Turnover crate

sea12

I bought a new race this year. I have a weighing scales but want to get a turnover crate to finish it off. I'm trying to invest in facilities now so that I spend my limited time as efficient as possible. Couple of times this year I would have found it very handy for clipping feet etc instead of knocking sheep in dirty pen and attracting maggots. So

1 do people who have them use them much or do they become idle quick enough.

2 what brand would you recommend

tabby aspreme

I had a look at a few of them at the ploughing , was impressed by the Stanley engineering one, simple design well made , a bit different to the other types, don't know what type of money they are .

AntrimGlens

I have one three years now and it has become redundant, all it does is block a gap. I bought a WH Rea one and found the biggest problem was getting the ewes to walk into it, i found myself having to get behind them and push them in. Found that they didn't hold the ewe as stable as i had hoped and that when you got a kicking ewe it could be easy enough to trap legs when you're swinging her back down to release her. I did however find it good for big heavy ewes and rams, rather than trying to turn them over by hand it did make it a bit easier to handle them. I gave nearly £500 for mine, but again i got 40% of a grant on it.
I don't have it built into the race, it's at the head of the race as its slightly wider than my race and that likely makes it less attractive for them to walk through as theres no ewes ahead of them. Must sort that out i suppose.

rancher

tabby aspreme wrote: »

I had a look at a few of them at the ploughing , was impressed by the Stanley engineering one, simple design well made , a bit different to the other types, don't know what type of money they are .

I liked the Stanley one too. I have a Cormac one and when you have them upside down, you have to pull the whole weight of the sheep from the ground to turn them back on their feet. Its also not easy to turn them up either. The Stanley seems to be better balanced than that.

PS, The best idea is a good footbath, if you can keep the ewes four feet on the ground, they won't need to be pared

sea12

Yea I saw a few of them at the ploughing. There pricey so I don't want to get it if it will idle in a few years.

Was looking at the cormac one and thought it was good. Saw Jenkins one also.
Didn't see the Stanley one but he's not that far from me so I might pop out to see theirs. Any idea on price.

eire23

Have a wm ironworks one here as part of a race. Bought it of cormac in tuam. Its similar to their one but its built heavier and can be set up to suit a left or right handed person. Cormac actually said to buy it over their one for the above reasons. Turn all the sheep over twice a year here, at weaning and going in to the shed. Wouldnt be without one now

Wooly Admirer

Have a cormac one - prob used once a year! Generally when the ewes come and I spot one slightly lame, catch her and do her there and then. When its only one or two ewes its not so hard on the back.

Its when you have a good number to tear into that the crate earns it keep. But again, this is only once a year. Usually a couple of weeks before flushing for the ram. I target the long hoofs here to save me bothering the ewes at mating time and it also sets the flocks up well for lambing indoors, when long hoofs are a pain and almost always leads to lameness due to build up of straw and s**t on the hoof.

One thing with the cormac one - some kick like crazy when they get turned up - when you have a ewe in there with a half paired hoof - it can be like a knife. I've got caught with a kick in the face a couple of times. The head rest position is too low and when the ewes are turned up they don't like it, and can thats when the kicking starts. I've amended mine, so that the ewes head is far more elevated when they get turned up - they've been alot happier since.

Could probably do without it for its single day of use a year - but I am glad to have it that day though. If you could share the cost with another farmer it might be a good idea...

sea12

Wooly Admirer wrote: »

Have a cormac one - prob used once a year! Generally when the ewes come and I spot one slightly lame, catch her and do her there and then. When its only one or two ewes its not so hard on the back.

Its when you have a good number to tear into that the crate earns it keep. But again, this is only once a year. Usually a couple of weeks before flushing for the ram. I target the long hoofs here to save me bothering the ewes at mating time and it also sets the flocks up well for lambing indoors, when long hoofs are a pain and almost always leads to lameness due to build up of straw and s**t on the hoof.

One thing with the cormac one - some kick like crazy when they get turned up - when you have a ewe in there with a half paired hoof - it can be like a knife. I've got caught with a kick in the face a couple of times. The head rest position is too low and when the ewes are turned up they don't like it, and can thats when the kicking starts. I've amended mine, so that the ewes head is far more elevated when they get turned up - they've been alot happier since.

Could probably do without it for its single day of use a year - but I am glad to have it that day though. If you could share the cost with another farmer it might be a good idea...

Cheers. Seems to be the same with everyone. I might oPut it on the long finger and see can I pick a second hand one on done deal or at an auction some day.

famer279

http://stanleyengineeringservices.com/sheep-equipment.html theres stanleys link . Bought a race . Essential for any farmer

Conmaicne Mara

Lol...........................

Green farmer

This sounds crazy but someone told me that ewes with black hoofs instead of white hoofs don't require the same amount of paring as the black hoof grows slower ? any black hoof sheep I have rarely have hoof problems, but I don't know if it's down to the amount of mountainy in them or just coincidence, compared to the texel x ewes I have .???

Green farmer

I found this old thread. How often do people pair the sheep hooves ? I haven't done mine as a whole flock in over two years. I don't have a crate and wouldn't be able to turn over a hundred ewes by hand ? I'd only fix an individual sheep if they were lame. What do others do ?

Lano Lynn

same as that
and think cutting feet that have no disease a pointless waste of time and quite possibly spreading infection
though a rollover crate might be useful for doing the rams feet tend to check them several times a year
good footbath better investment

greysides

Wooly Admirer wrote: »

If you could share the cost with another farmer it might be a good idea...

Maybe not if you consider that Foot Rot is infectious and that some strains are worse than others.

Green farmer

Just watching country file, Adam is looking at treating foot rot. New approach now is not to pair the hoof and instead treat with antibiotics. If they get lame a second time cull. Apparently the thinking is that clipping lame ewes slows down recovery !!!

rangler1

Green farmer wrote: »

Just watching country file, Adam is looking at treating foot rot. New approach now is not to pair the hoof and instead treat with antibiotics. If they get lame a second time cull. Apparently the thinking is that clipping lame ewes slows down recovery !!!

I was at a presentation by a English vet two years ago that said the same, Just treat the lame ewes, don't treat feet unless they're lame.
So now No matter how long their feet are, I don't pare them unless they are lame.
Some sheep came out after the winter with very long hooves and seemed to sort themselves

Green farmer

Amazing how the advice changes over time, like dosing etc. Last nights episode will by up on YouTube over the next day or so, interesting viewing. Coincidently Adam Henson was treating his llyen cross ewes, rangler