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The recent Tullamore Farm Beef and Sheep open day received positive feedback from farmers looking to assess sheep handling units in action. The Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme has encouraged more farmers to explore investing in sheep handling equipment as a means of increasing efficiency. The main messages from each company’s demonstration are summarised below.
Three mobile unit options
Stanley Engineering Services demonstrated three mobile handling equipment units at the open day, each intended to satisfy different producer requirements.
The Modular unit is the entry model and is similar to the company’s trademark Sheepeze unit. The 20ft race has adjustable sides, an underfloor foot bath and two-way drafting capability which can be operated via a telescopic handle that extends to 20ft in length. The Modular unit costs €2,700 plus VAT.
The mobile unit comes with a winch system to make dismantling easy when in transport mode, with a set-up time of about 10 minutes
George Stanley says the Sheepeze unit is the primary seller in the Irish market. The mobile unit comes with a winch system to make dismantling easy when in transport mode, with a set-up time of about 10 minutes.
The unit is heavier duty than the Modular system and is designed to transport a weighing scales which can be easily loaded and unloaded. The Sheepeze unit costs €3,700 plus VAT.
The final offering from Stanley Engineering Services is the Combination handling unit. George says it is the complete unit for efficient and labour saving handling.
Unlike the Modular and Sheepeze, where the first race section is also the transport mechanism, the Combination’s transport unit is a combined rollover crate and digital weighing unit, which can be operated as a squeeze chute or clamp to easily restrain sheep.
It also comes with the 20ft race, one man drafting unit and foot bath.
It also offers an electronic reading capability and full farm management software system via Tru Test Livestock Management. The unit costs €5,500 plus VAT. Four-way drafting can also be provided on any unit.
Clipex range of sheep yards
Clipex brought sheep and cattle yards to the Irish market in recent years. Kevin Lernihan claims the fact that yards have a modular design means farmers can easily modify the layout to their own needs.
Kevin says the product has been tried and tested for generations in Australia, with ease of movement and animal welfare at the forefront when designing yards.
The bugle or curved entrance to the race enhances the natural flow through the system
The company has patented the anti-bruising technology incorporated into all panels and gates. The yard is sold with a working race for management tasks and a shedding race for drafting.
The bugle or curved entrance to the race enhances the natural flow through the system.
The yards are available as a temporary, semi-permanent or permanent system, and are made from heavy duty material that promotes longevity.
As demonstrated at the open day, the yard can be tailored to the specification required by producers. The S650 sheep yard, capable of handling 650 sheep, comes with 45 2.2m panels, nine 2.35m gates, three race sections, two race gates, a 5.5m drafting section and two adapter posts.
The unit retails at €6,250 plus VAT but the company is currently offering a discounted price of €5,500 plus VAT. See www.farmersjournal.ie for more information on Clipex yards.
One man operation
Shepherdsmate is a one man operation that can be a mobile or yard unit with nine key functions.
The company says there has been growing interest in utilising electronic tagging for management decisions
Each can be purchased separately and includes three-way drafting, rollover, a squeeze clamp, digital weighing, EID stick reader, flock management software, a footbath (with sponge), shearing flap and a forcing pen with a 16ft diameter, curved sheeted gates and swing and slide gate.
The company says there has been growing interest in utilising electronic tagging for management decisions.
It allows an animal to be isolated on the platform, its identity realised and management decisions to be recorded and acted upon immediately through a three-way drafting gate, which is a one-hand operation.
The standard race unit with three way drafting costs €2,900 plus VAT. The electronic reader and management software used is by TGM Software Solutions, which is compatible to the digital weighing scales and costs €760 plus VAT.
Lightweight handling equipment
A major selling point of O’Donovan Engineering’s range of Pratley sheep handling equipment is its lightweight but robust make-up, a result of the aluminium.
The starter race features six 7ft aluminium gates and two side panels, one of which has a release gate, an anti-backing gate and a guillotine gate that can be replaced with a manual drafting/weighing crate.
The unit can weigh and draft 600 sheep per hour, with electronic tags read by a panel reader
Without the manual drafter, this unit retails for €2,200 including VAT and €5,670 including VAT with the manual drafter, mp600 loadbars and the EZI 7i TruTest Indicator. Farmers can also purchase components individually
There are a number of options from the starter unit to the top of the range Pratley three-way auto-drafter, and XR 5,000 series TruTest weighing indicator.
The unit can weigh and draft 600 sheep per hour, with electronic tags read by a panel reader. The TruTest clock allows information to be recorded in 100 fields and store 1m records.
The unit is traded with new My Hub software, which generates reader friendly reports. The unit, targeted at large flocks or those recording high volumes of data, boasts the latest technology and costs €15,690 including VAT.
Low-cost option built to last
Cormac Sheep Equipment offer a lower-cost option, which it says was borne out of demand from smaller flock owners, who wish to improve efficiency but can’t justify large investments.
The race offered to service this demand includes four 10ft sheeted panels with a guillotine gate, two-way drafting gate, non-return gate in the centre, and two foot baths.
The unit is robust and suits a semi-permanent set-up but can also be moved between holdings and therefore also suits fragmented farms. The cost is €1,350 including VAT.
As the company manufacture equipment on site, it says it can make any alterations to suit a permanent set-up . There are various add-ons such as weighing scales, rollover crate and a batch footbath.
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