Lambing polytunnel
- Thread starter Andy84
- Start date
- Location
- Aberdeenshire
I doubt folk are posting because polytunnel lambing sheds aren't really pretty, though I'd love to be surprised. In my experience of 9mx50m tunnels there's a flippin huge amount of climbing over gates to reach pens and they are a faff to feed and water when things get busy. With 6 foot pens you can (if the side rails are high enough) squeeze two rows of touching pens on either side with a center pass but getting dry lambs and ewes out is an erse o' a job and a single row on either side is a waste of space.
In an ideal world I'd have two tunnels, one with pregnant ewes and another with pens and ewes with lambs would be led out to the second tunnel at birth.
I worked one place with three, lambing in, drying off for 24hrs and a communal pen for 24hrs and then out.
I've never seen a neat arrangement for commercial numbers and none that inspired me to build a tunnel for myself. If it's what you've got the system just kind of evolves as you modify it under the current pressure to improvise and adapt.
Sorry not to be of much help. It's just my experience. If someone came up with a 40' wide tunnel that could stand up to N.E Scotland weather they'd sell a bunch.
In an ideal world I'd have two tunnels, one with pregnant ewes and another with pens and ewes with lambs would be led out to the second tunnel at birth.
I worked one place with three, lambing in, drying off for 24hrs and a communal pen for 24hrs and then out.
I've never seen a neat arrangement for commercial numbers and none that inspired me to build a tunnel for myself. If it's what you've got the system just kind of evolves as you modify it under the current pressure to improvise and adapt.
Sorry not to be of much help. It's just my experience. If someone came up with a 40' wide tunnel that could stand up to N.E Scotland weather they'd sell a bunch.
- Location
- Perthshire, Scotland
Hope you can follow my rough sketch
Triplets go in the pen bottom right, twins and singles in the larger pen
most mothering pens are 5’x4’ apart from the ones above the feed box which are 4x4
it’s possible to check every ewe and lamb with out jumping over any gates
I’ve put around 650 through the tunnel each year, over an 8 week period
Took this photo standing on the spare straw which is stacked at the top end.
Triplets go in the pen bottom right, twins and singles in the larger pen
most mothering pens are 5’x4’ apart from the ones above the feed box which are 4x4
it’s possible to check every ewe and lamb with out jumping over any gates
I’ve put around 650 through the tunnel each year, over an 8 week period
Took this photo standing on the spare straw which is stacked at the top end.