The value of EID reading on sheep farms

[Downton_shep]

Yep I'm doing this from weaning or 1st weighing (not including birth weight)

If I drench a lamb I press left button on psion, hit comments and enter a simple "w"
Auto set is for that comment to flag up at next read.

To record the actually med, once I download the Psion data to farmworks I bring up a report of all comments "w" for a date range, make those animals in to a management group and apply meds to them all.


The other way to do it would be to use the phone app to record the med as you are weighing, either manually enter the tag no or get a stick reader to use with the phone.

But to be honest I prefer the comment "w" way as the next time you weigh the lamb it's comment pops up and you can see what a difference the drench made.

Do you do it as they come through the combi clamp? I think this is where a auto shedder would come into its own. Then just run them through a race to drench.

 

[JD-Kid]

Thank you so much for all your comments, really useful! There seems to be a feel decide in opinions. I think the concept is a great idea and data collection is vital on farm but it's finding the time to utilise this data that is often the problem.

with the quicker recording there is more time to use the data
also once you start seeing the gains in useing it it becomes very intresting
in the past we knew a group of lambs did x kg's between weighing now we know who did what better targeting of products culling out poorer lambs etc

 

[JD-Kid]

Do you do it as they come through the combi clamp? I think this is where a auto shedder would come into its own. Then just run them through a race to drench.

our set up has a pen or race out front of scales if we are drenching poorer doers we can draft strate ahead and drench while drafting off
last year vaxed before scales run thought scales and then 2nd vax in front race 2 people vaxing and scales just did there own thing getting weight and recording who got vaxed etc

 

[unlacedgecko]

Do you do it as they come through the combi clamp? I think this is where a auto shedder would come into its own. Then just run them through a race to drench.

Why not drench when they're held in the clamp?

 

[Downton_shep]

Why not drench when they're held in the clamp?

I would have thought it would be a lot quicker but I guess it depends on numbers, proportion of group being treated and if your doing anything else to them or not.

 

[exmoor dave]

Do you do it as they come through the combi clamp? I think this is where a auto shedder would come into its own. Then just run them through a race to drench.

Yeah, literally takes seconds to drench them and press a few buttons on the Psion.

I really think it's worth it.

A few of us have asked shearwell to program draft by DLWG (or lack of) in "realtime" as a draft option instead of draft by weigh, which is the only draft option you can do in realtime, all other drafting needs to be set up on farm works first,
So currently to shed by DLWG with a auto drafter, you'd need to weigh everything first, down load in to farm works, sort the animals in to , for example 3 management groups, say DLWG of <001g/ day
002g-99g /day
And 100g/day >

Then you'd have to upload that to the Psion then run the animals back through the auto drafter to draft.

So as you can see, draft by DLWG in "realtime" would be great.
Frustratingly my weigh head can do it, but when it's set up to send weights to the Psion and receive instructions back, it's just a slave unit so can't use its features.

To be honest though it's no problem just watching the DLWG on the Psion screen and acting accordingly

 

[Downton_shep]

Yeah, literally takes seconds to drench them and press a few buttons on the Psion.

I really think it's worth it.

A few of us have asked shearwell to program draft by DLWG (or lack of) in "realtime" as a draft option instead of draft by weigh, which is the only draft option you can do in realtime, all other drafting needs to be set up on farm works first,
So currently to shed by DLWG with a auto drafter, you'd need to weigh everything first, down load in to farm works, sort the animals in to , for example 3 management groups, say DLWG of <001g/ day
002g-99g /day
And 100g/day >

Then you'd have to upload that to the Psion then run the animals back through the auto drafter to draft.

So as you can see, draft by DLWG in "realtime" would be great.
Frustratingly my weigh head can do it, but when it's set up to send weights to the Psion and receive instructions back, it's just a slave unit so can't use its features.

To be honest though it's no problem just watching the DLWG on the Psion screen and acting accordingly

Fingers crossed they'll sort it to make it easier.
The farm down the road has been using DLWG for worming for a while now. Supposed to be going there for a look around soon.
Will the auto adjusting drench gun ever cross over to the sheep?

 

[Al R]

Fingers crossed they'll sort it to make it easier.
The farm down the road has been using DLWG for worming for a while now. Supposed to be going there for a look around soon.
Will the auto adjusting drench gun ever cross over to the sheep?

Te Pari do it, it goes off weight etc, £850 just for the gun [emoji33] http://www.shearwell.co.uk/p/735/Automatic-digital-drench-gun

 

[Downton_shep]

Te Pari do it, it goes off weight etc, £850 just for the gun [emoji33] http://www.shearwell.co.uk/p/735/Automatic-digital-drench-gun

Even using Startect you would need to be drenching a fair few sheep to save that sort of money.
Would be good for when using Flukiver or other products that have serious side effects if overdosed.

 

[exmoor dave]

Fingers crossed they'll sort it to make it easier.
The farm down the road has been using DLWG for worming for a while now. Supposed to be going there for a look around soon.
Will the auto adjusting drench gun ever cross over to the sheep?

Yeah it comes with a smaller barrel and nozzle to use with sheep.

IMO the savings to be made with that are with dosing cattle

 

[unlacedgecko]

Yeah it comes with a smaller barrel and nozzle to use with sheep.

IMO the savings to be made with that are with dosing cattle

I plan on buying one Spring 2018, for when I get my HD3.

