporated together.
I record using Farm Matters and Neil has pointed me to a Trutest XRS2.
Any thing else you would advise on getting and what manufacturer/ brand would you use

 

[Devil's advocate]

We have old potato boxes & hurdles.

But we have something most of these systems lack, A ROOF

Apart from thinking how cold your system must be when it rains, it looks great what you have.

 

[Muddyroads]

We have a combI clamp which sits on a pair of weigh bars. The True test weigh head links to the stock recorder by Bluetooth and works well for monitoring growth rates.

 

[yellowbelly]

Wish list includes
Hand held EID for data and performance recording.
Better weigh
Possibly a combi clamp.
Can the last two be incorporated together.
I record using Farm Matters and Neil has pointed me to a Trutest XRS2.
Any thing else you would advise on getting and what manufacturer/ brand would you use

Combi Clamp with weigh bars underneath, TruTest XR3000 and XRS reader.
Had this 5 or 6 years now. Not sure what the XRS2 does that the XRS doesn't.

Reader bluetooths tag to XR3000 which acts as the weigh head. Records weight, and gives FID, EID, LID, DLWG, Breed, DOB, Sire, Dam among other things...........

....this is not connected to the weigh bars so no weight read out but it will give you a bit of idea.

 

[Norfolk Hill Farmer]

Liking the modification to hold the stick reader. Any chance of a better picture showing it all. Unless it just hovering there by witchcraft of course.

 

[JP1]

Liking the modification to hold the stick reader. Any chance of a better picture showing it all. Unless it just hovering there by witchcraft of course.

Also the rain cover for the weigh head

 

[yellowbelly]

Liking the modification to hold the stick reader. Any chance of a better picture showing it all. Unless it just hovering there by witchcraft of course.

It's held up with 'sky hooks'

It's nowt special - just swivels side to side and up and down so it gets in range of the tag.

If you're making one don't make the tube that it sits in too long or the reader won't read.

 

[Sir loin]

Combi Clamp with weigh bars underneath, TruTest XR3000 and XRS reader.
Had this 5 or 6 years now. Not sure what the XRS2 does that the XRS doesn't.

Reader bluetooths tag to XR3000 which acts as the weigh head. Records weight, and gives FID, EID, LID, DLWG, Breed, DOB, Sire, Dam among other things...........

....this is not connected to the weigh bars so no weight read out but it will give you a bit of idea.

My question is one man and no dog thats me so how do you make the sheep run and control the combi clamp at the same time or is that not possible

 

[Victor]

My question is one man and no dog thats me so how do you make the sheep run and control the combi clamp at the same time or is that not possible

You could probably make a good case for including a sheep dog in the list of grant funded items or maybe an apprentice
Think I did see an advert once with the farmer using a combi clamp on his own and because I knew him considered asking him how he got the sheep to be so cooperative

 

[yellowbelly]

My question is one man and no dog thats me so how do you make the sheep run and control the combi clamp at the same time or is that not possible

We have a forcing pen on the end of a race that holds 10 or 12 sheep. When you've finished with the one in the clamp, make sure the next one is looking the right way (whistle at it if needs be). When it sees the one leaving the clamp, 9 times out of 10, it will follow it and walk into the clamp.

There's a curved race available that's supposed to help too.

I've been going to copy @scholland's double race but not got on with it yet.....

 

[Sir loin]

We have old potato boxes & hurdles.

But we have something most of these systems lack, A ROOF

Apart from thinking how cold your system must be when it rains, it looks great what you have.

A Roof is going to go over the parts with electric either combi clamp or weigh.

 

[Muddyroads]

Guillotine gates at either end of the race can help, controlled with ropes. If you have an extension to the race after the combi clamp you can hold sheep in there to encourage others to come forward. Also useful if you’re foot dipping. I tried anti backing gates but my sheep didn’t like pushing past them.

 

[yellowbelly]

I tried anti backing gates but my sheep didn’t like pushing past them.

We've 2 in our race but one half of each one is tied open so they go through them easier.