Wooden sheep slats

[GTB]

It would be fecking rocket fuel for tired land. Most years over here we would have to house lambs to finish them properly because they would be into their bellies in muck. If the facility was here I would be using it to get them gone and save the land. You have gave me lots of food for thought. Thanks old tip

If you are building from scratch and could make long term use of a decent building i.e. housing ewes for three months and finishing lambs indoors in late autumn / early winter then it might be worth putting fixed slats in at say 6 to 8 ft above ground so that they can be mucked out without removing slats. Some sites lend themselves to such setups though I concede the initial cost could be eyewatering.

Edit. We looked into converting our existing sheep building with plastic slats and so on but the cost was astronomical but maybe not so bad for a new build?

 

[irish dom]

If you are building from scratch and could make long term use of a decent building i.e. housing ewes for three months and finishing lambs indoors in late autumn / early winter then it might be worth putting fixed slats in at say 6 to 8 ft above ground so that they can be mucked out without removing slats. Some sites lend themselves to such setups though I concede the initial cost could be eyewatering.

Have seen a few great examples of this design. I unfortunately don't have anywhere it would work on my small place. It would have to be 4ft tanks and 8ft sumps for agitating. The cost of that will definitely be eyewatering! I can see your point though but I always have this thing in the back of my head that if I put down permanent sheep slats and things change then it's good for nothing else. But then the likliehood of me quitting sheep is pretty slim ( love hardship too much!)

 

[Old Tip]

You often used to see second hand plastic and expanded metal slats out of bankrupt pig outfits but not sure if they will come up over there with you ?

 

[hillman]

Seen a couple of different ideas
One guy had fitted an aeration system in his tanks
Another has normal depth like cattle but puts in 2 ft of water every yr when clear to aid agitation
Other has a ramp down with big steel doors on end , tank about 4ft deep lifts slats out as on steel frames and clears with loader and bucket

 

[irish dom]

Seen a couple of different ideas
One guy had fitted an aeration system in his tanks
Another has normal depth like cattle but puts in 2 ft of water every yr when clear to aid agitation
Other has a ramp down with big steel doors on end , tank about 4ft deep lifts slats out as on steel frames and clears with loader and bucket

Aeration system sounds very elaborate. What type of slats does that guy lift out? Mesh or plastic?

 

[hillman]

Mesh

All have the mesh type slats