 

[JD-Kid]

Yeah, literally takes seconds to drench them and press a few buttons on the Psion.

I really think it's worth it.

A few of us have asked shearwell to program draft by DLWG (or lack of) in "realtime" as a draft option instead of draft by weigh, which is the only draft option you can do in realtime, all other drafting needs to be set up on farm works first,
So currently to shed by DLWG with a auto drafter, you'd need to weigh everything first, down load in to farm works, sort the animals in to , for example 3 management groups, say DLWG of <001g/ day
002g-99g /day
And 100g/day >

Then you'd have to upload that to the Psion then run the animals back through the auto drafter to draft.

So as you can see, draft by DLWG in "realtime" would be great.
Frustratingly my weigh head can do it, but when it's set up to send weights to the Psion and receive instructions back, it's just a slave unit so can't use its features.

To be honest though it's no problem just watching the DLWG on the Psion screen and acting accordingly

ours we just set on ADG or over all ADG and draft on that in to groups found last year under 50 grams a day were haveing probs but to be fair up to 100 grams a day should of been drenched
avg of our lambs at the mo running at 170 grams a day post weaning tops 250-300 grams
are going to split in to 4 -5 groups and do some carla test on them to see if any thing showing up in the gains and weights hopefully the low gains will be low in carla and the higher gains will be med to high if not that will be another idea out the window and back to the drawing board HAHAHA oh the joys of it

 

[gatepost]

We ,too, seem to be losing a lot more Shearwell tags recently than we were previously, especially the coloured non eid tag.Have noticed that some batches are brittle and even break on the bendy bit when you put them into the applicator. Pity really,as they were good before but we are now considering moving to a different band.

plus 1

 

[gatepost]

I record, But you can record everything, cull your flock into extinction, unless you are running data through a programme that works out the weightings for gender, sire, twin , age of dam ,etc etc , fairly pointless for growth wt, but interesting idea about worming, good for recording some stuff about individuals though as it happens, then at weaning/culling run the scanner over to check each animal, we also notch which TBO is just as fool proof.

 

[JD-Kid]

I record, But you can record everything, cull your flock into extinction, unless you are running data through a programme that works out the weightings for gender, sire, twin , age of dam ,etc etc , fairly pointless for growth wt, but interesting idea about worming, good for recording some stuff about individuals though as it happens, then at weaning/culling run the scanner over to check each animal, we also notch which TBO is just as fool proof.

yea alot of stuff not realy income driveing recoarding bottom line it's pure weight and health
we have linked this years lambs to sire and dam groups which is intresting as we will be able to split them off looking at how the diffrent groups on avg done pre and post weaning also culling rate on shape form wool etc etc
what % mated as hoggets lambing % etc etc
i just keep some things simple at weaning i know start of lambing was X date and weaned on Y date avg weaning weight devided by days gives me a good idea of gain per day starting weight is 0 do the same thing each year so it's kinda standard and makes apples apples
cocked up with tag's tho as a longer time between frist tags and last tags so total over all weight gain useless ok once use overall ADG but even then the frist few weeks a bit slower growth there is a lot of things that can throw the system out

 

[TGM]

I've been wanting to go down this route with a more complex system than just a simple agrident wand tag reader but when you tag 200lambs and 2 days later the slaughterhouse says 8 didn't read you wonder if it's worth it. Closed flock for 15years on 1 farm so would see a gain over 900ewes but when 138 culls went last August we had to retag 32 because the chip had fallen out I wouldn't want to spend on drafters etc!
Are some makes of tags better than others?

 

[TGM]

New agrident awr300 allows full management recording to within a whisker of the level of the more expensive psion (now motorola which is also the same as shearwell stock recorder). We supply both stick reader and Motorola. All the readers can only permit whatever level of recording the software allows so always best to check up on the software before final decision.

 

[Al R]

New agrident awr300 allows full management recording to within a whisker of the level of the more expensive psion (now motorola which is also the same as shearwell stock recorder). We supply both stick reader and Motorola. All the readers can only permit whatever level of recording the software allows so always best to check up on the software before final decision.

Ok, I like the look of the psions.
BUT!!!! And a huge BUT it is, how do people doing outdoor lambing do the whole matching genetics etc where you put marks for and against the mother on milk supply, ease of lambing, weight of lambs etc if you'll never know which one she is? We've got some ewes that you can't get to within 20metres of so how are you meant to read their tags, around half you can get close enough to get a 'mark' on with some sort of spray on their arse as their running away and you chase them but then your running them away from newborn lambs? @neilo ? And all you others outdoor with your psions ?

 

[scottish-lleyn]

If a ewe stands to far away for me to read her big tag or scan it she will be down the road anyway. Usually the ewes are knocking me over as im tagging and recording there lambs so getting her beeped or reading tag not an issue. If i scan them at first weigh in they will normally be pulled to the culls

 

[Al R]

If a ewe stands to far away for me to read her big tag or scan it she will be down the road anyway. Usually the ewes are knocking me over as im tagging and recording there lambs so getting her beeped or reading tag not an issue. If i scan them at first weigh in they will normally be pulled to the culls

I don't have the luxury to be able to cull that hard, plus we're 20% ewe lambs.
Some of the best ewes and mothers are the flighty ones! They'll charge at the dogs if they get off the quad!